Hey! More chapters! WHOA! Eep, It's rather late at night, and I'm rather tired, So I'll make this quick.

Thanks to Ankle, who's also reviewed twice. Sorry I didn't mention you before! You're the people that keep me writing!!!

Also shout outs go to GlaiveGirl, who reviewed for chapter six, then chapter seven! That's an ego raiser if I ever did see one!

I also thought I should introduce my muses. I have a bunch, unfortunately. Each kind of looks after a certain aspect of my writing.

Mr. Binkey is the dimension-hopping being who's leasing a condo in my thumb. He's the one who tends to show up and ridicule me…as often as he can.

Joe is my inter-dimensional invisible friend. (read: Only I can see him, though he has been known to show up in front of others at odd times.) He's the one who helps me figure out any idea in its early stages. He's the one I bounce all my ideas off of.

Sam is Joe's imaginary friend. I really don't know what he does exactly, but he assures me he does something and I trust him…

Yukito/Yue. A Kind of two in one deal. Nameley, Yue points out all my plot holes, leaving me sobbing at two in the morning, and Yukito helps me put my fic back together again…

DUO! Yep, my little bunny of happiness is the one who's my final editing process. If he's happy, I'm happy. He's the one with all the sarcastic remarks and punchlines. I'm just the writer putting them on the screen.

Weird, eh? Oh well, they're my moral support when no one reads a fic, so I'll never dump them.

Please R&R! I've managed to strap myself to a chair, so no more of that pesky floating business for me!

Same disclaimers as before.

Peace, Love and Anarchy!

~The Elemental

Walk Through the Fire:

Chapter Eight

Blood, Portals and Truth.

Duo waited.

He didn't know exactly what he was waiting for, but he knew he should wait. Hotaru hadn't moved since he's laid her down next to the centaur. Half-dead and as white as cracked ice. He was worried. She had warned him this would happen, but still…Sighing, he trekked outside, intent on exploring a little deeper past the ridge of the forest, but always keeping the cave entrance in sight.

He'd checked the centaur's provisions, a sorry state indeed. In her skin bag she'd had perhaps five pieces of dried, smoked meat, a small water-skin half-filled with water, and one very ancient but vicious looking dagger. He'd warmed the meat over the fire for Hotaru and the girl when they woke, and saved the water, but knew they'd need more food and water, and soon.

Thanking every mission he'd ever been assigned that had evolved roughing it, Duo came upon a grove of tall purple rods sticking straight up in a clearing. Realizing that the rods looked a lot like bamboo, Duo was ecstatic to find that each section in the tree held pure, clean water. Using the centaur's dagger, he chopped down two chutes before returning back to the cave. Snagging some fruit that looked like apple-sized raspberries from a low-hanging branch, Duo paused at the mouth of the cave. There were some roots that looked interesting growing to one side of the opening. Cutting a handful, Duo entered, checked on Hotaru and the centaur, Still no change…But both are burning up. I'll have to keep them cool…and set to work.

*******************{Look! Stars! Pretty!*******************

Duo glanced at the centaur…she hadn't moved in the last two hours…Worse yet, her breathing was shallow and ragged, tearing at her throat. Hotaru was still unconscious, but her breathing was normal at least. Both still had the fever, though the girl's was considerably worse. I've got to cool them down. He took the cloth from Hotaru's head and dipped it into a section of water from the purple bamboo. Wringing it out, he replaced the damp cloth back on Hotaru's forehead. Pausing to brush her hair off her face, he let his hand rest on her forehead. What? Wow…I wonder what that is…

The moment his hand had touched her forehead, he saw things differently, as though a veil had been pulled over everything. The ground below him had a strange pulsing green and brown glow, and he could sense, rather than see, a dozen of small creatures living in the cave with them. Glancing at the centaur, he was shocked to see a golden aura rapidly fading from the girl's center. It seemed to rise up and gain strength, only to hit a wall and fall down again, growing fainter and fainter with every attempt. Something, a flicker of energy, responded from in front of him. Hotaru was glowing purple, a very dark, almost black shade of the colour. Her glow was weak, but infinitely stronger than the flicker of gold from the centaur. The gold began to fade, flickering rapidly, seeming almost desperate. Hotaru's energy strained against her body, fighting to get out. In a rush of purple to her hand, Hotaru's arm lifted and fell, directly onto the centaur's outstretched hand. Duo watched in amazement as purple sped along the girl's body, enveloping the gold but not covering it, building it stronger and brighter. Duo was amazed as the centaur's breathing grew less and less haggard and became strong and even. The purple and the gold surged against a final wall, smashing through it, and gold sped along the girl's body, filling it. The purple broke off and slowly creeped back to Hotaru's body. Duo removed his hand.

You saved her Hotaru…But at what cost? That took a lot out of you, when will you be able to wake up now?

Moving to the centaur, he wasn't surprised to see that her fever had disappeared, though Hotaru's remained. Removing the cloth on her forehead, he ripped it into two strips and tended her wrists, thankful for every patch up job he ever had to do, on himself and the others. That training was becoming more and more useful every moment.

