Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. I just like to take them out and play with them every now and then! All the OC's (the two of them so far!) are mine though.
Authoresses Note: Ok! I promised on a chapter I'd thank all my reviewers so this is it! Thank you so so so so much all of you who have reviewed to my story. It makes me very happy to know that people out there are enjoying this.
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Once again thank you all! I write for you guys.
Next chapter!
About an hour and two miles later, they reached the cabin. It was camouflaged in the woods extremely well.
The others were struggling through the underbrush still when Heero stopped them.
"We're here," he said satisfied.
"Where?" Duo asked.
Heero extended his hand and gently rapped on the outside wall.
Duo opened his violet eyes wide and extended his hand also.
After he rapped he proudly announced, "Found a window."
With that, he tried to peer inside. "Geez man when's the last time anyone cleaned these windows?" Duo spoke, mostly to himself.
Heero moved to the other side of the small wooden structure and pushed open the door.
It creaked open stubbornly and each head peered inside.
Pushing aside the cobwebs, Heero was the first to set foot inside. Duo followed immediately after, then Wufei, Trowa, Quatre, and Mei and Michael.
Duo took his staff and lifting it in the air perpendicular to the ground, starting clearing some of the cobwebs out of the corners and around the furniture—not that there was much furniture.
One bed, low to the ground, stood in the corner by the window, the window Duo had previously tapped at on the outside. One table laid on its side with four chairs spread out around the entire house. The house was barely able to fit the 7 people comfortably.
Each young man and the one woman present, looked around the house skeptically.
It smelled like wet leaves and pine needles.
Quatre moved over to the window and with the edge of his sleeve, wiped a circle of dirt off the window.
"When's the last time you were here Heero?" he asked curiously.
Surprised at hearing Quatre's voice speaking voluntarily for the first time that night, Heero looked up at him.
"Almost a year now. After I met all of you and I didn't complete solo missions any longer, I didn't need this base anymore." Heero resumed overturning the chairs to their correct positions.
"Mei you take the bed," Trowa ordered, placing blankets down on top of it. She started to protest, but each of the boys shook their heads.
"It's yours," Wufei agreed, sitting in one of the chairs. She nodded, laid down, and in moments was fast asleep. Michael lay down next to her on the small twin bed and was also soon asleep.
One of the barrels in the corner became the fifth chair so all of the boys at down around the small square table. Wufei produced a lantern from his pack, and once it was lit, they began their conversation.
"We have to decide what to do," Heero said, not wasting a minute getting to the point. "Can we even say what we're up against?"
All eyes stopped on Quatre.
"So far, from what I know, there is one main telepath. They never spoke his name, though. He had three guards. Men I'm pretty sure. I only know them by the sound of their footsteps on stone. They sounded heavier on the stone than a woman's would," Quatre stated steepling his fingers.
"Can you tell us anything else?" Wufei queried.
"I saw the attackers who took me and also the one who pursued me after my escape. They were both dressed in similar cloaks—with hoods hiding their faces," Quatre replied, trying to be strong and not let his voice waver.
"Great, just to make it more difficult for us," Duo quipped.
"The two men we brought down earlier, Duo, were both dressed similarly. Do you think they might have been the same guard you spoke of Quatre?"
Quatre just shrugged his shoulders, "I'm sorry, but I never heard their voices."
Heero sighed, obviously getting slightly frustrated. It seemed he had expected more answers from Quatre.
"Fine, do you remember how many people were at the castle you were held at? Can you tell us what exactly we are up against?" Heero tried a different approach.
Quatre thought quietly for a moment. "I don't know how many people there actually were where I was—just the three that dragged me around. And of course the other one—the main telepath. There could be another hundred for all I know."
"Are you sure? You weren't able to hear any other movement or see anything? Quatre you need to give us all the information you have," Heero said firmly.
"Heero, don't you think I tried? Whenever they had the chance, they blinded me. The only noises I heard were footsteps, always a single set, and the voice of that," Quatre paused to think of a suitable word, "that lunatic. Don't you think if I had anymore information I would give it to you," Quatre said exasperated. Then his voice dropped to an apologetic level. "I'm sorry Heero."
"He would if he could, but he can't" Duo chanted. "Now shut up Heero. He's been through enough already without thinking now that you're mad at him for this."
"Hn," Heero grunted, without apology. The others, besides Quatre, just sighed.
"Let's start this 20 questions thing over again. Do we even know where this place is?" Duo asked. "I mean, if we want to take any form of action, we can't just wait for them to come and get us."
"And what do you plan on doing once we find said place? They're telepaths. One telepath is enough. But it seems they have more than one," Wufei asked, somewhat impatiently—in Wufei fashion.
