A scream echoed through the night and both boys sat up quickly in their beds. Heero met his brother's eyes in an instant of silent agreement then they both moved. With practiced speed and stealth both retrieved their weapons and raced out of the small wooden house toward the sound. In the twilight of the moon they met others in the center of the village, all quickly moving to surround the culprit. What they found was a girl their age sobbing on the ground with a large set of claw marks down her front. Trowa knelt by her side while Heero's eyes scanned the surrounding rooftops.
"What happened?" Trowa asked, his emerald eyes darting from shadow to shadow.
"A panther… it attacked me." The girl sobbed out. Trowa stood up and backed to his brother's side. For a second Trowa caught Heero's eyes.
"Panthers don't attack people, not in the middle of a village," Heero murmured softly.
Trowa nodded. "Shapeshifter," he hissed under his breath.
Above them came a thick and low growl. Both boys whirled around and watched shadows. Immediately Heero caught sight of dark brown eyes that somehow managed to glow in the dark while staying almost black. Without a word Heero took off after the panther, dagger at ready.
"Take care of her Trowa," Heero yelled back, but he didn't even look back to see if his brother had heard him, his mind was completely on the chase.
Heero moved through the forest with trained ease, his steps were light and his speed almost matched that of the panther. He'd spent the last seven years of his life learning the forest like the back of his hand. As a result he sailed after the panther, avoiding fallen tree trunks and low branches as if they didn't even exist. As they left the village far behind Heero ducked down and sprinted with all his energy, gaining speed and catching up to the panther, only for a moment. In that one moment Heero threw his dagger. The small, yet expertly crafted, blade sailed through the air with a low whine and planted itself firmly in the panther's back. Heero tumbled to the ground in an effort to stop himself immediately and froze, hoping to mask all signs of where he'd dropped down. Forcing himself to breathe quietly and slowly through his mouth he took stock of their location in the forest. Beyond the trees and thin grass cover he could hear the panther slowly moving and whimpering.
Heero's eyes narrowed. Whimpering? Normal panthers don't whimper, only humans did that. Holding his breath he slowly lifted his head and parted the tall grass just enough to see. In front of him, in a large clearing, the panther lay. It was lying on its stomach shuddering violently. Heero swallowed and forced himself to breathe again as he watched the shuddering panther begin to shift.
The skin across the panther's back rippled and shifted as its fur began to recede. The black fur melted away to reveal darkly tanned yet amazingly smooth skin which shown in the moonlight. Around the head the hair lengthened until it spilled across his shoulders in thin glossy waves. The panther had transformed into a young man in a matter of seconds. As the transformation finished the young man shuddered and dropped to the ground in an exhausted heap.
Heero's eyes darted around the clearing, checking for other beings. The clearing was empty but still something told him it wasn't safe. Gut instinct perhaps. Whatever it was Heero didn't care, he just trusted it and stayed frozen. He was quite relieved as well for no sooner had he decided against moving then did he see another form enter the clearing.
This new creature seemed to grow out of the water of the lake. As Heero watched his mind registered that this was the same clearing he'd met the strange elfin boy in and it appeared that this was that same elfin boy, yet seven years older.
The boy moved lightly over the land, silent and quick as a spirit. He wore a simple white shift as before which gave him an ethereal glow, as if he were actually the spirit he moved like. His long hair curved down from his head in long waves to the ground and curled up conveniently so it didn't brush the ground. As the boy moved his hair moved about, neatly avoiding snaring or contacting with the rocks and grass. In fact the movement of the boy's chestnut colored hair reminded Heero of a cat's tail. Was that hair alive? It sure seemed like it.
The boy knelt next to the sweating and shivering shapeshifter and shook his head sadly. "Fei, Fei, you're getting careless."
A growl emitted from the panther-boy but that was all.
The elfin boy reached forward carefully and dislodged the dagger, quickly tossing it away. He frowned at the wound then leaned down and placed his lips against it, kissing it.
Heero's eyes widened and his knee began to tingle as he remembered Duo doing the same thing for him seven years ago. He watched silently as the wound began to heal and the panther-boy seemed to relax. Suddenly the panther-boy jerked away and whirled to face the forest where Heero crouched, hidden.
"Well, how's that for gratitude," the elfin boy muttered.
"It's still here."
