Setting Sun

Chapter 4

By Nelys the Alchemist

The morning sun snaked its' way slowly across the room, creeping and fighting over layers of blankets and overly stuffed pillows to the far corner of the room as if on a mission. The room grew brighter and brighter in the stillness until a single beam landed upon the brow of a blonde head causing it to turn away and groan at the sudden intrusion. A pale and delicate hand came up and shakily brushed at sleep ridden eyes as more of the sun's rays darted across to join their brother at the far end of the room.

Relena squinted against the morning light and carefully sat up, haphazardly removing the blanket from her small frame, and was greeted to the usual sounds of men already hard at work behind the house. She crawled across the room to the window and looked out across the barren land and into the sky, trying to put together her memories from the day before.

It was bad, she knew, as the worst attacks were the ones she hardly remembered. Small pieces, the flash of a face here and there, came back to her as the sun warmed her face, sounds and images that were familiar and some that were not. The attacks never used to be as bad or last as long as they did now.

'There was a woman there this time,' She thought and bit her lip in worry. 'If he brought someone new in, maybe…'

Moving from the window she quickly threw on a simple dress the color of parchment paper and tied her hair, which fell to her waist and often got in the way, away from her face in a braid. She was still tired from the previous day but felt energized by her thoughts. She opened the door to her room with effort and moved down the hall in bare feet, one hand trailing the wall in case she grew dizzy again.

Passing the living quarters where men were fitting a frame in place for the window next to the front door Relena took little notice of them. Treizes' men were always working around her, building or moving things and whatever else their employer told of them. They were loud, raucous and crude but sworn to be respectful of Relena at all times, and she was used to ignoring them and the things they did.

In the kitchen she found him, sitting at a wooden table with a cup of coffee staring out the back window and across his newly acquired land as he usually did in the mornings of a new project. Treize enjoyed leisure in his mornings even as he expected his men to be hard at work. He caught sight of her as she walked timidly into the room.

"Relena, good morning," He smiled and gestured to the chair across from him, which Relena took gratefully. "You should have something to eat." He said this while signaling to his cook, who quickly put a plate down in front of her and a cup of a sweet smelling liquid. She took a sip as he watched, unsure now of how to bridge the topic.

"Do you feel better?" He asked.

"Yes," She replied softly. "Thank you. Was there someone else with me yesterday? I thought I saw a face I didn't recognize…"

"I asked a local woman to see that you were comfortable," He smiled as though he could read every thought on her face. "You know how important you are to me."

"Yes I know." She took a bite of food, for his benefit.

He picked up his glass of water sitting next to the coffee cup and watched it move within the glass, as though he were waiting for her to ask what was on her mind, and she knew he probably was. He probably already knew what she wanted.

She glanced out the doorway towards the working men. "How are things going?" She asked, unsure of what else to say.

"Well, I believe the men will hit before the end of the day," Treizes' blue eyes sparkled as they always did when business was at hand. "You've done well my dear, very well."

"T-thank you. Will…will we be moving soon from here?" She took another swallow of the sweetness of the tea. She hoped that this time perhaps…

Treize seemed to mull it over a moment, still watching the liquid in his glass. "Not for a while. I'd like to stay here until I'm sure things are running smoothly," He glanced up and held Relena's gaze a moment. "Why do you ask?" Before returning his eyes to the glass.

"Well, if…if we are to stay here for a time I wondered if… I could-I could search for my mother? I thought it might make me feel better by giving me something else to think about, maybe it would help with the attacks?" She immediately took another bite of food even though she didn't feel hungry to give herself something else to look at.

After a moment she looked up. He had not taken his eyes from the glass as the water swirled and she bit her lip again. He was contemplative and it worried her.

"I have treated you well, haven't I Relena?" He asked without looking up.

"Oh yes, very well." She brightened slightly, for him.

"And you enjoy my company, do you not?"

"Of course I do, you are very kind to me," Relena leaned forward, a sense of foreboding to his questions.