"We do have a chance," Quatre offered. "Telepaths have certain…weaknesses."
"Weaknesses?" Heero raised one eyebrow. "I've never heard of telepaths having weaknesses before."
"We're not all powerful, although we like to let people believe that. If everyone knew of these certain flaws, don't you think they'd use them against us? We hide our secrets very well to protect ourselves," Quatre continued.
"So what are these little weaknesses? Do they not like being tickled or something?" Duo asked.
Quatre grinned at that. "Of course, Duo. That's weakness number one—ranking high on the list."
Wufei rolled his eyes. "Could we get on with this?"
Quatre cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed at the reprimand. "There's one main weakness. We can't hold our concentration on many things at once."
Trowa, who hadn't spoken for awhile, spoke up, "What does that mean?"
"At most, we can concentrate on three things. For example, say we're holding up a force field and trying to levitate someone off the ground. If we needed to bind someone to stop an attack, it would be trying for us to accomplish that. The brain can only be bent in so many different directions. To add a fourth element to that, say…create a mental block it would be near impossible. By trying to do the fourth thing, we would max out and everything else linked to us would ultimately disintegrate."
"Does that do any damage to the telepath?" Trowa asked worriedly. He hadn't known these things about telepathy and he wondered when Quatre regained his own telepathy (being optimistic), if Quatre was in any danger.
Quatre's long bangs lightly brushed his cheeks as he shook his head side to side.
"No, it just drains the telepath, but they are in no immediate danger. That is as long as they're not surrounded by enemies during a battle. But even then, that danger wouldn't be related to their telepathy," Quatre explained, trying desperately to hold back his yawn.
"Is there anything else?" Heero asked.
"Well. For one, telepaths can't kill. What I mean is they can't kill by just searching through your mind and shutting off some automatic function. They can however have your best friend turn against you and fight you to the death while under telepathic control," Quatre admitted.
"Ew, that's a bad way to go," Duo grimaced.
"But one last thing. And this one is good I promise," Quatre gave a slight smile. "There are shields, techniques, I can teach you all to help block telepathic invasions. Non-telepaths can use them as well as telepaths."
"Hate to say this Q, but if you had tried out some of these shield things, they don't exactly seem to work that well," Duo winced, not intending to hurt Quatre's feelings, but just point out the fact.
Quatre ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, well. Since the war ended, I've seen no reason to keep those shields in place. I've kept a few small ones in place, but to keep myself on alert for so long. As I said, it can get tiring," Quatre admitted.
The others nodded, understanding.
"So when can you show us these shield thingies?" Duo asked eagerly.
"Not now," Trowa spoke up. "It's past three in the morning and I'd say it's time to go to sleep. We've all had an exciting night." He looked around the table at the drawn faces and the eyelids beginning to slip shut.
"Is there one more thing you'd like to add, Quatre," Wufei asked, noting the slightly apprehensive look on the blond boy's face.
Taking a deep breath and releasing it, he spoke up, "Once I teach you all how to properly guard yourselves, I can lead the way to the castle. I remember where it is." Quatre's voice was one of extreme reluctance.
Thinking quietly for a moment, Quatre spoke up once more, "Is this the only option we have? By going to that castle, we are walking into the dragon's den. It's extremely dangerous and I didn't mean to put any of you at risk."
"If we do not take action, from what you've told us and from what we've experienced tonight, you'd be hunted until they effectively eliminated you. We'd be at your side as well so they would eliminate us too. The only way to defeat them is to take the offensive," Wufei observed.
Quatre sighed and lowered his head, allowing his bangs to swing into his eyes.
He kept back the tears of guilt—they couldn't and wouldn't help the situation at all. He needed to be strong.
'Oh spirits, why did they have to get caught up in this! I'm not worth the lives of anyone! Especially ones I love!' He silently screamed.
Giving an internal sigh, he quickly went over their options. Running through each scenario in his head, he gave a resigned sigh out loud.
'We're in this situation now and there's no turning back, Quatre. Suck it up and move on,' his inner voice told him.
"All right. It is the only way," Quatre said resigned. "Tomorrow, we'll make sure Michael and Mei are safe. Then we'll start our journey to the castle. I can lead you there."
After seeing the yawns go around the table, the boys 'adjourned' their little meeting and began laying out their blankets on the floor—all except Quatre.
After being questioned he answered, "I've been the one that's gotten the most sleep lately. Look at all of yourselves. You're all asleep on your feet right now. I on the other hand, feel awake since I napped earlier in the clearing."
"Yeah, but I don't remember any of us surviving a near fatal knife wound in the past week," Duo remarked, yet he couldn't repress a yawn.
