Chapter Ten—An Angel's Arrow

By Azreal (AKA The Sadistic Cow)

pippin_elf@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Grrr…you'd think by now they'd realize I mean no harm, right? Right? I guess not. GW is not mine, blah, blah…only the plot of this fic is.

Sorry, sorry, sorry for the long wait!!!!! I've just been swamped with other stuff, like school and real life, as well as a ton of other stories for different universes. I really shouldn't be writing this right now, either. I graduate high school tomorrow (the 13th!) and I have until Monday to get 17 lessons done!!!! GAH!!!!! I have a new pen name too. I'm also "The Sadistic Cow", so if you wanna find some more of my stuff it's there. Not much there but oh well. The next part to this fic may not come for another little while; at least not until after I'm done exams and come back from my cottage up North. I'll try to get as much done as soon as possible, but I just don't know right now what I'm gonna do. Sorry again for the long wait!

BTW, I was reading this fic over just to get back in the feel of it, and I noticed how incredibly cheesy it was. Umm…for anyone who was wondering, it's supposed to be cheesy! Hehe.

P.S. I'm almost done Nightmares are Dreamscapes; only now it has a different title and is under my other pen name. I'm getting close to finishing it, anyway. That one should come sooner; this one doesn't look like it's got an ending in sight. *sweatdrops* Ack…

P.P.S. (or whatever) This chapter kinda sucks, cuz I was sorta rushing it. You people were getting all pissy with me so I thought I had to hurry the hell up. Sorry but this chapter is kinda crappy.

Warnings: AU, swearing, weird shit, YAOI, OOC, umm…I think that's it…

Chapter Ten—An Angel's Arrow

It was three weeks, six days and twelve hours into their journey from Wufei's kingdom, and they had just reached the edge of the Arabian desert, Quatre's homeland. The Chinese boy was riding behind Duo on Shinigami's back, leaning against the other boy as the mare's muscles twitched beneath him. He kept getting the feeling that if he sat wrong he would be thrown off, or if he moved the wrong way the same would happen. Even after all that time riding her the demonicorn still gave Wufei the creeps. Shenlong was wrapped snugly around his neck, sleeping soundly, tiny little snores escaping her nostrils with an occasional puff of smoke. Craning his neck slightly, Wufei looked over Duo's shoulder at the expanse of sand before them.

Duo grunted. "Now let's see what we have here," he mumbled, smirking. "Sand, sand, and…well, what do you know? More sand!"

Quatre snorted. "Pardon me if my land has very little to please the eye," he said, though he too was smiling. "It's great if you have grown up here. All those trees were giving me the creeps."

Duo rolled his eyes. "All vegetation, and blank spaces like this freak me out," he said. "I grew up and lived in a city my entire life. I only went into the forest once, and then…" He trailed off, making a face. "Well, you know what happened." Quatre nodded.

"I understand that," he said. "But if my weapon is here, somewhere, then we must search for it."

"It shouldn't be too hard," Duo grinned. "There's not much here." Quatre rolled his eyes as Trowa snorted.

'Harder than we think, Duo,' he said. 'We may have to dig.'

"Awww, nuts."

Heero chuckled. "Come on, then. Let's get this over with."

* * * * * * * * * * *

As they traversed through the seemingly endless miles of sand that was the Arabian desert, the only one of them that seemed genuinely happy was Quatre. He was smiling and practically bouncing in his stallion's saddle, a great smile on his face. His cloak was wrapped around his face to protect it from the stinging wind and the sand that flew along with it, but the others didn't fare so well. Duo had to keep spitting, as sand clogged his mouth and, as he put it, "Made me want to hurl." Heero had a stoic, expressionless look on his face, while Wufei outwardly grimaced and Trowa only watched the world around them with a wary eye.

"Trowa, I think that if someone was going to attack, we'd be able to see them miles away before they actually reached us," Duo snorted, spitting out a wad of saliva-covered sand from his mouth before grimacing. "I mean seriously. This place is flatter than a ten year old girl's chest."