"But you want to leave -" He watched the water as he tilted the glass first left, than right.

"Oh-oh I don't wish to leave for long," She broke in in a rush, wringing her hands and twisting them within her dress beneath the table in her frustration. "I just miss her so and you told me that someday I could see her again-"

"Of course you miss her, you know I understand that." Left, than right the water slowly swished as Relena's hope swelled at his words.

"But I cannot allow you to leave my side," He lowered the glass and her hopes with it. "It is too dangerous a world to let you go out there without my protection, and we have not located your town as of yet."

She bit her lip to keep from crying and schooled her face to hide the disappointment from him. He watched her as if he knew how much his words hurt, but she knew he couldn't possibly. He smiled at her and stood to come around the table. He slowly brushed the back of his hand down her cheek and she couldn't help but close her eyes and lean into his touch. The gentle caress slowed her thoughts, the soft brush of his fingers swept across her cheek sending waves of tranquility down through her neck, her shoulders, slowly spreading throughout her body. Further words died on her lips.

"As I've told you before my dear, as soon as my men find your town you shall see your mother again."

Relena had no choice but to believe him, having never traveled alone. She knew little about where she was now. Her instincts always led the way and she followed without question. Treize continued to stroke her cheek until her brow softened and her breathing deepened. When he was sure she was relaxed and drowsy he told her he would return for dinner and strode out of the house without a backwards glance.

She sat for a very long time, slumped down in her seat. After a time silent tears spilled from her eyes to roll down her cheeks. She hadn't lied to him, he did treat her well and far better than any of the others but that didn't make her feel any less of a prisoner.

It was later than Heero wanted. His original plan was to be ready at sun up but his body didn't seem to want to abide by the same rules. He woke with his arm slung across his face and the sun already high in the sky. With alarm fueling his steps he stumbled out of bed and scrambled to quickly gather his things.

Moving within his sparse bedroom he dropped to his knees and shoved the cot, still warm where his body lay just moments before, aside. The bare wooden floor had a fine layer of dust and sand across it that he swept aside before pulling on one loose board until it came away in his hand. There in the dirt sat a box with a rope tied and knotted around it that he grabbed and brought into the bright light of the midday sun.

The box itself was of a rusted metal at one time painted red and the size of Heero's forearm. The lid was dented and warped and the old fraying rope kept the contents secure. Heero removed the rope and twisted old metal lid before pulling out one of his very few possessions, an ornamental knife. A swirl danced across the surface with small dots following along to settle at the base, a design bizarre and foreign to Heero's eye but it held a familiarity that he couldn't deny. It had belonged to his parents and no one knew about it save for him. Not even Dr. J with whom Heero had shared his life, at first in hopes the old man would help him find his parents, and later as his trust in the man grew.

With nothing other than the box to store it in, a cumbersome thing that he certainly did not want to drag along, he improvised by ripping the arm of an old shirt off. With one end tied off he fastened the ripped ends of the other to his belt, creating a makeshift sheath. He slipped the knife inside and checked that it was hidden well enough within his long jacket, then tested that it wasn't going to stab him at some random moment. With that done he slung the satchel carrying the rest of his things over his shoulder before giving the room one more sweep.

Was he sorry to be leaving this place? No, it never felt like home. As every other place in his life it was a temporary refuge from the bitter world and he walked through the front door and away from the house without a backwards glance.

The walk into town was a quick one but he felt as though it took a lifetime. Excitement and trepidation battled deep within his soul. Why? Why was he doing this? He had yet to find an answer as the buildings came into focus down the main road. Outside of Duo's saloon there was a sturdy looking mule tied to a covered wagon, nonchalantly grazing from a small patch of weed at his feet. As Heero approached the mule gave a snort at the flurry of activity happening at the door to the saloon. Hurricane Hilde was brandishing a pistol, waving it around in agitated circles as she yelled and cursed the individual who kept going from the saloon to the wagon and back again. He grimaced slightly at her red face, much as it looked the previous day when he and Duo first told her they were leaving. The object of her tirade seemed immune to her fury, and the pistol she waved, and continued his trek to and from the wagon nonplussed.

