Dark Date, Chapter 1
Lightning crashed and the wind howled through the trees; it was the perfect setting for unmentionable horrific acts to occur in...though at this time the horrible acts were on standby due to bad weather. In their place was a peaceful calm despite the tempest outside. Within the quiet cottage, four friends sat beside a cozy fireplace sipping cocoa and tea as the midnight hours dwindled away, barricading themselves against the violence outside with outlandish stories and jokes.
"I still don't see the point," one of the boys, this one with uncontrollable dark hair and over-controllable emotion. "If there were only two guards, why not just kill them and test each door by throwing the bodies through?"
"No no no!" the storyteller interjected. The golden-haired youth was exasperated; telling stories like this to the stone-faced warrior was like trying to get a rabid badger to understand Taoism. "You see, the whole point is that you're not allowed to use force at all; you're supposed to fight with your wits!"
"I disagree. It takes plenty of wits for one unarmed man to defeat two armed guards without the element of surprise." This comment from the Chinese boy drew a steely glare from the frustrated Quatre, and was quickly followed by a mutter of, "Well it does..." as he looked away.
Sighing, Quatre leaned back against Trowa and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Look, never mind. They found their way out of the maze and that was that. There. Happy? And they cut up lots of things and...bloodbaths, slaughters, and so forth."
The three boys looked to Quatre, then shrugged and turned their gazes back to the fire. All stories had to end good, right? And to end good, someone had to get killed. What kind of story just involved solving puzzles all the time? Not their kind, definitely. Outside the wind picked up its lonely howl once more and was joined by a crash as a branch was torn from the tree trunk and thrown to the ground, followed by a short, sharp yelp of pain. Perking at the sound, WuFei and Quatre started to stand, but it was Heero who beat them to the door, signaling for the other three to keep their comfortable positions near the fire. The silent priest Trowa hushed a protest from Quatre by hugging him tightly, and WuFei simply nodded, though his grip on the hilt of his finely-crafted sword didn't relax.
Grabbing his cloak from the floor, Heero pulled up the hood and set out into the rain, fastening the sword to his hip as dark eyes searched the gloom for the source of the soft groans. Brief illuminations from the flickering lightning provided enough light for him to spot the dark figure crumpled beneath the foot-thick branch and he knelt beside it, cautiously testing the weight of the branch. "Can you move?" was his only words, and when no reply was forthcoming he peered down into the hood for signs of life on the face.
From a flash of lightning, iridescent cobalt blue orbs returned his stare.
Momentarily stunned by the eerie spectacle, Heero's grip was lost and he cursed beneath his breath as the pressure on the pinned figure was increased with a slow slide of the branch from his fingertips. Another shaky cry was elicited from the depths of the hood and pale hands stretched from beneath the cloak, spidery digits pushing against the branch as well as they were freed by the few millimeters allowed by Heero's pushing. Only a few seconds passed and Heero found the branch moving away easily, freeing the form beneath just in time for it to collapse completely.
The heavily cloaked figure skittered back from the tangle of branches and remained very, very still, watching Heero as he stood dazedly and shook some of the rain from his cloak before reaching a hand down to assist the stranger to their feet. Standing unsteadily, there was a weak murmur of thanks before he passed out in Heero's arms.
(((
"So what was he doing out there?" Quatre asked as he sat on the edge of the bed, trying with some futility to negotiate the complicated silver clasp on the boy's cloak. "Didn't he say anything?"
The only response from the drenched warrior was his usual "Hn" as he detached his own cloak and wrung it out before spreading it in front of the fire. As Quatre continued to fight with the clasp with growing agitation, WuFei suddenly reached down and pushed Quatre's hands away before removing the clasp with remarkable ease. After a boggle from the blonde, WuFei simply shrugged. "It's a puzzle my father had. The harder you pull it apart the tighter it holds - it's called a 'Cat's Claw.'"
Quatre nodded as he pulled the soaked cloak from around the boy's shoulders and handed it to Trowa who carried it to the fire and laid it down next to Heero's. There was a moment of stares from all around at the figure revealed beneath the cloak; he was young, easily only 16 or 17 - but age wasn't much of a factor, since that was the approximate age of the others. No, what was truly stunning was the slumbering visage revealed. Reverently pushing back some of the long chestnut strands, Quatre shook his head slowly. "He doesn't even look alive, does he?" The other boys had to agree; that beautiful marble-white face looked as though it were relaxed in the sleep of the dead. Leather encased his body from head to toe, black as midnight and almost as depthless. It was stitched together with what appeared to be silver threads and covered from his neck to his knees where they disappeared beneath the brim of finely-crafted boots. The sleeves extended to his hands where they formed into fingerless gloves, revealing the delicate black-tipped fingers Heero had seen before; for some reason, they seemed unsettling despite their beauty.