'Our enemies have more tricks up their sleeve than we know, Duo,' Trowa retorted. 'They could be right behind us right now and we probably wouldn't know it.'

At that, the braided teen turned around to see if there really was anyone behind them, and Quatre chuckled.

"I think he was just using it as an example, Duo," he said, grinning. The braided boy grumbled something unintelligible, and Shinigami whinnied loudly.

Wufei rolled his eyes, and then frowned. He brought one hand up to shield his eyes and stared across the sands at something he spotted in the distance. He frowned more deeply. "Quatre, what is that?" he asked, pointing. Quatre looked, shading his own eyes before frowning.

"That's the Pyramid of Rashid, a prophet of our people," he replied. "It's where he died, and that pyramid was erected in his honour. He was a great warrior as well as a prophet, and saved our people from the evil God Tsubarov. It is said that there is great magic within the Pyramid, but none have dared to go inside for fear of angering Rashid."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Do you think what we're looking for is in there?" he wondered out loud. Trowa glanced at him.

'It's possible,' he said.

"Then let's check it out!" Duo said, grinning. "As long as we don't have to dig, I'm all for it! And as long as we can get out of this gods-awful light and sand," he spat again, "I'm more for it then I am for sex!"

Wufei nearly choked and Quatre giggled. Heero gave him a weird look. "It's that bad?" he asked, sounding hurt. Duo looked at him.

"You're great, Heero, but frankly I'd rather get out of this sand than do the mattress mambo." At Wufei's suggestive cough, Duo glanced back over his shoulder at the other boy. "I gotta say this, though, Wu. You're better in bed than I initially thought!"

Wufei looked proud while the others shook their heads. "Let's just get this over with," Quatre muttered, rolling his eyes. Trowa only smirked.

* * * * * * * * * *

As they came upon the entrance to the pyramid, Quatre had a sudden sense of foreboding. He couldn't place where it came from, or who, but it was there, and it made him shiver. The feeling brought to mind all the tales he had heard of the wrath of Rashid, who had apparently killed anyone and everyone who had dared trespass on his final resting place or tried to steal from it. They had all died horrible, painful deaths, their punishment an eternity listening to Ed the Sock singing pop songs. (Note: if you live in Canada, you know who I am talking about!! If not, just watch Much Music. ^_^) They left their mounts outside, unable to bring them in, just in case some of the passages were too narrow.

Shinigami didn't like that and voiced her opinion in a blood-curdling scream, causing Duo to tell her to shut up or no treats for a month. She had quieted after that with only one protest.

SLAVE DRIVER.

"I don't think Rashid is pleased with us," Quatre whispered as he looked around nervously. A cold draft came from deep within the tomb, tossing his blonde hair about. "I don't like this. Not at all. I feel a dark presence…"

Duo looked at him and grinned in a feral way, violet eyes sparkling. "Well, if it comes after us it's gonna meet my scythe!" he told the blonde.

"And my triton!" Wufei added.

"And my sword," Heero said. Trowa only shrugged.

'I'll plant my foot up its ass.' Everyone stared at him and he shrugged again, only to smile at the grateful look Quatre gave him.

"Thanks, guys," he said as they continued to walk deeper and deeper into the tomb. He looked around nervously. "You know, I have no idea where we're going in here…"

"That's okay, neither do we," Wufei grumbled back. Duo chuckled.

"Just follow the signs," he said rolling his eyes as though to say 'Well, DUH!'

Heero stared at him. "What signs?"

Duo thumbed at the wall, indicating a huge, red arrow and a pictorial description of what appeared to be the room where Rashid's coffin lay. It was in great detail, and boldly screamed (in Arabic letters of course) TREASURY.

The others sweatdropped as Duo continued to grin. Shenlong, who was still wrapped around Wufei's neck, let out a puff of smoke from her nostrils and rolled her eyes.