'He's either truly brave or more insane than I thought.'

Heero sidled up to the wagon quietly, trying not to catch the German woman's eye.

"And YOU!"

No such luck.

She rounded on him, the floorboards in front of the saloon shaking in her wake. She had been more than irate the day before and spent most of it trying to convince one or both of them how incredibly stupid their decision was and how much they would regret it. After they told her she couldn't go with them.

"After everything I've done to help you, giving you a job when no one wanted anything to do with you, trusting you with my precious store and giving you the quiet and solitude you wanted," She stopped a few feet from him and stood, hands balled together and balanced on her hips. "You're just going to run off with Duo and abandon me to the store with-with nothing more than Howard's company?!"

Heero opened his mouth to reply but the squeak of the saloon door opened and he was relieved from any words.

"Oh quit your bellyachin', I gave you my share of the place and we're not leaving forever, how're you being abandoned?" Duo snapped as he carried a bundle of blankets to the back of the wagon. Hilde turned back to the braided man and Heero dared not move.

"You're going off to chase after a child's story and going to get yourself killed! Your memory's going 'cause you don't seem to recall the towns we went through before we found this place."

"This place is damn boring!"

"In this world boring means you live longer you buffoon!" She snapped back to Heero, startling him with the dexterity of it. "He wouldn't go unless you hadn't agreed. For cryin' out loud Heero you got it good here, why're you throwin' that away?"

"I just…" That was the question he'd been asking himself all night. "It's something I have to do."And one he still didn't have an answer for.

"That ain't a real answer," She snapped before glowering at him and jabbed her gun into his stomach to emphasize her anger before holding it out. "Here. Take this, there's more in the wagon." She said sullenly.

He took the gun automatically, the surprise showing on his face.

She turned back to Duo, using her finger now instead of the gun tip though both men were no less tense, and tipped Duo's hat off his head.

"Why in the hot hell o' Hades can't I come with you?" She demanded and not for the first time.

"Two reasons," He replied after picking up and dusting off his hat. "One, you weren't asked. Quatre's been real particular about who comes along and if he didn't ask you it ain't my place to. Two," he grabbed her then and swung her into the wagon, leaning in and covering her lips with his. After a moment he straightened and pulled her back up. "If things get rough I don't want you anywhere near it."

"But I'm a crack shot – "

"No," He bent down, placing his hands to rest on her shoulders and met her eyes. "You're cracked for loving me and I'm not about to let chasin' after a child's story do anything to change that."

Her gaze softened, begrudgingly. His fingertips stroked down her arms.

"If you're here in this boring place tending bar you're safe. And you know I have every intention of coming back to you."

He straightened back up and she looked to the right with her arms folded.

"I never said I worried about no prairie harpies." She said in a sullen and perhaps slightly smug voice.

A polite cough brought all three heads around to the front of the wagon where Quatre stood in his layers of white looking slightly pink.

Hilde's glare intensified threefold as she looked over at him and he turned a fine and true shade of red, shrinking back slightly.

Heero climbed into the wagon and took the reins with Quatre quickly following suit, if only to get out of view of Hilde's death glare.

"Hey," Duo rubbed her arms and she turned back to him with the same sour expression. "This is the face you want me rememberin'?"

She pulled his head down and planted her lips firmly on his.

Heero pulled the wagon around to face west and stopped a few feet from the two.

After a long minute she pushed him away and gave him her best sultry pout while pointing her finger at him. "You better come back," Before aiming at Heero. "You too."

With that she turned and went back into the bar, strutting in her best to give Duo the most to regret leaving in the small and boring town.

Duo climbed up on the seat beside Heero with a rueful smile and a shake of his head before turning to Quatre.

"So, where we headed?"