The elfin boy's violet eyes scanned the edge of the forest and tall grasses carefully and finally locked with Heero's eyes. Heero felt a shudder down his spine as it was made quite clear that he'd been discovered. He made a quick decision to step out of the woods and confront both of them before he was attacked and attempted to move forward. But he couldn't. Instead his body seemed to freeze over, literally. The cold shot up from the ground, through his feet, up his body and straight to his head, and suddenly he just couldn't move, no matter how much he tried. Heero tried to open his mouth and speak but that didn't work either. Instead he swallowed and waited in hidden fear of what would happen next.
He felt completely stupid and angry with himself for falling into such an obvious trap. He should have raced out and killed the panther-boy as soon as he'd collapsed, he shouldn't have waited. His hesitance had just sealed his fate. Yet the violet-eyed elfin boy didn't expose him, instead he turned with a shrug back to the shapeshifter.
"You're getting jumpy, Fei. No human is stupid enough to keep chasing you this far after he lost his weapon. See for yourself, the wood is empty."
The shapeshifter's eyes scanned the line of trees and tall grass once again, passing right over Heero each time. He reluctantly nodded.
"Now get out of here! You know better then to attack the humans, if you lead them here they'll kill us." The violet eyes narrowed dangerously and the shapeshifter nodded.
Turning, and still walking on all fours in his naked human form, he disappeared down a trail that led under the waterfall. The elfin boy watched him disappear, turning his back to Heero. As soon as the shapeshifter was out of sight Heero felt his body flood with warmth and he stumbled forward out of the brush, to fall flat on his face. He sat up and glared at the elfin boy who turned back to face him with a chuckle.
"Don't glare at me like that, I just saved your life, you should be thankful."
Heero said nothing as he retrieved his dagger and stood up, brushing off the dirt from his clothing. He sheathed the dagger in his belt and turned back to the boy. Then something caught his eyes. On the boy's shoulder, just barely covered by the sleeve of the shift was a red scar. A red scar that was the exact size of an arrow head. Heero's expression filled with surprise and he met the boy's eyes. If their had been any doubt before there wasn't any now. This boy was definitely the same one he'd met in this exact same clearing seven years ago.
"Duo…" Heero muttered quietly.
The boy stiffened and his eyes narrowed. "How do you know my name, human?"
Heero watched Duo for a second then nodded toward the scar on Duo's shoulder.
Duo's hand numbly reached up ad touched the scar, lightly. His eyes widened and traveled over Heero, scrutinizing him. "The boy with the scrapped knee," he muttered.
Heero nodded.
Cold anger swept through Duo's expression suddenly and Heero involuntarily took a step back in surprise. Violet eyes crackled with violent energy. "How are you these days Heero? Are you as good a shot as your brother?" he hissed.
Heero winced at the hatred in that voice and diverted his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry," he muttered.
"Not accepted!" Duo spat out. "Do you know how much iron hurts, human? I almost died from that shot! Just…" Duo turned and headed for the water. "Just go away."
And that was that, Heero turned and walked back toward his village. He really didn't blame Duo; the violet-eyed boy had every right to be angry with him. Heero didn't have any right to ask for forgiveness given the passage of time and circumstances. Expecting the boy to be his friend again was just an absurd idea, especially when one thought about the complications it would entail. A human being friends with a fae? Not a chance. Unheard of.
All his life Heero had grown up hearing stories about the fae. Most were human stories designed to frighten young children into listening to their parents and he couldn't remember a single one where the fae was kind or helpful. It was always the tale of the human who'' been cursed by the fae, or the baby who'' been kidnapped by the fae or the village that had been destroyed by the fae… always portraying them in an evil light. Up until that day seven years ago Heero and his brother had grown up with these stories. So it was no wonder Trowa had shot at Duo, but that didn't mean he should have.
After that day, despite the stories and the rumor of the real way Relena had died Heero just couldn't bring himself to believe that Duo was like all the fae he'd heard about. And the recent events? Well they'd just served to cement his suspicions that there might actually be 'good' fae out there. Heero knew if Duo was anything like the fae of village myth then the violet eyed boy would have killed him without a second thought, or worse. But he was very much alive and that made all the difference to him.
Heero exited the wood and entered the village just as the morning sun broke over the horizon. Quiet an solemn he made his way toward his own home, wishing only to get some sleep, exhaustion beginning to flow through his body. However Trowa met him at the door with an inquiring expression.
"How's Hilde?" Heero asked as he walked past his brother and straight for his bed. Trowa turned and followed his younger brother with his bright green eyes but did not move from the doorway.