*********{More Stars!}*********

Duo's stomach growled. Stubbornly, he ignored it and continued to watch the mouth of the cave, clutching the dagger in his hand. A pack of wolf-like animals had tried to get in, and the small entrance was all that had prevented them from succeeding. Duo had stood at the opening, slashing at anything that came near. The pack had only gotten the message after he gave their leader a long, jagged gash from his ear to his ribs. Tending his wounds, the leader had called the pack back, and they had disappeared, leaving Duo with one nasty looking bite on his arm.

Cursing, Duo ripped off another strip off his already-demolished T-shirt and bound the bite. He knew they wouldn't come back, but God only knew what else was out there.

There was a movement behind him and Duo spun; it was the centaur. Her head slowly lifted and he could hear her groan…She tried to stand and her eyes opened. Immediately she spun and fell, landing (predictably enough) in Duo's arms as he rushed to catch her.

"Where am I? Who are you? What have you done to my eyes?!"

"Whoa! Calm down!" Duo set her down on the floor again. "You're in no shape to be standing. What's wrong with your eyes?"

"I can't see! Who are you!? Where am I?!" Her voice was growing more and more frantic. She blindly reached out and Duo caught her hands.

"Calm down. You were pretty sick, I'm sure your sight will come back soon. Now, you're in a cave. Me and Hotaru found you. You're alright now, we've fixed you up. My name's—

A scream shattered the conversation— Hotaru began to thrash around, fighting some invisible enemy.

"Hotaru!" Duo rushed to her side and shook her, desperately trying to wake the girl. "Hotaru wake up!"

Her eyes flew open, unseeing, and she shot up, flying into Duo's arms. Startled, he held her as she shook violently, crying silently in his arms. Neither heard the centaur's gasp behind them.

After a moment that may has well have been an eternity, Hotaru pulled back, roughly rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry about that, I just…The dreams…My blocks were gone and the memories…it was too much….I'm sorry, I know I'm not making any sense to you…"

Duo smiled. "It's ok, I've got a pretty good idea about what you're talking about…Don't worry about it. We all have memories we'd rather forget…That's what makes nightmares all the more terrifying…" His voice picked up "…But I have some good news. Our patient woke up…But her eyes aren't working properly…she can't see anything."

Hotaru stood up shakily and walked over to the girl, who was now standing, pressed into the far wall of the cave. "Duo, I think her eyes are working now…" Duo looked at the girls face; The colour was gone- she was as white as a sheet. Her eyes were wide with terror, her mouth covered with one hand. Everything about her screamed fear.

"You-You're human…"

Startled, Hotaru nodded muteley. Duo piped up "…and you're a centaur…?"

"My name is Hotaru. Tomoe Hotaru." Something about this girl made her add, "We're not going to hurt you. What's your name?"

The girl's face hardened. She was still scared, but now she was angry. She stomped a hoof on the ground .

"Why are you here! A portal? How many did you kill to appease the magic? Just to be more powerful! If you're going to kill me for your portal, do it now- I will not be kept a prisoner." The girl stared into the nearest face. Duo's. She looked pointedly at her dagger in his fist. "Just do it. You'll gain nothing in waiting, no one's searching for me."

Shocked, Duo placed the dagger in the pouch attached to his belt. He placed his hands gently on the girl's shoulders. She shuddered and closed her eyes.

"We're not going to kill you. I—"

The girl collapsed on the ground, sobbing. Duo realized with a start that even though she looked older, she seemed to be quite young…Kneeling down, he could hear the girl's protest between sobs.

"Y-You're just going to kill me *sob* I'd just got away from the goblins and *sob* I was going home and now *sob* I've been caught by you stupid magicians *sob* and you'll just kill me cause you want my blood for a portal to another world *sob* cause everyone knows centaur blood is powerful for workings and *sob* I just wanted to go home!

She continued to cry, Duo agape. He didn't have a clue as to what he should do. Hotaru, however, had a pretty good idea. Kneeling down directly in front of the girl, she placed her hands in the centaur's.

"Listen…We're not magicians. We're both lost, and are looking for a way home. We found this cave and you were in it, dying. If we had wanted to kill you, why would we look after you? I promise, we have no wish whatsoever for your blood. Would you like to go home?"

The girls eyes brightened and she smiled, but her face became a mask again and she pulled away from Hotaru, pressing herself into the wall.

"I'm not taking you to my home. If you want centaur blood you'll have to take mine- I won't let you hurt anyone else. You're not going to ransom me for anyone else! I-"

"Damnit girl! Listen to me very carefully. We. Are. Not. Going. To. Kill. Anyone. Not you, not your friends, no one. Why would we want another centaur anyway? None of this is making any sense."

The girl looked at Duo like he was simple. "The older a centaur is, the more powerful the magic they hold is. Everyone knows that."

Hotaru looked thoughtful. Duo looked like he was about to scream. "Well I'm not everyone! Jeeze!" Save a kid, get a headache…man, what a day! But what in the world gave her such a low opinion of humans I wonder?