For two days they rode through the desert landscape, with little to catch the eye past a few lone cacti and desert palm. Hard packed dirt and sand were the most prominent in this world and the heat grew by day as they moved. Lizards warmed themselves on the outcroppings of rocks that dotted the hills but the skies were blue and bare with not even an occasional wisp of a cloud for them to concentrate on.

Duo kept the days from getting too quiet with highlights from his past and what he hoped for in the future. Sometimes he referenced Heero but the man might as well been a sack of grain for all that he spoke. He seemed deep in thought to Quatre, when the mystic didn't have his face buried in some piece of parchment. Nights were cold and the firewood Heero provided was the only real comfort among the star filled sky.

On day four of their journey, while the sun was slowly sinking in front of them, Heero thought he saw the faint glow of a fire in the far distance. He shook his head and turned away from the setting sun, sure it was nothing more than tricks of the light. More than once Duo had called out in triumph at spotting a pond of water only to see it as a sand pile a moment later. The sun touched the horizon, fading away after another tough day.

"Hey," Duo said, stalling in the middle of his recount of the day he beat a known gambler at his own game of blackjack.

"I heard you," Quatre replied in a distracted tone without looking up from his map. "He threw down his cards and put his hands on the pile…"

"Ah forget that," Duo impatiently gestured into the distance to catch his eye and Quatre finally glanced up. "Do you see that speck out there, lookin' kinda like a fire?"

Quatre squinted before straightening slightly. "I think I do this time."

Heero turned at that and found the same thing he'd seen ten minutes ago, brighter now in the waning light.

"Looks like we've found some other travelers," Duo said with interest. "Think we should say hello?"

Heero's hand drifted to his gun at the confirmation that he wasn't the only one to see the fire. "I don't think so, they could be looking for supplies."

"If they need help we should stop," Quatre said. "They could need water or food."

"Or they could be waiting for someone like you to stop so they can kill you and get themselves a wagon." Heero replied sharply. Quatre frowned at that and looked back over to the fire.

"Paranoid may be his middle name but he's got a point." Duo scratched the back of his neck as he, too, looked back over towards the fire.

"I don't think so," Quatre said softly, almost too softly to be heard by his companions. As both men watched he concentrated harder on the fire, as though he could glean something more on the people tending it as their wagon slowly approached. "I think we should go see him." He blinked before giving himself a quick nod and gesturing to Heero's gun belt.

"We have both your and Duo's weapons for protection, I think we should go over there." He said firmly.

Duo shrugged and tugged the reins of the mule toward the direction of the fire. "It's your story we're chasin' after."

Heero reached behind and pulled a shotgun with a short range out of the wagon floor to rest in his lap. Had it been loaded it would have been quite deadly, but sometimes weapons served an equally important role without ammunition.

The smallness of the fire was more apparent as they drew near. A single bundle was laid out for the single occupant enjoying the fire, with single bits of gear strewn about telling of a single dinner. There was no pack animal near, no vehicle of any kind within sight. The traveler was, from the looks of things, going on foot.

He was sitting on a rock near the fire, pressing his hands together and towards it to get the warmth that so quickly left the desert at night. With the sun gone they couldn't see much of him past his profile against the backdrop of the flames but he was tall and lanky and though he didn't move he clearly knew they were coming.

The mule gave a snort as they came to a stop near enough to converse with the stranger and Quatre climbed down while Heero kept his eyes sharp for a surprise attack. Quatre stopped by the mule's side and stroked his muzzle to calm him for a moment before calling out to the man.

"Hello there!" He said cheerfully.

The man carefully turned his head and settled his gaze on Quatre, giving him a nod.

"Hello. If it's money or food you're looking for I have nothing to offer." He replied simply, no particular tone to his words. He spoke as though talking about the weather.

Quatre blinked before giving a soft chuckle. "My friends seemed to think that's what you may be after."

He felt rather than saw the man slide his gaze to the two still up in the wagon. Duo gave a wave before jumping down and Heero stayed where he was, continuing to scan the camp.

"You'll find I'm alone," He said to Heero. "Don't believe I cannot defend myself however, or you will be very much surprised." Heero snapped his head at him and his casual speech.