"Fine, no major damage."
Heero nodded and deposited his dagger next to the best, then laid down and closed his eyes, his back facing his brother.
"It got away," Trowa stated quietly.
"Hn," Heero grunted an affirmation. He heard Trowa cross the room and sit on the edge of his won bed.
"It will come back."
Heero sighed silently and opened his eyes, Trowa had a point. Taking a deep breath he sat up and shook his head, forcing his fatigue and weariness from the earlier chase to go away. Without so much as a muttered word Heero stood back up and placed the dagger back in his belt. Crossing the room he grabbed one of Trowa's extra bows and a quiver of iron tipped arrows. He headed for the door.
"Heero."
Heero paused but didn't turn to look back at his brother.
Trowa stood up, walked over and placed a hand on Heero's shoulder. "You're exhausted, let me take the hunt."
He shook his head. "I know which way it went and of the two of us I'm better at tracking ground animals." It wasn't a boast of any kind; rather it was simply the truth. Trowa's specialty was hunting birds and though he had nearly flawless aim he lacked the skills and patience to hunt large animals through the woods. Not to mention the fact that Heero had no desire to explain to his brother that he'd returned to the clearing and that he suspected there was a doorway behind the waterfall to fae territory. He also knew that if Trowa saw Duo again Duo might actually get killed this time or at least Trowa would. Whereas if Heero himself went he saved his brother and Duo, even if the elfin boy didn't appreciate it.
Heero waited quietly, feeling Trowa's eyes bury into the back of his head. He knew his brother was trying to find a reason for Heero not to go, but there wasn't one. Finally Trowa's grip tightened and then dropped away, he took a step back. "Be careful, don't get careless."
Heero nodded and left the small wooden house, heading straight back to the woods and the clearing beyond. As he walked back into the trees he could have sworn he heard Duo laughing at him.
"You walked all the way back to your village and then all the way back here to kill Fei without sleep and you expect me not to stop you? Stupid human…"
He could just imagine the boy laughing at him. Heero shook his head at himself and almost laughed at himself out loud.
All those stories of fae cursing humans drifted back into his mind and suddenly he realized Duo was like the fae from those stories. Duo had cursed him, whether he knew it or not. Heero realized he wasn't going into the forest to hunt the panther-boy, he was going into the forest to find Duo again. He didn't care if Duo was still mad at him for what had happened seven years ago. He didn't care one bit, all he knew was he wanted to see Duo again.
Just to see Duo and nothing more.
"What happened?" Trowa asked, his emerald eyes darting from shadow to shadow.
"A panther… it attacked me." The girl sobbed out. Trowa stood up and backed to his brother's side. For a second Trowa caught Heero's eyes.
"Panthers don't attack people, not in the middle of a village," Heero murmured softly.
Trowa nodded. "Shapeshifter," he hissed under his breath.
Above them came a thick and low growl. Both boys whirled around and watched shadows. Immediately Heero caught sight of dark brown eyes that somehow managed to glow in the dark while staying almost black. Without a word Heero took off after the panther, dagger at ready.
"Take care of her Trowa," Heero yelled back, but he didn't even look back to see if his brother had heard him, his mind was completely on the chase.
Heero moved through the forest with trained ease, his steps were light and his speed almost matched that of the panther. He'd spent the last seven years of his life learning the forest like the back of his hand. As a result he sailed after the panther, avoiding fallen tree trunks and low branches as if they didn't even exist. As they left the village far behind Heero ducked down and sprinted with all his energy, gaining speed and catching up to the panther, only for a moment. In that one moment Heero threw his dagger. The small, yet expertly crafted, blade sailed through the air with a low whine and planted itself firmly in the panther's back. Heero tumbled to the ground in an effort to stop himself immediately and froze, hoping to mask all signs of where he'd dropped down. Forcing himself to breathe quietly and slowly through his mouth he took stock of their location in the forest. Beyond the trees and thin grass cover he could hear the panther slowly moving and whimpering.
Heero's eyes narrowed. Whimpering? Normal panthers don't whimper, only humans did that. Holding his breath he slowly lifted his head and parted the tall grass just enough to see. In front of him, in a large clearing, the panther lay. It was lying on its stomach shuddering violently. Heero swallowed and forced himself to breathe again as he watched the shuddering panther begin to shift.
