The Cathach

Chapter 6

Missie here once again. I have to tear myself away from my intensive studies to bring you people the next installment of this fic, so you'd better appreciate it (just kidding.) Usual warnings, lemon coming soon.

Gundam Wing is owned by a bunch of little people no one knows who work in sweatshops for 10 cents an hour, not me. I own this fic though, and I don't get 10 cents for writing it "sob."

I just finished my Irish oral exam. Basically, they put you in a room for fifteen of the longest minutes of your life and make you chat to them IN IRISH!!!! Does any other country in the world practice this kind of torture? My hands are still shaking, I can barely type (thank God for spellcheckers.)





Trowa's feet never made a sound as he followed Duo to the stables. There was something strange about him and his horse, they might even be spies from Treize's army. There was no way a human could communicate with a horse unless a druid had given him the gift, and Trowa was the last person to have ever received the gift.

He slipped through the shadows in the stable, only to find that he had lost Duo and the horse's stall was empty. He tried to make out tracks in the dirt that the horse might have made, but was distracted by something pulling at his sleeve.

/Bossman bring Heavyarms food?/

The one visible green eye rolled underneath the waterfall of auburn bangs.

" You were already fed. You can't still be hungry."

/ Shenlong take Heavyarm's food./

He had to smile at that. Heavyarms was a huge, chestnut colored charger, solidly built and reaching a height of twelve feet from hoof to neck, but was a gentle giant. Wufei's horse, Shenlong, was a light grey mare with a vicious temper and a domineering attitude, much like her owner. She bullied Heavyarms mercilessly.

" We can't really afford to give you extra rations, so keep Shenlong away from your food in future."

/ Thank you, Bossman./

" Heavyarms?"

/ Question?/

" Has anyone come in here?"

/ Bossman./

" Besides me."

/ Boy with long mane. Take deer out of horse stall./

" Where did they go?"

/ Lake. Deer wanted bath./
" Thanks."

/ Bye, Bossman./

Trowa took off in the direction of the lake in the nearby forest, following the trail of disturbed foliage and angry chatters of animals they had evidently passed by. One little feildmouse was particularly vocal about the fact that the braided soldier had nearly stepped on him. It was a running joke at Mhac Fheirme that Trowa was mute, having never exchanged words with the other soldiers besides the other Fenians and the elders. However, Trowa just preferred to listen to the animals talking around him. Most of the time, what they had to say was more interesting than what a lot of humans talked about.

Coming closer to the lake now, Trowa could here the loud voice of the braided soldier talking to someone with a much softer voice. It sounded like the horse, but he wasn't hearing the voice inside his head. He heard it the same way he heard a regular human voice. He crept through the canopy quietly and could just make out what they were saying.

" It's traditional that when a Fenian kills an enemy, he cuts off his head and ties it to the mane of his horse."

" Gross! You can tie as many decapitated heads as you want to your own hair, but keep them away from me."

" Aw, you're no fun."

Trowa got just close enough to see the two figures without them noticing him. The lake was strangely lit up by an eerie white glow- that was coming from Duo's forehead!

" The mark of the Tuatha De Danann," mused Trowa to himself, ' I thought they were extinct."

He mentally kicked himself for not noticing sooner. Even if he had been disguised by magic, Duo was too attractive to be human. And he wouldn't have been able to complete the tests the way he did without some form of magic. Trowa turned his attention to the other figure, and all thoughts of Duo were erased from his mind.

The most beautiful creature he had ever seen was bathing naked in the lake, scrubbing his perfectly white arms with a look of distaste across his lovely face. The moon's glow shimmered off the boy's skin and bathed his golden hair with a strange silver sheen. Trowa thankfully drank in the scene.

" You'd better get out now. We go to war tomorrow."

" Who are we fighting again?"

" The High King, Treize. He'll get what's coming to him for messing with my clan."

Trowa breathed a sigh of relief. Duo wasn't a spy, he was just out for revenge. He wouldn't have to be silenced.

" Hurry up, already. If you catch a chill, you're fighting tomorrow anyway."

" Fighting?" pondered Trowa," is that boy one of our soldiers?"

He quickly forgot to scan his memory for the identity of the youth when he stepped out of the lake. Trowa's breeches suddenly felt awfully tight. He nearly moaned in disappointment when Duo covered the blonde's nude form with a heavy cloak.

" Feel cleaner now?"

" Yes. I don't know how humans can let their horses live in such filthy stalls."

" Speaking of which, how is life in the stable?"

" Stable? Is he a livery worker?" thought Trowa.

" Awful. I'm getting sick of people calling me a deer."

" It could be worse. The other soldiers call me a woman."

" Why?"

" The braid. Like their hair is so perfect! Did you see that guy Wufei's ponytail? If it gets any tighter his neck will break! And don't get me started on Trowa!"

" Trowa looked kind of interesting. That hairstyle works for him."

Trowa smiled slightly at the compliment from this mysterious youth, but was getting rather confused.

" Whatever. You dry yet? Hurry up and transform."

The boy removed the cloak, and Trowa's mouth went dry. Suddenly, a blinding white light surrounded him, and the boy's figure contorted and changed. When the light receded, a new creature was standing where the boy had been.

" A unicorn? Duo's horse is a UNICORN? What's going on here?"

Duo, oblivious to the startled soldier hidden in the undergrowth, put the bridle on the unicorn. Both disguised the marks of their species before the braided boy led the animal back through the forest, whistling an old folk song as he walked. Once they had gone, Trowa crawled out of the bushes and stared in the direction they had gone.

" I guess I don't really have to keep an eye on them, but I think I will anyway."

He smiled softly to himself, then realized how truly uncomfortable his breeches were at that moment, and headed back towards the castle.