Chapter 1:
Downtime
Heero slowly opened his eyes, flinching back from the pain in his forehead, to find himself in a small well furnished room laying on a bed.
Where the hell am I?
His vision was blurry, and he pushed himself into a sitting position, hoping to get a sense of his surroundings. Eventually his vision cleared.
"Oh, you're awake." A female voice came from off to one side of him.
"Huh?" He asked, turning to where he thought the voice came from. "Where am I?"
"Relax." She said, coming into view. His caretaker had dark blond hair, a fair complexion, and light blue eyes. She was wearing a light blue dress, and her hair was encircled with a ring of pale blue flowers. "Don't go hurting yourself. That was a pretty bad smack to the head." Gently, she touched the bandage wrapped around his forehead.
He flinched again, more from her touch than the shooting pain it caused.
"Did I hurt you?" She bit her lip. "Sorry..."
He put a hand to his head, examining the bandage. "Where am I?" He repeated.
"The Sanc Forest, my friend." A voice drifted in from an adjacent room. "More specifically, my house."
The owner of the voice walked in, bringing with him fresh wrapping for the bandage.
He was short by most standards, only five foot four or so, long light brown hair pulled back in a braid, violet eyes complimenting his sarcastic smile. He looked normal enough-- the top of him that is. Where a human, angel, or several other species would have had feet, though, this guy had cloven hooves. He also had goats' legs, a tail, and horns. He was a faun.
"Glad you're up." He commented. "Now can you tell me what you were doing passed out at the base of a tree in the middle of the forest?"
Heero, who actually couldn't remember much about himself --that hit on the head had been pretty hard-- and feeling defensive said, "Why should I tell you anything?"
The faun shrugged.
"Aside from the fact that I saved your life, bandaged your wounds, and showed you tremendous hospitality, there's no reason to tell me anything."
"Who are you?" Heero asked.
"Duo Maxwell." He extended a hand, which Heero didn't shake. "I run, I hide, but I don't lie. for the time being, you can trust me." Duo let his hand drop. "And this," Duo said, "Is Princess Relena of the Dryads, pride of her father, King Peacecraft, and future Queen of the Sanc Forest." He bowed extravegently.
"Stop it Duo." She blushed. "No one addresses me like that any more."
Duo grinned. "Fauns tend to remember the old traditions." He turned his attention to Heero. "Though I can't say I remember _your_ name."
"That's because I never told you." Heero answered curtly.
"Well?" Duo asked. "Are you going to, or am I going to have to expulge another knave from my household?"
Relena cast a sidelong glare at Duo. "He'd never do that." She said forcefully. "He _is_ a jerk sometimes, though."
Duo smiled. "The Princess is kind."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Heero asked. "She just insulted you."
"There's worse I could be called." Duo chuckled. "_Am_ called on a regular basis."
What the hell is wrong with this guy? Heero thought, He's crazy. The dryad, Relena, seems nice enough, though. He said I could trust him, didn't he? And I think I could trust her...
He shook his head, almost imperceptibly.
What am I saying? I don't remember who I am, and how will they be able to help? I'm better off not telling them anything... still...
"Could you at least tell me something about yourself so you're not a total stranger?" Relena asked.
Heero was still lost in thought.
"He's a soldier." Duo reasoned. "The armor he was wearing shows as much. A soldier, a mercenary, a knight, or a hero."
"What did you say?" Heero asked, breaking out of his train of thought.
"A hero." Duo looked at him strangely. "A knight who goes around saving people...?"
It's mispronounced, Heero thought, But that's my name. Heero.
He allowed himself a small smile at this new discovery.
"Care to let us in on the joke?" The faun, Duo, asked.
"What joke?" Heero asked.
Duo sighed. "Never mind." he turned to the dryad. "I've never met a human with such a broken sense of humor."
She blinked. "You _are_ a human, right?" She asked.
Heero was caught offguard by that one, so he solved the problem by not answering.
"I don't think so." Duo said. "Something about this guy's not entirely right for that. I don't think he's human at all."
She studied Heero for a moment, then concluded,
"You're right."
"Care to let us in on who or WHAT you are, buddy?" Duo asked.
Silence.
"I give up." The faun waved his hands in the air, a gesture of frustration.
"Just let him sleep, Duo." Relena recommended. "He needs it."
The two moved to leave, and just as they did so, there was a mutter from the Fallen Angel.
"My name's Heero." He said, and lay back down to sleep.
Relena smiled.
Heero is it? She thought, You'll tell us more. The princess smiled.
All in good time.
To Be Continued
Author's messed up post chapter rant: [a change of pace in the title]
Well, that's it for the first chapter of Fantasy Wing. You've met the faun, the dryad, and the angel. What havoc will I play with the G-Wing cast next? *giggles* Stay tuned to find out!
Heero: This sucks.
Duo: Oh come one Heero, it's not that bad.
Heero: Yes it is.
Duo: Why?
Heero: Relena won't even leave me alone in FANTASY fanfics.
Tyger: *Uncontrolable laughter*
Duo: I wonder what that's about...?
Heero: I really don't want to know...