The Chinese boy nodded. "I agree…this is quite fucked."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Quatre made a face. "This is really fucked."

"I said that an hour ago," Wufei growled back as he stood with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face. "You only realized it now?"

Indeed, they may have reached the location of the weapon in general, but somehow along the way they had gotten lost. So many twists and turns had twisted their brains about until they had no idea where they were any longer.

Heero scowled at Duo. "Follow the signs, huh?"

Duo gave the other boy an innocent look. "I only suggested; there's no law stating that you HAVE to do what I say."

Heero clenched his fist but managed not to hit the braided baka on the head, even though he really, really wanted to.

'So where do we go from here?' Trowa asked, annoyed.

Quatre frowned, looking up one hall and then back down, his face scrunched up. "I…I don't know," he finally mumbled, bowing his head.

"Oh, this is just GREAT," Duo growled, putting his hands on his hips as he began to pace, face pulled into a scowl. "Damn those signs! They were probably meant to lead us AWAY from the burial place!"

WELL, TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH TO FIGURE THAT OUT.

"Shut up Shinni!" he snapped back. Shinigami whinnied and rolled her eyes. Trowa sighed.

'Either way, we must find the weapon,' he said. 'We cannot fail in this.'

Quatre ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "I know, I know. So do we just, like…pick a direction and pray that we get there?"

"No," Heero said, frowning. "We must find a logical way to—"

A sudden roar shut him up faster than a slap. The walls reverberated as the sound echoed through the halls, causing all five boys to freeze. As the sound faded, all the boys looked at each other with fear in their eyes. They looked around warily, and Duo nudged closer to Wufei and Heero, his eyes wide.

"Holy shit…what the hell was that?" he whispered harshly.

"I've no idea," Wufei whispered back. "But I don't like it."

The floor abruptly began to rumble, vibrating almost painfully as the five teens all grabbed onto each other to keep their balance. Dust cascaded down from the ceiling, colouring their hair a sandy colour, as small stones hit the floor and rolled away. Quatre whimpered.

"What's going on?" he cried. The dark presence he had felt earlier returned full force, and he clutched his chest, gasping in pain. "Great Gideon!!"

A split appeared in the wall, running down it and across the floor as the earth heaved, sending the boys flying back into the wall. A large crevice made it's way between them all, separating Duo and Quatre from the others. Trowa's eyes widened.

'Quatre!'

Wufei and Heero both leaped toward them, but were stopped by a great wall of flame that roared up from the crevice, blocking them from helping the other two. Quatre screamed as Duo grabbed him and held him close, backing away from the flames as the earth rumbled more violently. The braided boy's eyes flashed green, and he bared his teeth as a very long, large tentacle rose up from the flaming pit, twisting and turning about in the air.

Wufei narrowed his eyes at the tentacle, drawing his sword. "What in the world—"

The tentacle spun quickly, seeming to focus on Duo and Quatre where they huddled a few feet away, watching it fearfully. It lunged forward, wrapping around them and squashing them together. Duo helped in pain and fear as Quatre let out a girly scream and hugged the braided boy's neck tighter.

The other three all shouted out in surprise and shock as the tentacle thing yanked the two boys forward, toward the crevice. Heero leaped forward, reaching out toward them as they were pulled into the flaming pit.

Unfortunately, he missed, and the last they heard of the other two were terrified screams and a horrific roar.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Duo and Quatre screamed as they were dragged down, down and down, down beneath the deepest level of the tomb. Their hair blew back from their faces as the tentacle hurled them toward the bright light it came from, which was getting closer and closer.

Hugging Duo's neck tightly, Quatre squeezed his eyes shut and screeched at the top of his lungs, causing Duo to flinch as he was right next to his ear. "AAAHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Fuckin Eurynome!" the braided boy cursed, reaching behind him to draw his scythe. His braid blew back up behind him as they dropped, and his hand gripped the staff end of his scythe tightly as they drew closer to the light. "Hold on Quatre! Here goes nothing!"

