Gundam Fairies
By: Kallie
Chapter 4
The girls ran as fast as they could toward their home. The closer they got the more smoke they saw and the thicker it got. It got to the point where they couldn't go any farther without choking on the smoke. So Summersong called the winter winds to push it away. The guys were behind them but they were panting and having trouble keeping up.
After the smoke was gone there was a clear view of the village, or what was left of it. The huts that were standing were charred, some were still ablaze. There were ashes where other huts had once stood. The trees had been cut done around the village. Everyone looked on in horror. Then the silence was broken.
Treeflower ran to where her clan's houses had been. She looked around frantically, but couldn't find anyone. "Grandmam! Da! Treevine!" She yelled hoping one would answer. The other girls cautiously made their way toward where their houses had been. They didn't expect them to be there.
Riverwind stopped in front of her hut. She leaned down to examine the ruins. She noticed something glitter, so she picked it up. It was the dagger her mother always kept with her. In all her years Riverwind had never seen her mother take the dagger off. She whirled to where the door had been to see that some kind of bar was on it. She gasped and fell to her knees. Her mother had been burned alive. Riverwind clutched the dagger to her chest while trying to stop her tears.
Skydancer's home was on fire. She walked around to the back. What see saw made her faint. She would have fallen to the ground except that Trowa was behind her. He caught her, and looked to see what had caused this. Her family had made it to the door when something had shot them. They lay where they had fallen, but they were missing something. Whoever had done this had descalped them. He took her back to where Treeflower was currently standing.
Moonchild's home hadn't survived. It was all ashes, and she found no traces of her family. She couldn't stand to think of what might have happened so she whirled around and headed back towards Treeflower. "Don't worry. We'll find them." She said to comfort Treeflower.
Summersong had headed towards her house. She was dreading what she might find. Heero had no choice but to follow. She still held his chains. Her house wasn't damaged in the least. There were no scorch marks, or anything else. She circled to the back and screamed.
Upon hearing her scream, all the others came running. They ran behind the house and stopped dead in their tracks. Behind Summersong's hut about half the village was found, some had suffered the same fate as Skydancer's family, others had been hung. Still more had been stabbed and shot. The scene was horrible. Skydancer who had been revived fainted again upon the sight. Moonchild and Treeflower turned and ran towards the bushes. They lost whatever had been in their stomachs. Riverwind stood there and clutched her hands into fists. She had tears streaming down her face, and an intense look of hate was there also. Summersong had turned around and thrown herself into whoever was closest. That just happened to be Heero. She was sobbing hysterically.
They found Treeflower's missing family, as well as Moonchild and Summersong's. The girls saw others that they had grown up with. The rest of the village must have been burned alive. Treeflower came back and her face had hardened. Her eyes were devoid of emotion. "We should do the burial rights soon." She said. "We are the only survivors."
"But that means we're the last of our kind." Moonchild said. Treeflower broke down at that. She fell to her knees and started to give off heart-wrenching sobs. Skydancer was starting to come around again. She heard Treeflower's cries and went over and hugged her. They started to cry together.
Trowa walked to the edge of the group. Skydancer had let go of his chains and they had disappeared. He went into the only standing building. In there he found something and brought it out. "Come look at this." He quietly said. The guys who weren't busy walked over. That would be all but Heero.
Trowa had found a small bear trap and a note. He hadn't opened the note yet. "Do you think it was?" Quatre asked.
"Has to be. It fits right in with personality." Duo stated. He looked disgusted. Moonchild noticed the guys over there and walked over to them. She saw what they were holding. "What's that?" she asked.
Trowa silently handed over the note. Hilde opened it and read. She looked confused. "What do they mean?" The note went:
My dearest children,
I have only a few minutes till he discovers me. I am sorry we could not keep the village safe. You must under no circumstances stop protecting our forest. It, like you will soon be, is the last of its kind. Remember your training, and your destinies. You must be strong even if we are not with you. We are all extremely proud of you and always will be. Farewell.
"What does she mean, our destinies?" Moonchild repeated. She sighed and turned to look at her companions. The guys backed up and started to talk. They stopped backing up when they thought they were out of her hearing range.
"I can't believe they would hire someone who would do something like this." Quatre said. He felt extremely sorry for the girls.
"I can. That Dermal fellow was no good." Wufei said.
"And why didn't you tell us that before we got employed by him?!" Duo said as loudly as he dared.
The next thing he knew he was flying threw the air. He hit the ground with an "oomph".
Duo jumped up and looked about. He saw the guys looking at him weird. He turned around to see an enraged Moonchild standing behind him. Her eyes were burning with an emotion he didn't have time to name. She punched him in the stomach and started to yell. Soon it was an all out fight between Moonchild and Duo.
The noise of the fight attracted the girl's attention. "Moonchild. What are you doing!" Skydancer yelled out.
"Stop this at once!" Riverwind ordered. The two continued to fight. It actually can't be called a fight, since Duo was only doing defensive moves. Moonchild pulled out a dagger from the back of her skirt. She succeeded in knocking Duo down. She held the knife at his throat and applied pressure. It wasn't enough to pierce the skin, but it kept him still.
"Their here to destroy the forest! They were sent by Dermal." She shouted. She never took her eyes off of Duo.
"What!" Riverwind cried. She whirled around and glared at Wufei. He had moved behind her at sometime. She started towards him, her look promising harm. She was two feet from him when someone holding her back stopped her. She looked to see Skydancer holding her arms.
"Stop this Riverwind. They didn't cause the destruction here. He may have sent them, but they haven't harmed us yet. I won't let you start a fight. You know better than that. You're better than that." Skydancer had pleading in her eyes when she said this. Riverwind sighed and turned away.
