Chapter Two—Toki no Senshi (Soldier of Time)
Written by Azreal (aka Blight)
pippin_elf@yahoo.com
or
horde_king@yahoo.ca
http://www.geocities.com/horde_king/index.html - This has my creepier stories on it. Weird shit.
OR
http://www.geocities.com/dominus_pestilence/lordpestilence1.html - I got my drawings on this site!
Disclaimer: You know the drill. Blah, blah, blah, they aren't mine BLAH!!!
Warnings: Same as last, just look at the first fic.
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"The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say."
—Shakespeare's "King Lear"
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"The Magic is in me—the Magic is in me. It's in every one of us."
—The Secret Garden
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Chapter Two—Toki No Senshi (Soldier of Time)
The small blonde boy kept his head bowed, cerulean blue eyes squinted against the sand that blew heavily into his face from the whipping wind. A large, sandy-coloured cloak was draped over his shoulders, hood pulled up, one arm raised to protect his face. A pair of goggles sat on his nose and held to his head with a thick rubber band. He wore a light blue vest with a white, long-sleeved shirt and tight, black pants with combat boots.
At his side a small, wiry horse trotted. A thick rag to protect its eyes covered its face, and the rest of it was also covered with the same coarse, brown blanket. However, from the shape beneath the covers, it was strong yet light, quick and slim with an arched neck and long, flowing tail. Its colour was a deep, dark red, like blood, and it had fiery black eyes.
The two walked calmly, pushing against the wind as they pressed forward, eyes constantly flickering back and forth as though searching for danger. They reached the crest of a large sand dune and, when the boy looked down expecting to see his home city, he received a shock.
His home, his city…was destroyed.
Smoke and flames billowed up from the crushed buildings, as the streets flooded from dead bodies blocking the river's channel, causing it to overflow. Corpses lay strewn about in the streets, ripped apart as though by clawed fingers, their limbs thrown everywhere as rats and dogs ate at their rotting flesh.
The boy gasped as his horse snorted, prancing on its hind feet nervously. "No!" the boy hissed, eyes wide. Fear clutched at his heart and he reached up, grabbing the cloth above his heart, gasping in fear. "This can't be!" he whispered, frightened and shocked. He stared for a few long moments that felt, to him, like an eternity, before his stunned mind remembered something.
Yanking the cloak off of the blood red Arabian stallion, the blonde boy leaped onto its back, kicking it into a run. "Come, Sandrock! We have to see if my sisters are all right!" The stallion snorted, pinning its ears back as it raced into the city, eyes nervously watching the dead bodies on the streets as its hoofs thumped silently upon the sandy earth.
Sandrock smelled evil.
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Wing and Heavyarms trotted calmly across the sand, their riders sitting comfortably on their backs as they moved swiftly, yet smoothly. The two boys were both leaning over their mounts' necks, exhausted. It had been nearly five days travel since they had left their first meeting place, and they had hardly slept.
During their journey, they had come upon towns ransacked and destroyed, and they had known Shindoshi had been there. Neither knew how the great warrior had moved so quickly, or where he had come from or gone, but the sense of foreboding they both felt told them that time was running out. The walking corpse was moving fast, and if they wanted to stop him and return his soul to his body they would have to act quickly.
Heero groaned softly. His eyes drooped, but he refused to succumb to sleep, even though he knew he needed it. No real warrior would sleep when danger was about.
Trowa snorted. 'Any real warrior would sleep when he needed it,' the youth grumbled, making a face at Heero, who rolled his eyes.
"I really wish you wouldn't read my mind," the young Prince retorted. Then he sighed. "But, you are right about me needing sleep. I suppose I'm just not used to travelling this much."
'I have traveled far and wide, for years at a time, and I'm still not used to it.' Trowa said, chuckling tiredly. 'I don't think anyone can really get 'used to' it, though. It just isn't something humans were meant to do.'
Heero chuckled. "I suppose you're right," he said.
Suddenly, Wing's head shot up, nostrils flaring. His ears went back and he froze, wings twitching slightly as his tail flicked back and forth. Immediately, Heero tensed and became fully awake.
"What's wrong, Wing?" he questioned the Pegasus softly, stroking his neck as his other hand went to his sword. Trowa frowned as he leaned toward Heavyarms' head, as though listening to the black unicorn.
'Heavyarms says he smells death,' the tall boy informed Heero, who raised an eyebrow.
"He can talk?" he asked, confused. Trowa shrugged.
'He talks to me,' was the short reply, to which Heero made a face, but decided not to question further. Instead, he focused his eyes ahead of them, to where he finally noticed a bloom of thick smoke sprouting from beyond a particularly large sand dune.
"There." He pointed, and Trowa looked, nodding.
'Perhaps Shindoshi has been here, too,' he mused, scratching his chin.
"That's probably it," Heero replied. "I guess we should look for survivors." Trowa nodded, eyes serious.
'That would be wise,' he replied. 'We still haven't found the Toki no Senshi yet, so it's possible he might be here.'
