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Elaina watched as the armies marched out to their destinations. It had taken 500 years, but now it was finally beginning to come into place..
500 years of waiting, for the people to show up, for the time to be right.. There was no way she'd lose now.
She heard a faint noise and saw Quatre descending towards the lookout balcony. Changed into a black pair of pants and a white shirt, he looked suddenly very tired and weak.
Good.. the strain was slowly taking over.
"Come to cheer the army on? They'll soon be taking over this entire land.."
"Perhaps," Quatre replied, looking extremely passive under the tired mask.
"You're too quiet," she mused silently. "That's not healthy at all.."
Quatre stared boredly at the marching armies, feeling the cold wind spin around him. "You're very confident that they'll succeed.."
"I have no reason not to be. The other kingdoms have no protection,"
"But your army is too concentrated,"Quatre replied as he turned to walk away. "It would be wiser to send out smaller troops in various directions," as he said it, just the slightest bit of blackness to appear in his eyes.
"What one?" Trowa repeated.
"The Fates said someone would come and protect the forest.." Autumn repeated for the 50th time in a row. "And this person, is you.." she stopped pensively. "Then a mage has come.."
"Which means,"
"Hm? Oh, yes.. Yes, the Fates said that one with the power to waken the forest would come, and protect it from the oncoming war.."
Trowa shook his head. "Then you have the wrong person,"
"I don't think so, it seems clear to me now," Autumn smirked. "You're our protector now.." she very slowly bowed her head. "If you fail, we will all die.."
"But.."
"Do this," Autumn whispered silently. "Because you're the only one who can.."
He blinked and tried to argue, but all of a sudden he was in the middle of a grassy meadow, sitting on a rock. Beside him was a bow and pack of arrows.
"What the.."
There was only the faint whisperings coming from the trees.
"Hey Trowa! Trowa!!" Duo yelled. "Where are you Trowa?!"
"Will you stop yelling you idiot?!" Wu Fei snapped angrily, and just as loud. "For all we know there could be some weird type of life form here besides you!"
"But.." Duo sighed. "Okay, but.."
"Don't dishonor yourself any further," Wu Fei sighed. "I'll search this way and meet back with you in an hour.
"Okay.." Duo answered as he started to head in the other direction.
For a few hours he continued to drift around, not noticing the sudden change in surroundings from a peaceful forest to a semi-rocky terrain. Perhaps it was some trick of fate that was taking him into a different part of the land, but he was far, far away from where he'd started.
Out of nowhere, three goblins sprang out, their large axes glistening in the moonlight. The horse reared, throwing Duo off and onto the ground.
He rolled against the ground, barely missing his braid being chopped in half. He twisted around, kicked a gobin straight in the stomach, and then picked up a big stick. With a quick swipe, he'd knocked out two more and was about take out the third.
The Goblin stared, his eyes wide. "You've come.. Death has come.."
Heero watched as the pirate crew shuffled about, looking slightly meaner than they had yesterday. For the most part, all it had taken was keeping them up all night and making them eat late for the crew to be in the right state of mind for education.
And so far, they were looking like they were semi-learning. The cheerful grins were still there, but they muttered to themselves as they did their chores.
"Get moving, we need to leave.."
The pirates all perked up.
"We're going to head towards the Southern Kingdom," Heero announced nonchalantly. "Before sundown.."
"But.. sir!!" Red shook nervously. "The Southern Kingdom?"
"You want to get stronger don't you?" Heero asked as he approached his cabin door.
"Yes but.."
"We're going," Heero replied calmly.
"Yes sir!!" Red saluted, but still looked very nervous.
Anne watched as the men marched out, looking not in the least bit like the trained army that was needed. Some of the soldiers were barely even teenagers, and they were to be expected to keep the Southern forces from invading!
She very slowly fitted a helmet over her head and rested a sword against her hip. She spurred her horse forward, heading towards the front.
"What are you doing here?" one of the retired generals asked. "Shouldn't you be back at the castle?"
"I'm going to fight of course," Anne replied curtly. "You need all the help you can get.."
The general sighed. "If your father finds out we will both not return from this alive.."
"We might not anyway," Anne gripped tighter on the reins. "We just might not.."
He stared vacantly at the wall, listening to the silence.
"Come out," Quatre ordered calmly. "I need to talk to you.."
The shadow manifested against the candlelight in the room. What is it?
Quatre closed his eyes. "As I said, we need to talk.."
Dark remained perfectly still as the blonde stared at him. Very slowly a flicker of something appeared in his eyes and he nodded. Yes.
The next morning Dark was nowhere to be found, and Quatre's eyes had dimmed into darkness.
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*phew* Sorry guys. I wanted to get a part in at my regular deadline. Trying to forumulate more ideas but writer's block has been stalking me so I don't know how long it will take me to get out more parts!!