The skin across the panther's back rippled and shifted as its fur began to recede. The black fur melted away to reveal darkly tanned yet amazingly smooth skin which shown in the moonlight. Around the head the hair lengthened until it spilled across his shoulders in thin glossy waves. The panther had transformed into a young man in a matter of seconds. As the transformation finished the young man shuddered and dropped to the ground in an exhausted heap.
Heero's eyes darted around the clearing, checking for other beings. The clearing was empty but still something told him it wasn't safe. Gut instinct perhaps. Whatever it was Heero didn't care, he just trusted it and stayed frozen. He was quite relieved as well for no sooner had he decided against moving then did he see another form enter the clearing.
This new creature seemed to grow out of the water of the lake. As Heero watched his mind registered that this was the same clearing he'd met the strange elfin boy in and it appeared that this was that same elfin boy, yet seven years older.
The boy moved lightly over the land, silent and quick as a spirit. He wore a simple white shift as before which gave him an ethereal glow, as if he were actually the spirit he moved like. His long hair curved down from his head in long waves to the ground and curled up conveniently so it didn't brush the ground. As the boy moved his hair moved about, neatly avoiding snaring or contacting with the rocks and grass. In fact the movement of the boy's chestnut colored hair reminded Heero of a cat's tail. Was that hair alive? It sure seemed like it.
The boy knelt next to the sweating and shivering shapeshifter and shook his head sadly. "Fei, Fei, you're getting careless."
A growl emitted from the panther-boy but that was all.
The elfin boy reached forward carefully and dislodged the dagger, quickly tossing it away. He frowned at the wound then leaned down and placed his lips against it, kissing it.
Heero's eyes widened and his knee began to tingle as he remembered Duo doing the same thing for him seven years ago. He watched silently as the wound began to heal and the panther-boy seemed to relax. Suddenly the panther-boy jerked away and whirled to face the forest where Heero crouched, hidden.
"Well, how's that for gratitude," the elfin boy muttered.
"It's still here."
The elfin boy's violet eyes scanned the edge of the forest and tall grasses carefully and finally locked with Heero's eyes. Heero felt a shudder down his spine as it was made quite clear that he'd been discovered. He made a quick decision to step out of the woods and confront both of them before he was attacked and attempted to move forward. But he couldn't. Instead his body seemed to freeze over, literally. The cold shot up from the ground, through his feet, up his body and straight to his head, and suddenly he just couldn't move, no matter how much he tried. Heero tried to open his mouth and speak but that didn't work either. Instead he swallowed and waited in hidden fear of what would happen next.
He felt completely stupid and angry with himself for falling into such an obvious trap. He should have raced out and killed the panther-boy as soon as he'd collapsed, he shouldn't have waited. His hesitance had just sealed his fate. Yet the violet-eyed elfin boy didn't expose him, instead he turned with a shrug back to the shapeshifter.
"You're getting jumpy, Fei. No human is stupid enough to keep chasing you this far after he lost his weapon. See for yourself, the wood is empty."
The shapeshifter's eyes scanned the line of trees and tall grass once again, passing right over Heero each time. He reluctantly nodded.
"Now get out of here! You know better then to attack the humans, if you lead them here they'll kill us." The violet eyes narrowed dangerously and the shapeshifter nodded.
Turning, and still walking on all fours in his naked human form, he disappeared down a trail that led under the waterfall. The elfin boy watched him disappear, turning his back to Heero. As soon as the shapeshifter was out of sight Heero felt his body flood with warmth and he stumbled forward out of the brush, to fall flat on his face. He sat up and glared at the elfin boy who turned back to face him with a chuckle.
"Don't glare at me like that, I just saved your life, you should be thankful."
Heero said nothing as he retrieved his dagger and stood up, brushing off the dirt from his clothing. He sheathed the dagger in his belt and turned back to the boy. Then something caught his eyes. On the boy's shoulder, just barely covered by the sleeve of the shift was a red scar. A red scar that was the exact size of an arrow head. Heero's expression filled with surprise and he met the boy's eyes. If their had been any doubt before there wasn't any now. This boy was definitely the same one he'd met in this exact same clearing seven years ago.
"Duo…" Heero muttered quietly.
The boy stiffened and his eyes narrowed. "How do you know my name, human?"
Heero watched Duo for a second then nodded toward the scar on Duo's shoulder.
Duo's hand numbly reached up ad touched the scar, lightly. His eyes widened and traveled over Heero, scrutinizing him. "The boy with the scrapped knee," he muttered.
Heero nodded.