Heero nodded. "Then let's go."
They spurred their mounts into a fast run, bolting over the sand dune in seconds and running down to the newly destroyed city.
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As they trotted through the crumbled city streets, Heero and Trowa had disgusted looks on their faces at the carnage around them. Shindoshi had spared no one—all had been killed, eaten, or tossed into the rivers. Water swirled about the feet of Wing and Heavyarms, as they splashed forward slowly, moving through and past broken buildings that the two boys imagined were once beautiful.
Heero sighed. "What a waste," he growled, starting at a great fountain in what must once have been the city square, broken and cracked, covered with rotten flesh and filled with the bodies of former citizens. "This place must have been very beautiful." Trowa nodded.
'I have been here on several occasions, and it indeed was a wonderful place,' he said sadly as he remembered. 'The people were peaceful, and only wanted to live in peace. They never harmed anyone, were welcoming to all travelers, and gave all they had, even if what they had was very little. Even the poorest street urchin did his best to help you.' He sighed. 'Now they are all gone, and can help no one.'
Heero growled. "I would like to throttle Shindoshi for this," he snarled. "These people didn't deserve what happened." His mind wandered to his own people, his own city…all had died, or were turned into zombies. He shuddered as the remembrance of their rotten fingers groping for him as he ran…
As they began to pass a dark alleyway, Wing let out a scream and reared back, pawing the air as his wings flared wide open. Heero cried out in surprise as the Pegasus screamed again, hoofs striking out at a small blur beneath them. Yelling, the boy pulled on Wing's reins, trying to force the Pegasus back. Wing complied reluctantly, snorting as he stared at the small bundle of clothes shivering before him.
Heero's eyes widened as a small whimper came from the trembling bundle. Leaping down from Wing's back, the young Prince raced forward with Trowa at his heels, kneeling next to the person on the ground, soaking wet with water and blood. Slowly, so as not to startle the stranger, Heero reached out and gently shook him, taking hold of his wrists and pulling him upright.
"Excuse me," he said as the person turned toward him, "but what—" He stopped as he got a good look at the face of the stranger before him. Trowa gasped.
Feminine features with creamy skin, bright cerulean eyes with a mop of sun-blonde hair peered out a them from a sand-coloured hood, and slim hands shook in Heero's grip. The eyes seemed to stare into their very souls, and the two boys found themselves breathless.
The blonde's eyes widened. "You—you're real?" he asked, voice trembling. Heero nodded, and so did Trowa.
'Yes, Little One,' the taller boy said gently. 'We are real, and we wish to help you. You must tell us what happened here.' Tears sprung to the blonde's eyes as he heard those words, and his lips trembled. Abruptly, he threw himself into Heero's arms, startling him. Eyes wide, the young Prince gave Trowa a pleading and confused look. Trowa shook his head and leaned forward, rubbing the blonde's back gently and encouragingly. Heero continued to hold him, rocking back and forth slightly.
"I—I don't know what happened," the boy whispered, clutching Heero's shirt as he trembled, eyes closed tightly. "I came home one night from a journey to the Great Temple, and everything was destroyed. The town was ruined, and my…my…family…" His voice cracked and he began to sob once more.
Heero glanced up from looking at the boy to see Trowa, and his eyes widened. The taller boy's eyes were smoldering with rage, and when he looked at Heero, the Prince knew that Trowa would want revenge for what had happened to the beautiful boy in their arms.
After a few long minutes, the boy finally stopped crying and looked up at his companions, tears streaked on his cheeks. Quickly moving out of Heero's arms, he rubbed his eyes roughly and gave them a weak smile. "Gomen," he whispered, coughing to get his voice back to normal as he tried to come back to some semblance of normal. "I didn't mean to…get so hysterical on you."
Heero nodded. "It's all right," he said. "You've experienced something traumatic. It's a predictable reaction, and you needed to eliminate your negative emotions." He smiled crookedly at the blonde. "I suppose it was a good thing we showed up, then." The boy giggled.
"I'm Quatre," he said, putting out his hand. Heero smiled, and shook it.
"Pleased to meet you," he said. "I am Heero." Quatre turned to Trowa and gave him a serene, angelic smile.
"And you are?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Trowa blushed.
Heero blinked. Blushed…?
'My name is Trowa,' the boy finally said, shaking Quatre's hand.
"Hello, Trowa," Quatre said, his voice seeming to linger on the taller boy's name.
The blonde smiled as Heero watched, a small smile of his own growing on his face as he realized that Trowa liked the blonde, and it seemed the blonde liked him. The Prince watched the two, and he felt something within him click. His eyes widened.
My second warrior, he thought, astonished. The Toki no Senshi…Soldier of Time…
Trowa looked at him, a look of knowing in his eyes as Heero began to smile. Standing up, Heero helped Quatre get to his feet. He smiled gently at the other boy.
"Quatre," Heero began, slowly. "I have a question for you."
The blonde gave him a questioning look. "Yes?" he asked, innocently. He looked curious. Heero gave him a serious look.
