Chapter 3
Missie here again. Still can't think of a name so I'm half-heartedly thinking of naming it The Tain, although I've never read The Tain so I don't know what a Tain is. Little more Duo and Quatre bonding here, background for the fic, and the others make their appearance in the next chapter. Thank you everyone who reviewed the first chapter, it's done my fragile ego no end of good.
Duo and Quatre set out for Inis Gloire the next morning, with Duo riding on Quatre's back. Although he had readily agreed to the Unicorn's help, he couldn't stop worrying about how they would pull off their little ruse. Even with his horn cloaked invisibly by magic, Quatre didn't look like any horse Duo had ever seen. He was too slender, too small and his eyes looked distinctly human. They were huge and vivid, surrounded by long, dark eyelashes and it seemed that whenever Duo tried to look into them, They would change color. Even his mane was strange. It changed color the same way his eyes did, occasionally blond, gold, silver, white and sometimes even very light blue.
" Oh, well,' thought Duo " I'll worry about it when we get to Inis Gloire." He was enjoying the Unicorn's company too much to ask him to leave.
At about noon, they had reached a mountain range called Sleibh Mis, which they had to cross to get to Inis Gloire. Duo groaned and buried his head in Quatre's mane.
" It'll take us DAYS to cross that stupid mountain!"
/ Calm down, Duo. It'll only take me a few hours./
" You're fast, but not THAT fast."
Suddenly, Two enormous white feathered wings appeared out of nowhere on either side of Duo. He nearly fainted.
" YOU'VE GOT WINGS?"
/ Yes, of course./
" B-but you're a Unicorn."
/ No, I'm an Alicorn. I have wings and a horn./
" Why didn't you use them before?"
/ I don't need them in the forest. I keep them disguised so I can run faster./
Quatre stretched out his wings to their full width, spanning ten feet each, and launched himself into the air. He tilted at an almost vertical angle, causing Duo to panic and squeeze the animal's long neck. After a while, they passed the peak of Sleibh Mis and Quatre began to descend. Duo breathed a sigh of relief and loosened his stranglehold on Quatre's neck. Only then did he notice that the Alicorn's eyes were scanning the mountain's face, the lowlands and even the sky nervously.
They landed at the foot of a cliff, near a small cave. Duo ran inside and began to set up camp. Quatre stayed outside momentarily, still searching the sky suspiciously, then joined Duo inside the cave.
" My entire life flashed in front of my eyes. It was way too short!"
/ But I got you here safely and quickly, didn't I?/
" Hey, Quatre, can you speak normally or do you always have to talk to me in my head?"
/ How many talking horses do you know?/
" It's kind of freaky hearing you talk in my mind."
/ Because you can't tell my voice from the other voices in your head?/
" Haw haw. You know what I mean."
/ I can change to my human form if you want, but can I borrow some clothes? My human body is always cold, for some reason./
" Sure."
Duo rummaged around in his backpack until he pulled out a spare overshirt and breeches, and some old cloth boots. Quatre's horn reappeared and filled the small cave with light. The Alicorn reared to its full height, diminished in size and then changed shape. Duo had to shield his eyes from the blinding light, and when he opened them his jaw dropped.
A small, extremely beautiful blonde boy stood completely naked in front of him. The boy shivered.
" Duo, it's freezing in here. Could you hand me that shirt?"
Duo gulped and handed him the clothes. He hadn't seen another immortal in so long that he'd forgotten just how beautiful they were. Quatre was a lot smaller than him, almost girlishly slender and even his skin was the same pure white that it was in the Alicorn form. His short, slightly tousled blonde hair changed colour like his mane, from white to gold to silver and white again. He finished dressing and sat down near the fire that Duo had prepared.
" Are you okay, Duo? You look a little pale."
" Me? Yeah, I-I'm fine."
Duo recovered from his initial shock and remembered that he had wanted to ask Quatre a few things.
" Why didn't you tell me you had wings? We could've been out of that forest in minutes."
" I don't fly much. Whenever I used to fly, I was attacked by griffons."
"Where?"
" By the coast. I used to live there, but after I was attacked the first time, they started hunting me, so I had to leave."
" And you moved to the forest?'
" No. I lived with humans as a human myself for a while, but they turned out to be more dangerous than the griffons. I started living in the forest about six years ago, and stayed there because the demons in the forest I could outrun."
"What were those things, anyway?"
" They call themselves Kai. I don't call them anything, I just avoid them. Normally I can escape them easily, but that day they outnumbered me and set a trap."
" What did they want with you?'
" Couldn't you guess?"
" Sorry."
" Don't be. It was partly my own fault for not paying attention to my surroundings. They've been chasing me since I moved to the forest, and my magic doesn't faze them too much."
" I heard from stories that Sister Helen that your kind were really powerful."
" Our powers were all connected to other Alicorns and Unicorns. When one died, we all lost some power. Now they're all gone, so I'm an easy target for all kinds of evil spirits. But don't worry, they won't attack once we reach Inis Gloire. They tend to keep some distance between themselves and humans."
" How much further is it?"
" If we leave at dawn and I gallop all day, we'll be there by sunset tomorrow."
" Great. I should let you get some shut-eye then."
Duo pulled a threadbare old blanket out of his bag, and wondered how he'd be able to share it with Quatre. Turning his head in the other boy's direction, he smiled. Quatre was already asleep, curled up in the clothes Duo had lent him. They were too big, and provided him with more warmth than the blanket could have. Duo rolled it up and used it as a pillow instead.
They left the cave at dawn, shortly after Duo had torn his makeshift pillow into strips and fashioned a crude bridle to convince people that Quatre was a horse, and also so he could direct the animal without talking to him and looking like a madman.
Inis Gloire was alive with people, natives, merchants and thousands of soldiers who wished to join the Fianna. They were all directed towards Mhac Gaoithe, the castle in the centre of the town. Stopping briefly outside the huge wrought iron portcullis, Duo gulped slightly, made sure that his incantation had thoroughly disguised him, then led Quatre through the courtyard.