It was the normally-silent Trowa was the first to break the spell by nudging Quatre aside gently. "He'll catch his death if we don't get the wet clothes off him. WuFei, get a blanket." WuFei nodded and set off toward the bedroom as Trowa inspected the boy critically, then gently rolled him onto his side; a long ridge of laces ran all the way down his spine, and Trowa reached to unknot the laces at his neck.....
....when his hand was suddenly stopped by a white hand that had moved all- too-quickly. Sitting up, the long-haired teen coughed, rolled his neck with a few cracks, and then grinned at Trowa whose wrist he still gripped between those long fingers. Trowa noted with some discomfort that although the grip was light, it was like being in a steel vice.
WuFei returned with a blanket to find the stranger standing and eyeing the others carefully. His almost-glowing cobalt eyes fell on each in their turn, but they lingered - perhaps a bit longer than completely necessary - on Heero, who merely turned his gaze back to the fire. Dropping the blanket across the nearby chair WuFei frowned. "I was hoping you weren't weak enough to die from a little fall. Now tell us who you are and why you were sneaking around here this time of night? Are you a spy?"
The boy sputtered a bit in surprise at the sudden barrage of questions, but as Quatre started to apologize for the inquisition he saw that the boy was pushing his hair back from his eyes, nearly doubled over with an entrancing, ringing laughter. "Gods...there's someone who could use a bit of cheering up." A smirk, then gloved hands rested on slender hips. "Or at least someone to take the stick out of his ass. And what do you have that worth me spying on....?" That last comment was accented by a sly grin that sent the Chinese boy rocking on his heels, but before the usual bellow of rage there was a silence as Heero stepped between them, Prussian blue eyes locked with the stranger's.
"We are," he stated matter-of-factly in that dull voice, "owed quite an explanation. This is our territory. You were trespassing."
Shrugging as though none of it mattered, the boy fluffed his hair and started to plait it neatly at the nape of his neck, humming to himself. "I was walking. And there were no signs saying this was yours." A few more measures were hummed before he added, with a childish poke of his tongue, "So there."
"Well anyway, you guys, there's no reason we can't get along. It's raining out, and I'm not about to let him go back out in that storm," Quatre rang in, his statement accentuated rather nicely by a clap of thunder. He approached the stranger and extended a hand. "My name is Prince Quatre Raberba Winner -" a groan from WuFei interjected at this point; so much for traveling in secrecy, "and this is my envoy; the Priest Trowa, and my two guards, WuFei and Heero."
Quatre couldn't help but shiver as hands as cold as the grave clasped his own, and the boy grinned wide. "So a real prince, huh? Didn't think I'd be meeting one of those. I'm Duo, and it's really nice to meet you guys...man, I thought I was dead for sure when that branch hit; I didn't think there was anyone around for miles. I guess it was just coincidence you were all here..." a slight glance was cast to Heero, then back to Quatre, "I suppose I could consider you guys my guardian angels." WuFei snorted and Heero returned to his silent vigil with the fire, so Duo simply sagged and muttered "Or maybe not...."
"Don't worry about them; they're really nice, once you get to know them," Quatre conceded as he took a seat as well, looking at the two by the fire, then to Trowa who seemed to be watching Duo with a distinct unease. "Are you -" the blonde started, but cut off as he turned to see that Duo was gone without a trace. He looked to Trowa confused, but received only a slight smile in return. By the fire, Duo's cloak lay to dry, but the braided youth was nowhere to be found.....
(((
What a strange dream; Heero laid wrapped in his cloak near the fire, the sightless stare of deep thought locked on the cracked plaster of the ceiling. It had been three nights since the stranger named Duo had disappeared so suddenly, but every night since then found his wide-eyed and awake after nameless dreams of unspeakable acts. He barely remembered them in impressions and fragments; paid, darkness, the coppery taste of blood, then the quiet solace found in white hands and cobalt eyes.
Standing, Heero walked to the window and gazed out into the quiet night for what seemed like an eternity before a movement caught his eye. Something was out there in the death-dark forest. Something black; something stealthy; something with....iridescent purple-blue eyes....?! Jerking out of a daze he shook his head with an agitated grunt and stepped away from the window. Taking a seat on the wooden bench he held his head in his hands, trying to get a grip on himself. This was wrong. The dreams were wrong. The acts, the thoughts -
"Hellfire's light....you look like shit, Hee-chan."
Snapping his head up, his hand went to his sword in time to catch a glimpse of the dark figure clambering through the window. Perching gracefully on the sill, Duo pulled back a few chestnut strands that had fallen from the loose plait and treated the warrior to a bewitching smile...