"Trowa and I are on a journey," he began. "We are in search of three more warriors to add to our company, for the darkness and destruction that have befallen your city is spreading. We journey to stop it, and return the lands to grace and beauty once more. The one who murdered your people is the great warrior Shindoshi, or rather, his body. Trowa and I must find the warriors to wield the weapons that will defeat the guardians of the Seals that must be set, and return Shindoshi's soul to his body."
Quatre's eyes were wide as he listened, hand clutching the shirt over his heart. "This—you're serious. The situation is…worse, than I imagined." They weren't questions, but statements.
Heero frowned. "Worse than you imagined?" he repeated. Quatre nodded, looking away.
"For several weeks now I have been…having terrible dreams, and the things I feel here," he pointed at his heart, "grow stronger with each passing moment. I see…things that I wish not to see. I feel things I wish not to feel. I can't stop it, or control it." He paused, seemingly to gather his wits. "For as long as I can remember, I have always been able to feel people's emotions. I don't know how, or why, but I can, and do." He looked at Heero. "Lately, I have been feeling death. More so than ever before, and…it's horrible…"
Heero nodded. "My city was the first to be affected by ten vile plagues," he said, his face darkening in remembrance. "My people suffered, and died. Now I want to avenge their deaths, and make right what went wrong." His eyes narrowed. "The Seal of Shindoshi was broken by some great wizard, though I do not know who. I will kill him, and avenge my people, and all those others who died because of this wizard. Quatre," his tone changed, taking on a pleading note. "I need help. I don't know what it is, but something draws me to you. Somehow, I believe you are one of the Four warriors who will fight with me." His eyes were pleading. "I ask for your help. Help us to save our world, and yourself."
Quatre, despite having all that information thrown at him at once, immediately smiled and nodded, startling Heero and Trowa. "I will help you," he said, a grand smile on his face. Trowa tilted his head.
'That was a fast decision,' he commented. 'Why?' Quatre chuckled.
"I can tell when someone is telling the truth," he replied, looking at Heero. His eyes seemed to bore deep into the other boy's soul, and he suddenly knew that Quatre felt the same as he did. He belonged with them. "I believe you, and I will help you, because I know you are telling the truth. I can also tell that the both of you are good at heart, and I like that." He looked at Trowa and smiled.
Trowa blushed again.
Abruptly, a snort from behind them caused the three boys to turn around. Heero and Trowa both raised eyebrows at the small, blood red Arabian stallion that was prancing around their mounts. Both Wing and Heavyarms were trying to get s sniff of the smaller horse, but it was too quick for them, and they whinnied in annoyance.
Quatre laughed. "I see Sandrock has made some friends," he said, chuckling. Heero smirked as Wing stamped his foot, neighing loudly. Heavyarms snorted, watching Sandrock as he darted about, twirling on his back legs and dancing away from Wing. After a moment, Wing gave up and returned to the black unicorn's side, snorting angrily at the red stallion. Sandrock, after a few moments, trotted up to the two other stallions and finally allowed them to sniff him. Moments later, all three were waiting for their masters in a row, tails swishing and ears flicking.
The three boys all smiled, and then looked at each other.
"So where do we go from here?" Heero asked.
'To the West,' Trowa replied. 'That is where the Horobi no Senshi is supposed to be.'
"Horobi no Senshi?" Quatre asked. "Soldier of Destruction? Who and why is he called that?"
Trowa shrugged. 'I do not know who he is, but, as with you, we will have a feeling. We will know, somehow.' He paused. 'The reason why he is called the Soldier of Destruction is probably because he destroys things.' He gave Quatre a wry look as Heero chuckled.
The blonde made a face. "Who are you then?"
'I am the Chinkmoku no Senshi.'
"Well, who am I?"
'I believe you are the Toki no Senshi.'
"Soldier of Time?" Quatre asked, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "How…nice."
'Would you rather be one to destroy things?'
"No! I like the Time thing…much better than being a soldier of slaughter, or whatever." Quatre said, wrinkling his nose. "Death just isn't my thing." Trowa and Heero laughed.
"To the West, then?" Quatre asked, smiling.
Heero nodded. "To the West."
As they departed, none of them noticed a pair of ice cold, pupil-less blue eyes watching them from the shadows. As their mounts trotted away, none of them stopping to look for provisions since they knew there were none in the ransacked city, the eyes blinked, then slit dangerous. A low, feminine chuckle drifted out of the shadows and a slim, clawed hand beckoned from the darkness, followed by a slim, barely clad, lithe female body. Long, blonde hair that fell past her rear blew in the wind, as she pressed herself up against the corner of the wall she stood next to, rubbing herself against it.
"Let the battle begin, my pretties," she purred.
To be continued…
I think you can guess who the girl is, eh? If not…well…nevermind. But anywho, I KNOW that Quatre's gundam is white and gold! Not red! But like I said before, I am changing things! So nyah!
Questions, comments, flames, praise, whatever you like, please send to pippin_elf@yahoo.com, or horde_king@yahoo.ca.