Bringing the scythe down in a sweeping arc, the blade cut through the grimy tentacle with a loud squishing sound as green-black blood sprayed everywhere. Somewhere below them, something screamed in agony as the tentacle fell apart and yanked away from them, allowing the two boys to free fall.

Quatre screamed again, but the sound turned into a yelp as Duo grabbed his hand and hauled him close. Spinning wildly, the braided teen brought his arm back, and then hurled it forward, the blade digging into the stone wall and sliding down. Leaving a long, jagged gash in the wall and a loud, painful screeching sound in their ears, the blade caught on an outcropping of rock. The two boys jerked slightly, yipping in surprise and fear as they dangled hundreds of feet above the swirling light, watching in nervous fear as the tentacle was sucked down and away, out of their sight.

Gasping, Duo kept his grip on the scythe firm as Quatre clung to him, whimpering in terror and shivering. The braided boy's eyes were as wide as saucers as they hung in space, the cavern seeming a lot larger than it had been before all of a sudden. "Well…" He trailed off, looking around as his voice echoed loudly. "At least we're alive, Quatre!"

Quatre only whimpered again.

"What was that, Quat?"

The blonde looked up at him, blue eyes sparkling with tears. "I wanna go home."

Duo grinned wryly. "Don't we all…"

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

They didn't know how long they hung there, but by the time they were both ready to move it seemed, to Duo at least, that it had been long enough. He winced. "Quatre, my arm is starting to hurt…we have to get down."

Clutching the other teen's neck tighter than ever, Quatre whined. "But we're gonna fall!"

"We're only going to fall if we DON'T move!" Duo snapped back, wincing again. "My damn arm is gonna fall off any second now, so either way we're gonna fall!!!" Looking down at the blonde head of hair right below his chin, Duo made a face. "Be a man, Quat! We can't let dangling two hundred feet in the air over a great roiling sea of light where a monster lives waiting to eat us alive get us down!"

The blonde made a face, giving Duo a weird look. "Well then let us fall then!" he snapped, annoyed and afraid. "You want to die so badly, be my guest!"

A feral grin crossed Duo's face and Quatre's stomach dropped in sudden terror. "Alrighty then!"

For the tenth or so time that night, Quatre screamed as Duo yanked his scythe out of the wall and allowed them to drop into the roiling mass of light where a monster waited to eat them alive below.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Quatre groaned, opening his eyes. He blinked rapidly a few times, trying to clear his blurry eyes and focus. The last thing he remembered was Duo letting go…his eyes widened.

"Duo?" he whispered, his voice echoing in the golden glow of the strange room. As he looked around for his friend, he saw that he was in a treasure room of a sort, much like Wufei's father's treasury. Only this place had a lot more, and a larger variety of jewels and expensive things.

Suddenly, he spotted his friend out of the corner of his eye, lying in a pile of gold and jewels, obviously unconscious. His eyes widened, and as he started forward he abruptly caught sight of something else.

The horror of all horrors was what lay between Quatre and his friend. A blood red monster, two stories high, was sprawled all over the island. It was a Unigon. This creature had the vicious temperament of a dragon, along with dragon claws, tail, wings, teeth, tongue and three horns, but it had a slightly equine shape. It had a thick, dished face, and a spindly central horn in the middle of its face, like a unicorn. Smoke poured from its wide nostrils, and the sickening wind was in fact its decaying breath.

Quatre was petrified. "Oh sure," he said quietly, "the warriors get the zombies and the ex-wives, and I, who has limited skills in fencing, gets the completely alive, fire-beast. Sods law, eh?"