Lightning crashed and the wind howled through the trees; it was the perfect setting for unmentionable horrific acts to occur in...though at this time the horrible acts were on standby due to bad weather. In their place was a peaceful calm despite the tempest outside. Within the quiet cottage, four friends sat beside a cozy fireplace sipping cocoa and tea as the midnight hours dwindled away, barricading themselves against the violence outside with outlandish stories and jokes.
"I still don't see the point," one of the boys, this one with uncontrollable dark hair and over-controllable emotion. "If there were only two guards, why not just kill them and test each door by throwing the bodies through?"
"No no no!" the storyteller interjected. The golden-haired youth was exasperated; telling stories like this to the stone-faced warrior was like trying to get a rabid badger to understand Taoism. "You see, the whole point is that you're not allowed to use force at all; you're supposed to fight with your wits!"
"I disagree. It takes plenty of wits for one unarmed man to defeat two armed guards without the element of surprise." This comment from the Chinese boy drew a steely glare from the frustrated Quatre, and was quickly followed by a mutter of, "Well it does..." as he looked away.
Sighing, Quatre leaned back against Trowa and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Look, never mind. They found their way out of the maze and that was that. There. Happy? And they cut up lots of things and...bloodbaths, slaughters, and so forth."
The three boys looked to Quatre, then shrugged and turned their gazes back to the fire. All stories had to end good, right? And to end good, someone had to get killed. What kind of story just involved solving puzzles all the time? Not their kind, definitely. Outside the wind picked up its lonely howl once more and was joined by a crash as a branch was torn from the tree trunk and thrown to the ground, followed by a short, sharp yelp of pain. Perking at the sound, WuFei and Quatre started to stand, but it was Heero who beat them to the door, signaling for the other three to keep their comfortable positions near the fire. The silent priest Trowa hushed a protest from Quatre by hugging him tightly, and WuFei simply nodded, though his grip on the hilt of his finely-crafted sword didn't relax.
Grabbing his cloak from the floor, Heero pulled up the hood and set out into the rain, fastening the sword to his hip as dark eyes searched the gloom for the source of the soft groans. Brief illuminations from the flickering lightning provided enough light for him to spot the dark figure crumpled beneath the foot-thick branch and he knelt beside it, cautiously testing the weight of the branch. "Can you move?" was his only words, and when no reply was forthcoming he peered down into the hood for signs of life on the face.
From a flash of lightning, iridescent cobalt blue orbs returned his stare.
Momentarily stunned by the eerie spectacle, Heero's grip was lost and he cursed beneath his breath as the pressure on the pinned figure was increased with a slow slide of the branch from his fingertips. Another shaky cry was elicited from the depths of the hood and pale hands stretched from beneath the cloak, spidery digits pushing against the branch as well as they were freed by the few millimeters allowed by Heero's pushing. Only a few seconds passed and Heero found the branch moving away easily, freeing the form beneath just in time for it to collapse completely.
The heavily cloaked figure skittered back from the tangle of branches and remained very, very still, watching Heero as he stood dazedly and shook some of the rain from his cloak before reaching a hand down to assist the stranger to their feet. Standing unsteadily, there was a weak murmur of thanks before he passed out in Heero's arms.
(((
"So what was he doing out there?" Quatre asked as he sat on the edge of the bed, trying with some futility to negotiate the complicated silver clasp on the boy's cloak. "Didn't he say anything?"
The only response from the drenched warrior was his usual "Hn" as he detached his own cloak and wrung it out before spreading it in front of the fire. As Quatre continued to fight with the clasp with growing agitation, WuFei suddenly reached down and pushed Quatre's hands away before removing the clasp with remarkable ease. After a boggle from the blonde, WuFei simply shrugged. "It's a puzzle my father had. The harder you pull it apart the tighter it holds - it's called a 'Cat's Claw.'"
Quatre nodded as he pulled the soaked cloak from around the boy's shoulders and handed it to Trowa who carried it to the fire and laid it down next to Heero's. There was a moment of stares from all around at the figure revealed beneath the cloak; he was young, easily only 16 or 17 - but age wasn't much of a factor, since that was the approximate age of the others. No, what was truly stunning was the slumbering visage revealed. Reverently pushing back some of the long chestnut strands, Quatre shook his head slowly. "He doesn't even look alive, does he?" The other boys had to agree; that beautiful marble-white face looked as though it were relaxed in the sleep of the dead. Leather encased his body from head to toe, black as midnight and almost as depthless. It was stitched together with what appeared to be silver threads and covered from his neck to his knees where they disappeared beneath the brim of finely-crafted boots. The sleeves extended to his hands where they formed into fingerless gloves, revealing the delicate black-tipped fingers Heero had seen before; for some reason, they seemed unsettling despite their beauty.
