Chapter Four: The Stirring of Life After Death
*The sun shone brightly through the heavy pine trees. Fresh air and a much needed cool breeze blew in from the mountain pass. The rush of the crystal clear water rang loudly throughout the entire valley, and the flowers were just opening to the beginning of a new day. Outside children ran on the young green grass, wild and free to play as they wished.
"Jaritha! Look! A new crack in the sky!" One child called to his friend.
"Jocanan, you are right! A new crack has formed! What wonderful news! There have not been many new cracks for so long. Come, we should tell them of what we have found!"
"What of our game of tag? You promised Jaritha!" The little girl laughed at the boy.
"We can play after we inform everyone of the crack, I promise, come on!" She tugged at his arm.
"Wait, Jaritha, look!" The boy had planted his feet. The little girl over to where her friend's gaze was held.
"My! What is it?"
"I don't know. Come on, let's have a look!" He pulled her along. Together the two children made their way over to the bank of a stream of melt water from the new crack. To them it was nothing new for a new stream to be discovered- there were always new streams. But what was most remarkable about this particular stream was the body that lay beside it. As the children poked and prodded the corpse, the little girl whimpered.
"Jocanan, I don't like this. He's dead, please, let's leave him to rest in peace."
"Jaritha, hurry and fetch Darien. This man, he's not one of us. He's an outsider from the World of the Damned!" He ordered the girl. Her frightened eyes widened even more, but nodded. Then she turned and ran towards the main hut in the village.
"Darien! Darien! An outsider!" She cried as she rushed into the building.
A tall, muscular man with jet black hair stood gracefully and faced the small girl-child that had interrupted him so violently. "Please calm down small one. What is the news you bring?"
"Jocanan and I were playing in the woods when we came upon a new crack in the sky!"
"A new crack?" The man's deep blue eyes opened and flames flickered within them.
"Yes. And beside the crack we found a new stream. But by the stream we found a man, dead. Jocanan says he is not one of us, that he is an outsider from the World of the Damned. He asks that you please hurry!"
"An outsider!" The man cried in rage, but intrigue. "Show me to him child. At once."
"Of course Darien. Come on!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her. Over the fields, into a forest, past homes, and through many small streams did they go before finally reaching their destination.
As Darien knelt by the body of the outsider, he held his breath. It was bad luck to breath near an injured person, their soul might become trapped within you. Examining the man carefully, he noted a few of the key differences that indeed marked him as one of those from the World of the Damned. Suddenly, the man's chest rose as he struggled to take in air.
"He… he's alive." Darien murmured. "He's alive… He's alive!" Turning to the children, he spoke quickly and directly. "Run and fetch my sister. She will know more of ho to help him."
"But he is one of the Damned!" The little boy Jocanan started.
"And he is human. We must fulfill our obligation to him. Tell my sister to meet us within the palace. No doubt she will already know where to go."
"Yes sir."
"And Jocanan, you should be more trusting. If you are not, then others will not trust you."
"Yes sir." The boy-child nodded dully as he backed up. Then he turned and ran to where he knew Darien's sister could be found.
"He's alive…" Darien murmured once again. Outsiders had been found before, but never had one survived the fall. He was… alive.
)(
He was… dead… he was… gone… the Perfect Soldier lived no more. Not a sound could be heard from the crevice he had fallen down. The darkness had made it all but impossible to see down the seemingly never-ending drop, and the ice was so unstable they probably couldn't have mounted a rescue if they had wanted to. The four remaining Gundam Pilots sat together in a grave silence. Nothing was to be said. It was as if they had silently agreed to a moment of silence in memory of their fallen comrade.
Though Hiiro had never been the loud one, the one to make jokes or to socialize, he had been one of them. He had been through the war, knew what they had gone through before the war, and had suffered so much more. In a way, the other four pilots had modeled themselves after him; he was the original, the one they had at one point in time aspired to be.
Each of the boys dealt with the loss in their own way. Quatre had sat down on the snow and cried. In front of everyone else, in the middle of the vast expanse of the snow-capped mountain he had let his tears fall. But no one held it against him, no; in fact they admired him for doing what they could not- letting their feelings go so freely. Quatre simply refused to believe it. In his mind and heart he knew that Hiiro was gone, but he had a hard time copping with the reality of the fact. Hearing it, knowing it, and living it were two very different things.
Duo had sat down as well. But he did not cry. He stared straight ahead in shock. His best friend, the trigger-happy boy who used to wake them with gunshots, the boy who had stolen very identity for a while, who had saved his life and so many others, was dead. Of suicide no less. A suicide that had saved their lives. Guilt ridden, he looked to the heavens for answers in his time of need.
Wufei stood besides Trowa, an unreadable glare in his onyx eyes. He was remembering his fight with Hiiro. Such a just, righteous soul had been taken from the world with the death of his friend, Hiiro Yui. Yui had been the exemplary pilot in every way; he had fought to defend those weaker, fought for justice and peace, and fought to break the cycle of mass murder that war brought about. But now he was gone, defeated by his only weakness, his care for the well being for his unspoken friends and comrades.
Trowa blinked. And blinked. He had always known Hiiro was reckless with his life. He had known it since he had tried to self destruct, since he had put his life into the arms of that pacifist's family when he had killed their loved one by mistake. But now Hiiro had actually finished the job. He had taken his own life to save them. It was not guilt that Trowa felt, for he understood Hiiro's reasoning. Four could go on, even if they lost one, to complete their mission. That was what Hiiro had wanted, to die without failing a mission. Well then. Trowa would not allow them to fail their mission. He stood and cleared his throat.