He made a face, shook his head and squared his shoulders. Creeping as quietly as he could through the piles and small mountains of gold, Quatre only knocked a few coins out of place as he reached Duo, kneeling down next to the other boy. Placing a comforting hand on his neck, Quatre checked his pulse. Finding that it beat strong and regular, the blonde sighed in relief. The braided boy moaned softly, and Quatre's eyes widened as he bent his head closer to Duo's. "Hey, Duo…are you alright?"

Another low moan answered his question. "My head hurts," the other teen replied, sitting up with Quatre's help and rubbing his forehead. Blinking rapidly as Quatre had done, he frowned as he looked at their surroundings. "Where the hell are we?"

Quatre frowned. "I don't know, but I think it's Rashid's Treasure." As Duo opened his mouth, the blonde pressed his hand against the other's lips and nodded in the direction of the Unigon. "Shhh! We don't want to wake him up," he hissed. Duo nodded, and Quatre removed his hand from the braided boy's mouth.

There was a cruel rumbling laugh, and the pair froze. "I think you'll find you've already failed your first task, little thing," said the voice, "and if you didn't notice, he, is a she."

Quatre swallowed the large lump in his throat and dared to turn. The beast now stood over them, its rancid breath bathing him in darkness, and thick black smoke pouring from its nostrils. Quatre gasped and Duo only gave the beast a shocked look.

"Damn."

The beast laughed. "What were you expecting, boy, that we'd lay by and let you steal away our prizes?"

Quatre stared into those deep amber eyes and mentally shook himself. This was his task. If he could do, this, he could do anything. "I've er, come for the bow," he said meekly, but mentally cursed himself for it. Duo echoed his mental cursing by giving him a LOOK.

"BAKA! You don't TELL it that!" he hissed into the blonde's ear.

The Unigon snorted. "You hear that, Borok, he wants our bow... Borok?" The Unigon turned and eyed the bone enclosure. She snarled and flung out a back leg. The bones and corpses were flung into the lava, hissing and spitting as they melted.

Quatre's eyes boggled at what he saw, but Duo's face remained unmoved. He had seen worse, though the blonde hadn't.

Behind the cage there was a huge skull, and now that he looked at it, he could see the shape of a large Unigon, etched out in the border of the gold. The skull was solid gold too, with large ivory horns and teeth, and huge dark rubies for eyes.

The Unigon snorted again. "Not a very talkative lad, Borok, but at least he's here," she said, and then with a wail, "You've untidied him!"

She was quite right. Where Quatre had padded across the gold, he had knocked a few of the gold pieces out of place. The Unigon hurriedly scooped them back into place with her immense claws. Another tongue of flame erupted from her lungs.

Quatre and Duo dived out of the way, rolling across the ground to turn back and face her once more. The Unigon laughed. "You must be wondering, they always do, why he is in such a state." She eyed them carefully, and noted the scowl on Duo's face, and the fear on Quatre's.

The blonde nodded slowly. The Unigon laughed. Her trap was working. "He's my mate," she said, and the look of surprise on both boy's face caused her to laugh. "Ah yes, Borok and Rahjou, together for eternity, they said. But I got angry with him, and now he won't talk to me. I can't stand the silence!" Rahjou let forth a blood curdling scream.

Quatre watched carefully as she tossed her head about, and dashed forward towards the glowing bow. A huge paw appeared in front of him, and a head beside his own. "I know what you want, and I know you have more accomplices too," she hissed, her forked tongue flickering against his cheek.

Duo growled, grabbing Quatre and pushing the blonde behind him protectively. "Lay off him!"

Rahjou's tail flung out again and picked him up. She eyed Duo as he struggled in the powerful grip of her tail. "He talks, yes he does…but I don't like his words. However," she said, raising a burning claw to Quatre's face. It left an ugly purple shiny burn, but Quatre didn't dare move. Each one of Rahjou's twenty black claws was as long as he was tall, or longer. Her immense canine teeth were as thick was his arm was long, and twice his height at least. He didn't stand a chance. Rahjou purred gently, "But you'll talk to me, won't you? You'll let little old Rajhou speak, won't you, boy? This other one is too cruel, too cruel. He doesn't make good conversation."