It was the normally-silent Trowa was the first to break the spell by nudging Quatre aside gently. "He'll catch his death if we don't get the wet clothes off him. WuFei, get a blanket." WuFei nodded and set off toward the bedroom as Trowa inspected the boy critically, then gently rolled him onto his side; a long ridge of laces ran all the way down his spine, and Trowa reached to unknot the laces at his neck.....
....when his hand was suddenly stopped by a white hand that had moved all- too-quickly. Sitting up, the long-haired teen coughed, rolled his neck with a few cracks, and then grinned at Trowa whose wrist he still gripped between those long fingers. Trowa noted with some discomfort that although the grip was light, it was like being in a steel vice.
WuFei returned with a blanket to find the stranger standing and eyeing the others carefully. His almost-glowing cobalt eyes fell on each in their turn, but they lingered - perhaps a bit longer than completely necessary - on Heero, who merely turned his gaze back to the fire. Dropping the blanket across the nearby chair WuFei frowned. "I was hoping you weren't weak enough to die from a little fall. Now tell us who you are and why you were sneaking around here this time of night? Are you a spy?"
The boy sputtered a bit in surprise at the sudden barrage of questions, but as Quatre started to apologize for the inquisition he saw that the boy was pushing his hair back from his eyes, nearly doubled over with an entrancing, ringing laughter. "Gods...there's someone who could use a bit of cheering up." A smirk, then gloved hands rested on slender hips. "Or at least someone to take the stick out of his ass. And what do you have that worth me spying on....?" That last comment was accented by a sly grin that sent the Chinese boy rocking on his heels, but before the usual bellow of rage there was a silence as Heero stepped between them, Prussian blue eyes locked with the stranger's.
"We are," he stated matter-of-factly in that dull voice, "owed quite an explanation. This is our territory. You were trespassing."
Shrugging as though none of it mattered, the boy fluffed his hair and started to plait it neatly at the nape of his neck, humming to himself. "I was walking. And there were no signs saying this was yours." A few more measures were hummed before he added, with a childish poke of his tongue, "So there."
"Well anyway, you guys, there's no reason we can't get along. It's raining out, and I'm not about to let him go back out in that storm," Quatre rang in, his statement accentuated rather nicely by a clap of thunder. He approached the stranger and extended a hand. "My name is Prince Quatre Raberba Winner -" a groan from WuFei interjected at this point; so much for traveling in secrecy, "and this is my envoy; the Priest Trowa, and my two guards, WuFei and Heero."
Quatre couldn't help but shiver as hands as cold as the grave clasped his own, and the boy grinned wide. "So a real prince, huh? Didn't think I'd be meeting one of those. I'm Duo, and it's really nice to meet you guys...man, I thought I was dead for sure when that branch hit; I didn't think there was anyone around for miles. I guess it was just coincidence you were all here..." a slight glance was cast to Heero, then back to Quatre, "I suppose I could consider you guys my guardian angels." WuFei snorted and Heero returned to his silent vigil with the fire, so Duo simply sagged and muttered "Or maybe not...."
"Don't worry about them; they're really nice, once you get to know them," Quatre conceded as he took a seat as well, looking at the two by the fire, then to Trowa who seemed to be watching Duo with a distinct unease. "Are you -" the blonde started, but cut off as he turned to see that Duo was gone without a trace. He looked to Trowa confused, but received only a slight smile in return. By the fire, Duo's cloak lay to dry, but the braided youth was nowhere to be found.....
(((
What a strange dream; Heero laid wrapped in his cloak near the fire, the sightless stare of deep thought locked on the cracked plaster of the ceiling. It had been three nights since the stranger named Duo had disappeared so suddenly, but every night since then found his wide-eyed and awake after nameless dreams of unspeakable acts. He barely remembered them in impressions and fragments; paid, darkness, the coppery taste of blood, then the quiet solace found in white hands and cobalt eyes.
Standing, Heero walked to the window and gazed out into the quiet night for what seemed like an eternity before a movement caught his eye. Something was out there in the death-dark forest. Something black; something stealthy; something with....iridescent purple-blue eyes....?! Jerking out of a daze he shook his head with an agitated grunt and stepped away from the window. Taking a seat on the wooden bench he held his head in his hands, trying to get a grip on himself. This was wrong. The dreams were wrong. The acts, the thoughts -
"Hellfire's light....you look like shit, Hee-chan."
Snapping his head up, his hand went to his sword in time to catch a glimpse of the dark figure clambering through the window. Perching gracefully on the sill, Duo pulled back a few chestnut strands that had fallen from the loose plait and treated the warrior to a bewitching smile...