"Hiiro is gone. But with his passing breath he requested we complete the mission. I have no intentions on failing him. I will complete the mission." The other three looked up.
"How can you even speak about completing a mission right now while we stand on his icy tomb?" Quatre told him bitterly.
"Because it is what he wanted."
"Trowa's right. Hiiro ordered us to finish what we started, and I am not going to let my buddy down, dead or alive." Duo nodded, clapping Trowa on the shoulder.
"Agreed. Yui wanted us to go on. He died for us to finish this, we cannot let his death become a waste." Wufei agreed. They all looked to Quatre.
"I'm in too." He finally sighed. "I won't let Hiiro's death be in vain. But I think we have all forgotten something."
"What's that?" Duo asked.
"Hiiro gave the map to Trowa to hold, but he neglected to give him the parchment we were supposed to deliver to the people in Shangri-La, the one Doctor J gave us." Groans from all arose.
"So Yui wasn't perfect. And his last mistake will cause the failure of our mission." Wufei muttered.
"Not necessarily. We lost Hiiro, and most of our supplies are gone, including the parchment note. Perhaps we would be better to descend the mountain, meet with Doctor J and inform him of the losses, then return with a new scroll to deliver. J made the first one, he can create another, I am sure." Trowa reasoned.
"We came all this way for nothing then? Except to lose a friend? And a damn fine pilot? That's it, we just turn and high tail it home like wussies?" Duo argued.
"Trowa has the logical option Duo. We need food and supplies, plus, what is the purpose if going up to the city if we don't have what we were going to give them?" Quatre added.
"I think we should go down and regroup as well." Wufei added.
"Fine. But we will complete this mission, no matter the costs." Duo finally relented.
"Of course. Now let's go. If we hurry, we can be back to this spot in two weeks." Trowa spoke.
"Do we mark his grave?" Wufei asked.
"How would we? The snow will cover anything we do."
"Then I will leave me katana in the ice. If the snow covers it, at least when it melts someone will know of him." Wufei bowed his head deeply. Then he unsheathed his katana and firmly placed it in the ground.
"Our Father, who art in Heaven…" Duo began a prayer for Hiiro. "Father, please bless the lost soul of the boy who is returning to your hands. May he find peace, wherever he may be. Amen."
"Right then. Let's go."
)(
His heavy eyelids flickered and he groaned as he shut them tightly. So bright…and warm… was he dead? Soft rustling could be heard and his eyes snapped open to an dazzling sight. An angel's face hovered above him, worry deeply embedded in her sapphire eyes…
"Hello." Was all the angel said to him. Such a sweet voice… so mesmerizing and light. When he tried to sit up, she placed her tiny hand upon his chest and stopped him.
"Please, do not try to sit. You were in a horrible accident." He was about to object, but her concerned eyes and soft smile made him think twice.
"Am-" He had to stop. His throat stung and burned. Taking a deep breath, he launched into a fit of violent coughs. The angel by his side offered him a small cup, and he drank warily of the liquid.
"Please, drink it. It will help you to feel better." She implored him. Once he had drowned the whole cup, she took it from him and he relaxed, but just slightly. He decided to try speaking again.
"Where am I?"
"You are within the inner sanctuary of the Opaque Palace."
"The Opaque Palace?"
"Of the realm of Shangri-La." She smiled warmly. Hiiro's eyes narrowed. "Is something wrong?"
"Shangri-La. Am I in Shangri-La?"
"You are." Her voice brought him out of his dark thoughts for a brief moment. "Please, you are injured, and it is for the best that you rest now. All will be explained when you have returned to good health."
"Hnn." He tried to sit again. But the pain in his chest would not permit him to do so. He fell back against the silken sheets, panting and sweaty. So tired, so weary, so ready to give up. He failed to keep his senses up, and did not expect the hand of the angel to be able to touch him. But it did. She hummed a gentle tune under her breath and wiped a cool, wet rag over his feverish skin. As Hiiro listen to her gentle breath, he closed his eyes and let a tranquil feeling wash over him. He breathed deeply, and his mind that had been so muddled before cleared.
His memories flashed back as he rested. His friends being trapped on the ice, him catching each of them as they jumped to him, trusting him with their lives, then he himself hanging on the brink of death, and then letting go. After he had let go, he had simply closed his eyes and let the darkness of the cold ice encase his numb body. Death would hurt so much less, he had rationalized, if he was not tense for it. And then his feeling of falling ended in a hard thud and a splash, and that was all he remembered. Then he had woken here in this bed with the angel beside him. His eyes snapped open as he strained them to see the angel again.
"Please do not be troubled any longer, my soldier. I am here, and will remain by your side until you request otherwise."
"Who are you?" He asked. She smiled and continued to hum, breaking her song only for a moment to answer him cryptically.
"Sleep reveals all. Sleep now." He grunted, and she laughed. Her laugher was like that of a faery, soft and childish, with a hint of mirth and joy. He had heard it before, this same sweet sound. But where? Perhaps, as she claimed, his sleep would reveal to him the answer. But he had no choice in the matter, for with her soft ministrations and soothing songs, his eyes closed and his mind drifted into the world of sleep.*
~~~How is this? HELLO! AM I REACHING ANY OF YOU??? I feel like I've slipped into a slump and can't seem to pull out of it. Is this getting any better?~~~