Hotaru looked at the girl. "What is the word of a human worth?" She asked almost idly, as though the answer meant nothing. Startled, the centaur replied:

"If you give your word on Orian, it is bound to you. No creature or being can break their word once it is given." Duo began to speak, but Hotaru cut hum off.

"Then I, Tomoe Hotaru, swear by Chronos that I will harm no one that does not harm me first, no matter what the reason." Hotaru looked pointedly at Duo.

"What? Oh, ok….Hmm….I, Duo Maxwell, swear by the Maxwell name, that I won't hurt anyone that doesn't try to hurt me first. Deal?" He extended his hand to the girl, who glanced at it, and finally, tentatively, gripped his wrist and shook it.

"I'm glad that's settled. Now, let's sit by the fire, ok? I distinctly remember Hotaru mentioning that you'd both be hungry when you woke up. Your meat is there, and I've got some water. There's some fruit, but I don't know if it's edible yet…"

Hotaru got to her feet, followed by the centaur. They stationed themselves around the dying embers.

"As you probably guessed, my name's Duo. I run, I hide, but I never lie. That's me in a nutshell."

"An appropriate receptacle." Murmured Hotaru. The girl laughed.

"What?" Duo pouted, then handed out the strips of meat and purple bamboo sections of water.

"As you know, I'm Hotaru." The girl nodded, and told Duo that the apple-sized raspberry was good to eat. Overjoyed, Duo dug in.

"I'm Shanra, Silverarc Shanra."

"So Shanra, tell me about Orian. That's the name of this area?"

"No, this world. What world are you from?"

"Earth."

Silence.

Caught off-guard, both had answered at the same time.

Unaware, Shanra continued. "You must have been pulled through a rip. If you had come through a portal, it would have killed you, unless you had killed something for it. That's why I thought you were going to kill me. Mother says that centaur blood is the second easiest thing to open a portal 'cross-worlds with. Unicorn blood is better, but unicorns are rare, and besides. You'd have to be insane to kill a unicorn." Looking from Hotaru to Duo, she rushed to re-assure them. "Don't worry! If you came through a rip, that means you'll be pulled back. You'll be home in a moon's pass."

"I-I don't think I came through a rip…" Duo's voice was faint, he seemed to be addressing his hands. "I…I was fighting…We were trying to prevent a war…I crashed my suit into a resource station…The explosion would have killed everyone in the station, and me….but I ended up here…"

"I didn't come through a rip…or if I did, I think it changed into a portal…We were attacked. It almost killed Usagi, I had to stop it. When I attacked, it was fatal, but he opened a portal, a black hole of some kind. It would have destroyed our world, so I did the only thing I could. I pushed him into the portal, but fell in with him. He was killing me, but the portal changed….And it attacked him. He was dead in a few seconds, and I ended up here…"

Shanra looked on. She should have been frightened, angry that they had killed, but these weren't magicians killing for power. One had killed to prevent a war, another had killed to save her world. She found she only trusted them more, a strange thought, considering these were humans.

"How do we return? I have to go back…I left the others fighting. I don't know if they're alright."

"I don't know. The only way I know about making portals is to kill something with more magical power than you, of to kill enough beings that together have more power than you…"

"I won't kill something to get back. I get the feeling that happens too often on this world to begin with."

"The only other person who might know more is Grandmother Silverarc. She might know about another way…"

"Can we see her when we take you home?"

Shanra looked up. "What? You mean…?"

"Of course we're taking you home! Do you think we'd just leave you like this? You can hardly walk." Duo smiled. "So, like Hotaru asked, could we see her?"

"Of course!" Shanra smiled brilliantly.

"Then it's settled. We'll set out tomorrow morning. You two should get some sleep, I'll keep watch."

"But—"

"No 'buts'. You need some sleep. I'll be fine, I've got this." Duo held up the dagger, his tone holding no room for argument.

Grateful, Hotaru laid down of the bed of branches she's woken up on not two hours before. She was tired, and knew she needed the rest. Shanra rolled some leaves into a rather flat ball, and walking over to the wall behind Hotaru, kneeled down. Resting her head against an outcropping of rocks, cushioned by her pillow of leaves, she was soon asleep.

"Goodnight Hotaru."

No answer. Sleep had already claimed her.

Duo looked out into the foreign stars in the foreign sky. "Orian, huh? Well, let's see what you're made of…"

**************************

Man, I love plot twists…….

Okies. Notes….Notes….notes….I know I wanted to clarify something…Oh yeah (Just re-read the fic) I remember. Chronos is the God of Saturn, even if Pluto calls on him. I figured Saturn would too, in this case. (Considering the other option was to have her call on the God of Pluto, I decided Chronos would be alright.)

Duo swore on the Maxwell name, mainly because I didn't want him mentioning the Shinigami at the moment, and the fact I was not having him swear by the DeathScythe. Although I really should mention I had played with the idea of having him swear by all things spandex….Heero lovers, eat your heart out!

Oh well, maybe another fic.

Please R&R!!!

I am the Breeze of Wisdom, I am the Wind of Insanity.

~The Elemental