Cold anger swept through Duo's expression suddenly and Heero involuntarily took a step back in surprise. Violet eyes crackled with violent energy. "How are you these days Heero? Are you as good a shot as your brother?" he hissed.
Heero winced at the hatred in that voice and diverted his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry," he muttered.
"Not accepted!" Duo spat out. "Do you know how much iron hurts, human? I almost died from that shot! Just…" Duo turned and headed for the water. "Just go away."
And that was that, Heero turned and walked back toward his village. He really didn't blame Duo; the violet-eyed boy had every right to be angry with him. Heero didn't have any right to ask for forgiveness given the passage of time and circumstances. Expecting the boy to be his friend again was just an absurd idea, especially when one thought about the complications it would entail. A human being friends with a fae? Not a chance. Unheard of.
All his life Heero had grown up hearing stories about the fae. Most were human stories designed to frighten young children into listening to their parents and he couldn't remember a single one where the fae was kind or helpful. It was always the tale of the human who'' been cursed by the fae, or the baby who'' been kidnapped by the fae or the village that had been destroyed by the fae… always portraying them in an evil light. Up until that day seven years ago Heero and his brother had grown up with these stories. So it was no wonder Trowa had shot at Duo, but that didn't mean he should have.
After that day, despite the stories and the rumor of the real way Relena had died Heero just couldn't bring himself to believe that Duo was like all the fae he'd heard about. And the recent events? Well they'd just served to cement his suspicions that there might actually be 'good' fae out there. Heero knew if Duo was anything like the fae of village myth then the violet eyed boy would have killed him without a second thought, or worse. But he was very much alive and that made all the difference to him.
Heero exited the wood and entered the village just as the morning sun broke over the horizon. Quiet an solemn he made his way toward his own home, wishing only to get some sleep, exhaustion beginning to flow through his body. However Trowa met him at the door with an inquiring expression.
"How's Hilde?" Heero asked as he walked past his brother and straight for his bed. Trowa turned and followed his younger brother with his bright green eyes but did not move from the doorway.
"Fine, no major damage."
Heero nodded and deposited his dagger next to the best, then laid down and closed his eyes, his back facing his brother.
"It got away," Trowa stated quietly.
"Hn," Heero grunted an affirmation. He heard Trowa cross the room and sit on the edge of his won bed.
"It will come back."
Heero sighed silently and opened his eyes, Trowa had a point. Taking a deep breath he sat up and shook his head, forcing his fatigue and weariness from the earlier chase to go away. Without so much as a muttered word Heero stood back up and placed the dagger back in his belt. Crossing the room he grabbed one of Trowa's extra bows and a quiver of iron tipped arrows. He headed for the door.
"Heero."
Heero paused but didn't turn to look back at his brother.
Trowa stood up, walked over and placed a hand on Heero's shoulder. "You're exhausted, let me take the hunt."
He shook his head. "I know which way it went and of the two of us I'm better at tracking ground animals." It wasn't a boast of any kind; rather it was simply the truth. Trowa's specialty was hunting birds and though he had nearly flawless aim he lacked the skills and patience to hunt large animals through the woods. Not to mention the fact that Heero had no desire to explain to his brother that he'd returned to the clearing and that he suspected there was a doorway behind the waterfall to fae territory. He also knew that if Trowa saw Duo again Duo might actually get killed this time or at least Trowa would. Whereas if Heero himself went he saved his brother and Duo, even if the elfin boy didn't appreciate it.
Heero waited quietly, feeling Trowa's eyes bury into the back of his head. He knew his brother was trying to find a reason for Heero not to go, but there wasn't one. Finally Trowa's grip tightened and then dropped away, he took a step back. "Be careful, don't get careless."
Heero nodded and left the small wooden house, heading straight back to the woods and the clearing beyond. As he walked back into the trees he could have sworn he heard Duo laughing at him.
"You walked all the way back to your village and then all the way back here to kill Fei without sleep and you expect me not to stop you? Stupid human…"
He could just imagine the boy laughing at him. Heero shook his head at himself and almost laughed at himself out loud.
All those stories of fae cursing humans drifted back into his mind and suddenly he realized Duo was like the fae from those stories. Duo had cursed him, whether he knew it or not. Heero realized he wasn't going into the forest to hunt the panther-boy, he was going into the forest to find Duo again. He didn't care if Duo was still mad at him for what had happened seven years ago. He didn't care one bit, all he knew was he wanted to see Duo again.
Just to see Duo and nothing more.