Quatre gave a start at the harsh words, still spoken as if discussing how to set a table. "I can assure you we're not looking for trouble." He finally stuttered out.

"We're prepared in case any comes looking for us." Heero said pointedly.

Quatre took a deep breath and walked up to hold his hand out to the young man. "We came to see if you were in need of help, being so far from civilization. That's all."

Duo snorted. "I wouldn't call any of these two bit towns civilized." He muttered.

The stranger looked at Quatre a moment longer before accepting his hand in a quick shake.

"My name is Trowa," He said as he stood. "And as I have nothing worth being killed over, as you can see, you are welcome to share my fire if I may share your company."

Quatre smiled and sat, quickly followed by Duo who plopped down and stretched his legs out across the tall man, flexing his feet and relishing being out of the wagon. He pulled an old and dented flask out of his pocket, truly a relic, and uncapped it to take a swig before offering it to their host. He accepted it wordlessly and took a long drag from it, giving a sigh when he handed it back.

"I am obliged. It's been a while since I've had much past the dregs."

Heero finally climbed down, keeping the gun with him as he came over and sat near the fire. He wasn't going to allow himself to relax fully but had a better view of Trowa and his camp on the ground. That's what he told himself anyway as heat licked at his calves and slowly climbed up his legs.

"Are you truly traveling alone?" Quatre asked after a moment.

"Yes," Trowa replied. "I have been for quite a while."

"Where are you headed?"

"I'm not sure. That depends on fate I suppose…and you?"

Heero and Duo straightened slightly, eyes on the blonde. That had been the question since they agreed to go with the young man but Quatre would not answer when they asked in Canton, nor when asked again on the road. 'West' was all the pale haired man would say and west they went. After several days with still nothing more concrete was beyond frustrating to both of them.

Quatre was quiet a moment, staring into the fire in quiet contemplation.

"…We're heading into Denmore. I'm looking to speak with someone there."

Duo dropped his jaw, eyebrows disappearing into his hairline. "Four days in that wagon and you kept your mouth shut but now you're feelin' talkative?" He gestured angrily at Trowa. "Why him, why now?"

"It was the right time now." Came Quatre's soft reply.

Trowa cocked an eyebrow at this. "They recently discovered water there I hear. Blurose has already set a claim."

"How do you know Blurose is there?" Heero queried.

Trowa glanced at him with a slight smile on his face.

"Perceptive. I came from Denmore. Saw them setting up."

"What's your last name?" Quatre asked suddenly. He held his breath and a strange breeze danced across the air and their skin.

It was Trowa's turn to be quiet a moment.

"Barton."

Quatre fished the worn paper out of the folds of his clothing and squinted at it in the dancing firelight. Heero's interest turned away from watching the tall man to Quatre as he scanned one of the faded crumpled pages. Both he and Duo had been pressing to know what instructions were on those pages but short of snatching them out of Quatre's hands they weren't told a word. The man Duo called a Mystic kept them well hidden and brought them out in quick flashes before tucking them back out of sight.

The mule took this opportunity to snort again and began stomping his hooves in agitation. Trowa stood and in two strides of his very long legs was beside the animal and stroking his mane as he whispered in his ear. A little more stamping and snorting and finally he started to quiet down, and even after Trowa continued to stroke his mane and ears.

"There's something in the air he doesn't like." Trowa said to Duo who had opened his mouth to speak.

Just then Quatre's breath caught and he looked up sharply from the paper in his hand to the man petting the mule.

"Barton." He breathed in wonder. Heero frowned and Duo turned a quizzically raised eyebrow as Quatre stood with trembling hands and a knowing smile.

"Trowa," He said with barely contained excitement. "I'd like you to come with us."

And a Happy Happy New Year to all you wonderful reader/writers out there! I hope to update more often than I have been on this and give you some bigger chapters too. Thanks for all your kind words and I thank you for any critiques you wish to send my way!

~Nelys