Quatre blinked at her, and slowly nodded. He didn't have a choice. Rajhou grinned and barked a laugh. "That's a good lad, eh? Now you sit down and I'll talk." Rahj's immense body fell to the floor, her paws around Quatre with Duo wrapped up in her tail. She lay her head down and stared at him. Quatre swallowed hard.

"I'll stand if you don't mind." Rahjou shrugged. "If that's how you creatures are comfortable, then that's how you'll be." Rajhou grinned a sickly grin. Quatre sighed. This was definitely going to be harder than he thought.

Looking at Duo, who was still wrapped up in the Unigon's tail, the blonde gave his friend a "Help me!!!" look, to which Duo replied with a "How the hell am I supposed to do that?" look of his own. Quatre winced as Rahjou talked…and talked…she didn't even notice that Quatre wasn't really listening as he and Duo exchanged silent conversation.

I'll distract her.

How?!

I dunno.

Oh this is just great.

Don't worry, we'll get through this. Just stay calm.

Hey! You're not the one breathing her nasty breath!

And glad I am that my fate isn't yours right now.

Fuck you!!

Duo frowned, seemed to think for a moment, and then grinned. Tapping the Unigon's tail, he caught her attention. She swung her head around to glare at him. "What does the little thing want?" she demanded in a low, angry voice. "Rahjou doesn't like to be interrupted."

The braided boy cupped his chin in his hand and leaned forward as best he could, a longing, gazing kind of look coming onto his face. "Do you know…how stunningly beautiful you are?" he whispered in a voice filled with awe.

Quatre and Rahjou both blinked in surprise. "What???" they echoed.

Duo's eyes never left the Unigon's face, and his voice turned silky and sweet as he continued, his voice soothing and casting a spell over Rahjou as she slowly began to release Quatre. "Yes…you are very beautiful. I've seen quite a few ancient creatures in my life, but you are the greatest of them all…those eyes, that textured skin…"

Rahjou leaned closer, cat-like eyes glittering. "Do you really think so?" she purred, unconsciously primping as she eyed the teen with new interest. Duo's eyes lit up.

"Of course! I have no reason to lie to you."

Quatre backed away slowly, watching the two as they drew closer, also noticing that Duo was inching his hand toward his scythe, which had been scooped up with him when the Unigon took him prisoner, via her tail.

As Quatre's eyes landed on the weapon, they widened. Behind him, he could hear Duo selling Rahjou lie after lie about her beauty, as the Unigon leaned ever closer, loving all the compliments the braided boy threw in her face.

"And wow, I've never seen such sharp and well-maintained fangs! How do you keep them so good?"

"Well, easier than you think, little thing. It's all in what you pick the meat out with…"

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, Quatre scrambled up the mountain of jewels, slipping and sliding as he went, his eyes locked on the quiver filled with arrows and the bow that accompanied them.

Quatre gasped for breath, one hand reaching out to grab the weapon as he heard the Unigon muttering to itself behind him. 'I have to save Duo! We have to get out of here!' he thought as his hand closed on the bow and a bright light enveloped the room.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

A sudden, bright beam of light erupted from the hole, and Trowa, Heero and Wufei all stepped back in surprise. The ground rumbled beneath their feet and dust fell from the ceiling in showers as the three teens covered their heads.

"What in the world was that?" Wufei demanded as the light vanished and the rumbling dissipated into nothing once more.

"I have no idea," Heero replied, staring at the hole fearfully. "But I don't like it."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"And so I ate that particular invader alive," Rahjou was saying as a loopy grin crossed her ugly face. "His bones were particularly sharp and his armour was perfect for dislodging meat particles…"

Duo continued to grin, his eyes bright with anticipation as the massive beast continued to talk, preening a little more as he laid into her with compliments. Suddenly, he paused in his mid-rant about her unequaled beauty. "Pardon me, milady," he said, leaning forward. "But I'm afraid I must tell you something vitally important."