Summersong and Treeflower had pulled Moonchild off of Duo. She had stopped struggling. She had gotten a similar talk. "So what should we do with them now?" Summersong asked.
"We tie them back up and keep them. They can help us clean up this mess." Treeflower said. The girls nodded and turned and looked at the guys. They each repeated what they'd done before and the guys were once again chained. Treeflower walked in between all of the guys and knelt down. She placed her hand on the soil and closed her eyes. Her hand glowed and then a tree started to sprout up. She backed up and kept her hand pointing at the tree. The tree grew and when it was a nice sized tree she stopped.
The guys were then tied to various parts of the tree. It was a rather comical site. Duo was tied haphazardly to a branch 10 feet from the ground. Quatre and Trowa were tied to the trunk of the tree. Only they were upside down. Wufei was hanging in a net again, and Heero was hanging from the same branch as Duo, only his feet were tied to the branch.
The girls ignored any shouts from the tree and got in a circle. The circle was right next to the tree. They each produced a dagger. They had started the burial ceremony.
"I, Moonchild, the last of the night clan bless you in your journey to the other world. May the night keep you safe." She took the dagger and laid it in the middle of the circle.
"I, Skydancer, the last of the animal clan bless you. May the animals protect you." She did the same as Moonchild.
"I, Treeflower, of the tree clan bless you in your journey. May the trees give you shelter." Repeated the action also.
"I, Summersong, last remaining member of the season clan bless your soul. May the seasons be kind to you." She laid her dagger over top of the others.
"I, Riverwind, the last living member of the water clan bless you. May the river guide you safely." Her dagger was the last. The daggers started to glow. The intensity of the light grew till no one could see anything. When the light disappeared a woman stood where the daggers had once been.
She was tall and willowy. Her hair was white and long. There were willow leaves in her hair. Her eyes were an intense green and held a look of infinite wisdom. She wore a light green dress that went to her ankles.
"Hello precious ones." Her voice sounded like wind in the trees. "I see you've survived this tragedy."
"Hello Mother Forest." Summersong greeted.
"I see you've made some new friends." Mother Forest said with amusement in her voice. She walked over to the tree and started to examine Trowa and Quatre.
"They're hardly friends. They were sent to destroy us." Moonchild spat.
"Have they said that? Have they caused you harm?" No one said anything. "Well then we must treat them as visitors. We haven't had any in the longest time."
The girls started to protest. "I'll have none of that. They will be taken care of, do you understand?"
The girls nodded. There was no arguing with Mother Forest when she had made up her mind. "Very good. Now get them out of this tree."
"But what if they go back and tell where we are?" Treeflower asked.
"That's nothing to worry about. But if it will make you feel better I'll bind them to you." Mother Forest looked at all the girls hard.
Binding someone to you was nothing to take lightly. They had to stay within a two-mile's radius of you. If they died you did also. They received the same injuries as you. Often times people would go through moments of the other person's life while sleeping. The only way to undo a binding was a very complicated process. Most people didn't bother with undoing it since they never survived the process.
The girls looked at each other. This was a big decision. Surprisingly enough, Summersong was the first one to decide. She stepped forward, looked at Mother Forest and said "All right. Bind me to one of them." The other girls one by one strode forward and also agreed.
Mother Forest nodded and said " All right then. But you have to get them out of the tree first."
The girls got the guys out of the tree and lined them up. They then stood in front of them. The girls went back to Mother Forest's side. "All right. Summersong since you volunteered. You'll go first." Summersong walked in front of Mother Forest. Mother Forest motioned for Heero to come forward. When he wouldn't cooperate, she picked him up and floated him over in front of Summersong. They were facing each other. Mother Forest started to say some kind of chant, but neither heard it. A pale green thread of light encircled Summersong, then Heero. IT bound them just like a chain would. They both glowed and then the thread disappeared. The process was done, they stepped away for the next two to go.
Moonchild went next. Mother Forest paired her up with Duo. She was anything but happy about it. When they were done it was Skydancer's turn. She was paired with Trowa. Neither said anything. Next it was Treeflower's turn. Quatre was paired up with her. While facing each other Quatre caught her gaze. The world around them faded and they heard nothing. They snapped out of it when Mother Forest clapped her hands. She was smiling at them. They both blushed and moved away. Riverwind was last. The only one left to be paired with was Wufei. She wasn't thrilled about it. But this way she could keep an eye on him.
When all was done, Mother Forest looked at them. She smiled at the boys. "Welcome to the village." She turned towards the girls and a sad look entered her eyes. " I am sorry for the lose of your families and friends. When you were chosen we knew it would be a difficult journey for you. The path you were destined for is a lonely one."
"Mother Forest, Nightflower mentioned something about remembering our destiny. What did she mean?" Moonchild asked.
" I am sorry, but I cannot reveal that right now. You will know soon enough. I must go now. Moonchild the night is calling. Goodbye my guardians." And with that she disappeared.
"You people are really intense." Duo said to no one in particular.
The girls sighed and moved to go find a place to sleep. They found a spot and settled down. The guys also found a spot. Moonchild stayed where she was. Her job was just beginning. Tonight she would have tons to do. She had plenty to mend in the village alone. About Midnight she was done and walked wearily to where the other girls were. But something caught her eye. The daggers were back. Mother Forest had returned them. She picked hers up, just then an intense feeling of sadness and grief washed over her. She undid her hair and let it fall. She raised her dagger and started to attack her hair. When she was done there was a pile of hair at her feet. She decided to curl up right there. And with that she fell asleep.
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Well that's it for chapter 4. Hope you liked it. please review. Next chapter will be up soon.