Pairings: 3x4/4x3 (not yet)

Disclaimer: Yeah, I guess you could say I don't own them. The GW characters belong to their rightful owners and that's not me.

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Miscellaneous Heirs - Part One

by Orerinia Shaydrin

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The mountain stood proud in the sunny afternoon, its top reaching up into the sky as if trying to touch the sun with its peak. It was covered two-thirds of the way with greenery, beautiful evergreen trees that filled the air with their fragrance. The other third of the mountain was rock with some grass, open to the elements, but on such a day as today was it held a certain rough beauty. It was on this one third that two figures could be seen. One was a human boy dressed in tight black leather pants and a green tunic. His brown hair flopped into his face from time to time as he observed the area with cool green eyes, clutching the sword at his side with one hand and trying to ignore his companion's chattering.

"Just a question. Why the hell are we climbing up this damn mountain?"

Trowa would have turned to address his irate companion, but since he was in the process of cautiously edging his way along a narrow ledge that was about five-hundred feet above the ground, he decided not to, for fear of falling down all the way to the bottom and becoming nothing more than a smear of flesh, bones, and blood on the ground below. Still he decided that his companion's remark deserved an answer, even if he already knew it. "Because we have to slay the dragon."

"Again. Why the hell are we climbing up this damn mountain?"

Trowa now ignored him, nearly to the end of the dangerous cliff. The ledge widened allowing for someone to walk a comfortably without fear of falling. Reaching that area he released the breath he had been holding.

"Fine, don't answer me then." His companion snorted indignantly, stepping off the edge and straightening the black feathers that hung from his long braid of chestnut hair. "One thing though, you do realize that this so called 'quest' is only to get rid of you, so you don't get in the way of your brother's way to the throne, right? It's a suicide mission."

"Yes."

"Then why the hell are you doing it?" The braided boy crossed his arms over his chest and glared daggers at Trowa.

"Because I'm not needed, Duo." He shrugged and continued to walk--and climb--the path that wove its way up the mountain.

"So you're doing this just because you're not needed in the royal family. Why don't you just run away? I'm sure no one would care." Duo stalked after his friend, enraged. "Forget about the dragon and take this as your chance to leave! It's not like your family it going to come up here and check for your remains. They'll just assume the dragon ate you."

"I have to do this. The dragon could injure or kill someone. Something needs to be done about it." The trail had ended and now he was slowly climbing his way around protrusions of rock, still diligently making his way up the mountain.

"That's another thing. Sure the damn thing's been spotted a couple of times, but only recently, and has it ever attacked anything or anyone. No!" He scrambled after Trowa, muttering curses about pig-headed princes before he resumed speaking to him. "And I still think it was an idiotic idea to leave your armor down at the bottom of the mountain."

"I would have never made it up the mountain if I hadn't." Trowa stopped for a moment and drank from the water pouch he had kept at his side. Glancing up the mountain he quickly calculated the distance there was left to get where he assumed the dragon's cave was. They were close. "Duo, you should transform and go back down. We're getting close to its cave."

The braided boy stared at him, disbelieving what he had heard. "You want me," he pointed at himself, "to leave you up here alone to fight a dragon? Like hell I will! I didn't follow you here to let you commit suicide!"

"I'm not going to let you get killed. This isn't your quest!" Trowa's hand clenched into a fist so tight that his knuckles turned white. The braided boy had been his best friend since he was a child, even if he wasn't completely human. "You stupid raven. Leave!"

Duo ground his feet into the ground and tossed back his head to get a better view of Trowa. "Make me! I ain't leaving you and I ain't transforming so live with it."

"LEAVE!"

"NO WAY IN HELL!!"

Before the situation could escalate any further a soft dry chuckle interrupted them. "You two should be more careful here. There's a dragon nearby."

Both looked up started and standing a little above them, head tilted was a boy dressed in white. He had black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail that made Duo wince and copper colored skin. Slanted black eyes inspected them intently and the boy shook his head. Whoever he was, he wasn't from around the area. He looked as foreign as it was possible to get.

Trowa warily watched the black-eyed boy, while Duo did the only thing he could do. He asked a question. "Who the fuck are you?"

The boy above them raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't really matter, I just thought to let you know that if you go any further the dragon will kill you."

"Not if we can help it! We're here to kill the dragon!" The braided boy shoved his way past Trowa, leaving him to follow. "It would be best if you got away from here. It's dangerous."

The black-eyed boy smirked and stepped to the side, allowing Duo to pass. "I thought so, but you are too weak to face its wrath. You'll be killed."

"Yeah right. That dragon has no idea about what its about to face." The braided boy brushed past, ignoring the black-eyed boy. His last words were directed to Trowa, mocking him. "Besides it might come down and kill somebody."

The boy in white smirked, "I don't think so."

Trowa walked by the boy, still silent and never taking his eyes off the newcomer. He came to a halt and appraised him. "Why are you up here?"

"I wanted to see. . ." The boy's smirk grew bigger and he started to walk away. He gave a light, haunting laugh that danced across the fresh air. "Don't say I didn't warn you. If you continue on it will be justice that the dragon imparts on you." Then the air shimmered and he was gone, as if he had never been there.

Trowa blinked, combing his brown hair out of his eyes as he searched for a place that the boy could have disappeared too. There was no way anyone could vanish like that, but that boy had. It had to be a trick.

"Hurry your ass up, Trowa! I thought you were the one eager to get yourself killed." Duo was already a good distance ahead of Trowa and gaining ground.

"Duo!" The green-eyed prince launched himself after his friend. "I told you to go back!"

"Like hell I will!"

"Keep it down, will you?" Trowa hissed as a sudden thought came upon him. He was ready to hit himself over his head for being such an imbecile. "The dragon's lair is near."