"And what might that be, little thing?" the Unigon asked, expecting another compliment. Duo's grin widened.

"Quatre's got his weapon, you're gonna die," he sang softly, eyes bright with mocking laughter. Rahjou blinked, pulling back her head to look at the braided teen more closely.

"What?" she growled.

A loud, sharp whizzing sound erupted in the air, and the beast abruptly screamed in pain, rearing back and away from Duo. The braided teen's eyes narrowed and he let out a howl, bringing his scythe around to tear at the Unigon's tail. It severed and Rahjou screamed in pain again as Duo fell to the ground, rolling away from her massive frame as her foot came down and what was left of her tail lashed wildly about, spraying blood everywhere. Duo looked up to see what had hit her, and allowed a huge grin to cross his face.

A small, pure white arrow protruded from the neck of the Unigon, and blood gushed out around it as the beast whipped its head from side to side, roaring as it tried to dislodge the arrow from its flesh. Looking back over his shoulder, Duo caught sight of Quatre, standing atop the pile of treasure with the quiver slung over her shoulder, weapon held ready and prepared to let fly another arrow.

"Good shot, Quatre!" the braided teen yelled, waving.

Quatre grinned back wearily, eyes narrowing. "Yes, it was," he replied. Then, setting another arrow in, he said, "And here's another!"

He let fly the arrow and it impacted with the great eye of the Unigon, spilling blood this way and that and causing the beast to howl in agony. Duo's eyes widened as Rahjou slipped on the gold that littered the room, and he had to fling himself away to avoid being squashed as she fell to the ground with an earth-shattering thud.

Rolling away, Duo scrambled to his feet a moment later and ran to Quatre, who still stood atop the mountain of gold with another arrow set and ready to go. The blonde's eyes were narrowed as he stared at the Unigon's struggling form, as she writhed this way and that in an attempt to get to her feet, failing miserably. Looking at Quatre, Duo raised an eyebrow. "You ready for the final shot?" he asked quietly.

The blonde nodded, his jaw set. "Hai."

'I hate to kill…but this must be done.'

Pulling back on the string, the blonde teen took aim, the arrow pointing straight at Rahjou's chest, where her heart lay beating rapidly under thick layers of flesh.

'Gideon, make my aim true…'

As the arrow was loosed, a great white glow surrounded it and lightning flashed in the small cavern, bouncing from the walls to the airborne arrow as it zipped towards Rahjou's exposed chest.

Quatre closed his eyes.

The arrow struck home, and the horrific roar of pain that followed nearly deafened the two boys as they fell to their knees, covering their ears to try and block the miserable shrieks of a dying beast.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Wufei paced, his hands clenching and unclenching as he walked alongside the hole in the ground, glaring into it as thought it was the cause of all his problems. It had nearly been four hours since Duo and Quatre had been pulled into the crater, and Wufei had finally had enough of waiting. Turning to Heero and Trowa, the Chinese boy's eyes flashed as he said loudly, "They should have been back by now! I'm tired of waiting. I'm going after them!"

Trowa frowned. 'It is not our fight, Wufei. Quatre must defeat the beast on his own. Duo was just unlucky to have been pulled along with him.'

Heero sighed. "What if they didn't beat it?" he asked, looking at Trowa.

'Then we are all very, very fucked.'

Suddenly, a loud curse and a yelp of pain were heard from the hole, and all three boys paused and blinked. Turning toward the crevice, they rushed to the edge and peered in. Wufei's eyes widened.

"Duo!" he shouted.

A smile lit Trowa's face. 'I knew you could do it, Little One,' he said to the boy who was dangling from the wall like a weird spider, a bow and quiver full of arrows strung across his back. Quatre wrinkled his nose.

"Well thank you for your support but really, you could be helping us out here instead of gawking!!!" he snapped back.

To be continued…