Disclaimer: Not mine.
Subtle Warrior
He stared into the flames
of the crackling fire. Another night on
his own…not that he cared, He was used to being alone. Hidden away in the surrounding forest, lay
his weapon of ultimate destruction.
Scattered beside him were his few possessions of sentimental value…three
pictures…a leather-bound book…and a small box, holding the most precious of
all. He rested his fingertips on it for
a moment, then snatching them away as though the box was searing with heat.
Breathing hard, he covered
the items with a blanket and began to count the stars and constellations,
pushing memories out of his head.
~Draco, Taurus, Aries—~
*You're crazy!!*
~No…don't think about that
day… Capricorn, Aquarius, Sirius, Canopus, Rigel, Vega—~
*Attacking unarmed
soldiers?! You call yourself a man?!*
~ —Betelgeuse, Alpha Centauri, Spica, Procyon…~
*Perhaps…perhaps,
you are Nataku…*
He
gritted his teeth, scanning the broad sky.
~Little Bear, Orion, Cassiopeia, Scorpio, Leo…Milky
Way…nova…nebula…Pleiades…~
*B…Bravo…
Farewell…*
"Ngh!!"
He clutched his head, desperately pushing away at the memories that flooded his
psyche. "No…" He pleaded. Useless…the
memories began to replay themselves, opening old scars and wounds that never
healed. Mild at first; then intensifying
in anguishing remembrance. "Live…just live through today…"
*There is
no justice in fighting in this war!!*
The
haunting image of him, yelling at his wife… her broken body and her death,
wrenching at his heart. The sight of
detonating the Lake Victoria base, L5 exploding…leaving him alone…
The last
one came… The splitting up of him and his fellow pilots. All of them had a place to go, except
him. Where would he go anyway? The eerie gap in space where his home had
once been?
He stood up and walked away from
the fire, standing at the edge of a ravine.
Casting his eyes upward, he found the L5 cluster, then the interval
where his home had rested. His mind
drifted back to the conversation he had had earlier…with a man named Dekim.
*~*~*~*Flashback*~*~*~*
"Chang Wufei," An older man
approached Wufei as he cleaned up camp from last night. He pulled out his katana and held it at the
man's throat.
"What do you want?" He
growled.
"I have a proposal for
you…" He cleared his throat and ignored
the fact that he was being held at sword-point. "Your gundam,"
Wufei jerked slightly at the
word used so casually in peace-times.
His eyes narrowed and he scowled.
"What about it?"
"Yours is the only one that
hasn't been sent on a one-way trip to the sun.
We need it for the new revolution."
"Another war?" He
snorted. "There is no justice in that."
Wufei let the katana drop to his side and turned away. He stuffed his remaining possessions in a
bag and was about to leave when the man spoke up again.
"You want revenge don't
you?" He asked. Wufei glanced over his
shoulder, slightly surprised. The man
smiled and continued. "Revenge for your
home colony? Revenge on the innocent lives destroyed? …Revenge," He lowered his
voice as if telling a secret. "For your wife?"
The last reason caught him unawares and his scowl deepened.
"Who are you?!"
"Dekim Barton."
"B…Barton?"
"Think about what I said,
Chang Wufei." The elderly man turned
and left Wufei with his thoughts.
*~*~*~*End Flashback*~*~*~*
He turned his gaze downward
into the ravine. It curved and twisted,
ledges sticking out here and there. The
faint sound of running water came from the bottom.
~This is the only way…I will
not let Nataku be used for another war.~
He looked into the darkness of the canyon and set his jaw. Reaching into his pocket, he came up with a
detonation device…the detonation to his beloved Nataku. Taking a deep breath, Wufei pushed the
button. A loud explosion came from the
trees where he had hidden his gundam.
He let the device slip from his hand.
~Nataku…I'm coming…~
He let himself fall forward
down into the darkness of the ravine.
The wind whistled past his ears and dried the tears trailing down his
cheeks. He hit the water with a dull splash
and the cold shot through his body. He
surfaced once, then let the water close in over his head.
~The world has no use of a
soldier like me…~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"We found him."
"Excellent."
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"His condition…"
"What about it?"
"He…he was found at the
bottom of a cliff ledge…" The soldier hesitated before continuing. "He's being cared for now. Every bone in his body was crushed."
"He lived." It
wasn't an inquiry, more of answering a question.
"Y…yes sir."
"Thank you, you're
dismissed."
The soldier quickly saluted
before rushing out the door. The other
turned to the window, stared out and smiled smugly.
"I'll win yet, Chang
Wufei."
*~*End*~*
MLT: See, I though it was
kind of weird that Wufei got this spiffy refurbished gundam when he didn't send
it into the sun…so this was just my version of why that happened. I'd better get some reviews this time!