Duo came to a stand still, not moving an inch and permitting Trowa to catch up with him. He pointed a finger in front of him, his voice lowered in a whisper--not that it did much good considering what he was pointing at. "Too late."

There was the cave, huge and intimidating, gaping wide open, daring them to step inside. Rocks jutted out from the edge, sharp and pointy, looking very much like teeth. It looked dark and damp inside, cold and unforgiving. Could the dragon really be in there, waiting for them to walk in and eat them there on the spot.

Trowa swallowed the lump in his throat. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? He had known when he left his family's castle that he was on a quest that would be the death of him. All because his father and older brother were worried about a rebellion rising up with him as their figurehead. As if that would ever happen. He was trained too well as a second prince, always doing what was expecting of him.

His companion let out a sigh, "Good news. The dragon's not here."

"Are you sure?" Trowa eyed Duo as he stepped towards the cave. He trusted his friend's words, since Duo retained his excellent hearing and sight when he changed into a human from a raven.

"As sure as I am that my braid is still attached to my head." Duo's eyes flickered over the cave's entrance again. "But if I'm not mistaken, there's something--or someone--in the cave. Sounds like a human."

"You think the dragon might have captured a princess?" Trowa asked quietly, falling back onto the myths he had heard about the beasts as a child.

Duo shrugged, "I know as much about them as you do."

"Which is not much apparently." The voice came from behind them, familiar as they had heard it only a few minutes earlier. They both turned to see the white clad boy, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "Do you still insist upon fighting the dragon?"

"It's what I came here to do." Trowa said before Duo could cut in with one of his loud remarks.

"Then fight me you shall!" The boy threw his arms up in the air, wind picking up and whirling around him, hiding his figure from their sight. There was no flashing lights nor thundering noise to go with this scene, but when the wind died down a boy no longer stood before them. A dragon had taken his place.

The dragon was magnificent. He was as white as the first snow fall and as big as a good sized house. A long and elegant tail stretched out behind him, black barbs dotting along it, gleaming in the sunlight. His two front legs were more delicately made than his hind ones and all four feet were equipped with deadly looking black claws. The dragon swung his elongated head back and forth, flashing the black diamond on its forehead.

"SHIT!!! He's the dragon!" Duo grabbed onto Trowa's shoulder and hauled him back several steps.

"Obviously." The dragon drew his head back, smoke curling upward into the sky from his nostrils. "You have chosen your fate. Prepare to meet your justice."

Time slowed down, everything creeping forward, every movement noted and placed. Trowa wished that he had taken Duo's advice earlier and had run away from the whole mess that his family had gotten him into. Now because he hadn't his best friend was going to die and it was his fault. Light gleamed off of the dragon's pearl-white teeth as he opened his mouth, black smoke wafting from its depths and a red glow growing in the back of its throat. Trowa pushed Duo as far out of the way as he could, knowing that perhaps his friend would be able to get out of the way and survive. He wouldn't, the dragon's fire was already rolling out of his throat, ready to shoot forth towards Trowa. At the last second a shocked cry that came from neither his nor Duo's mouth made the dragon turn its head, fire streaming away from them, crackling and sparking in its bright orange and red fury.

"WUFEI! NO!"

A golden and blue streak ran past Trowa and Duo straight towards the dragon, which was now caught in the middle of a coughing fit, fumes pouring out of his mouth and nose. Duo had moved up to Trowa's side and they watched as the golden and blue streak--in actuality a boy--rapped the dragon on the head with his fist, chastising it. "What do you think you were doing, Wufei? You were going to kill them!"

The dragon, hacking and coughing, answered back, "I know! That's what I was trying to do in the first place until you stepped in the way."

The boy dressed in baggy blue silk pants edged with gold, a white shirt, and a vest similar to that of his pants looked taken a back for a moment. He put his hands on his hips, shaking his head and sending the pale-golden strands of his bangs dancing on his forehead. "Why in the world were you trying to do that, Wufei? You could have stayed in human form and let them think that the dragon was elsewhere."

The dragon swung his head to glare at Trowa and Wufei. "They already knew I was here, Quatre. And they were going to try and kill me."

The boy glanced back with vibrant blue-green eyes, scanning over them quickly before turning his attention back to the dragon. "That still gives you no reason to-"

"Excuse me!" Duo having finished his muttering about never knowing that dragons could transform like he could, decided that it was a fine time to interrupt. "But we're still here."

"Unfortunately."

"Wufei!"

"Hey, I was going to say something!" Duo tugged on a black feather hanging on his braid. He curiously eyed the boy with blond hair, before mischievously grinning. "I thought dragons only captured princesses . . . or are you one in disguise?"

Trowa let his head fall into his hands, moaning softly. Trust a braided boy that could turn into a raven to ask a question like that in a situation like they were in. He had the feeling that the fate he had just avoided was not going to stay gone for long, especially seeing that glimmer of outrage shining in the boy dressed in blue eyes.

The boy kept his hand on his hips, cocking his head slightly to the side. "Care to say that again?"

Duo never faltered. "Are you a princess in disguise?"

Trowa's soft moaning turned into a full out groan, as he contemplated the sanity of his friend. He had never thought him to be an idiot and hadn't he been the one complaining about how suicidal the quest was? What had happened to change his mind like that. It didn't matter. He and Duo were so going to be dead.

He could see it in the boy's eyes as he glared at them.

He could see it in the dragon's black eyes as he started to draw in his breath.

Then, startling both Trowa and the dragon, the boy in blue started to laugh with Duo giving into hysterics at the same time.

The dragon and Trowa looked at each other, puzzlement in their eyes. Their companions had gone insane.

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