'If I still had my powers, I could just convince them to go to sleep,' Quatre thought cynically.
'But I would never use my power to do something they didn't want to,' he corrected himself realistically, ashamed that he had even had the thought of controlling his friends.
"Fine, but your watch is over in two hours. Wake me then," Trowa decided, with a slight frown.
Playing a quick melody on his corded flute again, he listened for the tell take shriek of Lowan. Once they heard it, Trowa turned to Quatre and explained the birds were also outside watching.
Quatre smiled and turned toward the window.
Jerking slightly at the unexpected touch, he then realized it was only Trowa draping a blanket over his shoulders.
With a light kiss to Quatre's forehead, Trowa whispered, "Two hours," before going back to his makeshift bed on the floor.
Soon, all Quatre could hear was light breathing, and every so often, Duo mumbling softly in his sleep.
Turning his attention from the sleeping youths on the floor, Quatre returned to gazing out the window. He trained his ears to pick up the faintest noise.
This would have been easier if very noise outside didn't cause Quatre to jump in his seat.
He silently cursed himself every time he realized it was only an owl or two fighting raccoons.
'I wonder if my telepathy will ever return to me,' he began to think. 'Or if it is gone forever.'
After having the power all his life, he wasn't sure if he could adapt to living without it. It would be no different than if he had lost his sight or his hearing.
Honestly, he thought bitterly, he would've preferred losing his sight or hearing. As long as he still had his telepathy, he would've been able to get around just fine.
He finally let his mind give in to all the thoughts he had been pushing aside that night.
Quatre took his eyes off the window and looked at the resting bodies of his friends. He could see them, touch them with his hands if he wanted to, but to him, right now, they were just…empty shells.
No longer could he tangibly feel emotions like Trowa's love, Duo's friendship, Heero's protectiveness, Wufei's honor.
Gazing at them, he suddenly wondered how they did it every day.
How did they go through life not knowing how another was feeling?
He shook his head with frustration.
Looking out the window, he judged that his two hours were up.
Everyone was still sleeping though. They looked so peaceful. Quatre knew they had been searching hard for him for a long time. They deserved to sleep longer.
Giving his friends a light smile he turned back toward the window.
Folding his arms under his chin, he rested his head on the windowsill. The cloak Trowa had given him rested lightly across his shoulders. Outside, he could hear Trowa's birds.
Looking up at the stars, Quatre's negative thoughts slowly started to dissipate. Very gradually he began to feel a sense of peace. He could still see the beauty of the night, could still hear the crickets chirping, could still smell the scent of the late spring air.
Perhaps Duo was right. Perhaps he shouldn't feel so guilty. The others had helped him on their own free will. Maybe it wasn't his fault the others were in danger. It wasn't like he had run away and the situation had gone awry. He had been captured.
No, Quatre internally battled, I am responsible for this. If I had been more careful. Kept up those shields I told the others about. Not let myself become so vulnerable.
Perhaps he should tell them what was truly bothering him. They each had skills—Duo his staff, Heero his bow, Wufei his swords, Trowa his ability with animals. Quatre's strength was his telepathy. Now without it—what was he to the team? All of them were in a highly dangerous situation because of him and he was useless in helping them get out of it.
Sure he had some martial arts skills—Wufei and Heero had helped him with that, but he wasn't used to using that without his telepathic power. It had been a booster of sorts that aided him in doing the techniques.
'Maybe that's what I need. Something to center myself. Rid myself of these thoughts,' Quatre decided quickly. 'Even outside, I could keep watch better.'
Quickly standing and shedding the cloak, he walked toward the door while rolling up the linen sleeves of his tunic.
Thinking twice, he looked back at the cloak laying on the back of the chair he just left. Giving a small smile, he picked it up and quietly walked over to Mei and Michael and gently placed it over her sleeping form.
In her sleep, she clutched the blanket and pulled it up to her chin with a satisfied smile.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered, barely speaking the words at all before turning away from the couple.
Creeping stealthily, Quatre made sure not to make any of the old floor boards creak and snuck out the door.
You know, as I read some of this, I'm making Trowa kinda wussy--not much of a power to make contact with some birds. It's like RAWR Duo can smack down people with a staff and Wufei can take off heads with swords and Trowa!...can call birds...
Well I'll think on that somemore and see if I can help make Trowa a little cooler--maybe he can use all of the others weapons with extreme ability, but just likes carrying around his flute thing instead. Well we'll see!
If you want to see your name someday soon and me giving wonderful thanks to you again, review! Even if you don't thank you for reading my story! And I hope you liked.
Let's all see what happens next in chapter 15! Until next time--take care