I don't own Gundam Wing, but like all other fanfic author people I've ever heard of, I wish I did. Of course if I did, there'd be a hell of a lot more than 49 eps. and the OVAs, and the language wouldn't be so.. um... PC. hehe.
Fantasy Wing
Chapter 5
Smokey the Bear says:
Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!
As Relena watched Heero and Duo leave, she was filled with mixed emotions. She was relieved the fire had been caught fast enough to be stopped, she was horribly enraged at Treize, she was confused why all of this was happening, but most of all she felt helpless. Heero could get there by air, survey the situation and act right away, Duo knew how to stop the fire from spreading and smother it, (he was a farmer, so he knew about crop fires, and forest fires were a little different but not by much) and she was sure there were a bunch of other citisens of the forest sprinting there right now. She was also sure she'd only get in the way, and that her father and brother would be enraged if she put herself in danger like that.
The princess sighed.
She was sick of waiting around for everyone else to act. She was sick of not being able to help. She was sick of losing friends because she couldn't be there, and most of all she was sick of being a princess who couldn't lend a hand when her people needed it.
Well as far as Relena was concerned, it wasn't going to happen anymore.
She ran to the other side of the clearing, freed the reins of her horse from the tree they were tied to, mounted up and gallopped off in the direction of the billowing smoke.
Unlike Duo who was stuck trotting along through the grassy forest, Heero could already see the orange tongues of flame from his vantage point in the air. Steadily devouring more an more of the trees, they raced along through the dry brush, destroying an increasingly large piece of Relena's homeland. Heero tensed his wings and pushed himself faster.
Duo's hooves pounded the path through the trees in a desperate effort to reach the burning portion of the forest in time to put out the fire.
He could feel the sword swinging on his back, its unusual weight strange to him, but nevertheless reassuring now that he knew exactly what his country's enemy was up to. As far as he knew, there would deffinately be soldiers occupying the burning section of the forest, and he wouldn't finish the day without staining his hands with blood.
What a waste! he thought. What kind of a knave is Treize, anyway?!
He shook his head.
Putting out the fire was the first priority, and the rest of it could be dealt with as it came.
Finally breaking over the line of flame and into the burning section of the forest, Heero swept his wings back and dove down to land.
He could already see some of the occupants of the forest scrambling to drench the flames with the water from a small stream running throught the area -the same one that ran to Duo's clearing, he noted- but it wasn't enough to stop the growing blaze.
If only there was some way to block the river he thought, it would overflow and put this all out in one stroke.
His gaze drifted to a pile of rocks nearby, and he immediately put two and two together.
When Duo reached the fire himself, Heero had already started moving the rocks into the riverbed in order to dam it up. Duo realized what the angel was doing after a second, and joined his fellow firefighter in moving the closest boulder.
The last of the rocks was the biggest, and even with the combined strength of the angel and the faun, it couldn't be moved.
Duo gritted his teeth and gave it another shove, but it didn't budge.
"Damn it!" he cursed, "This rock's way too big to move, Yuy."
Heero was still trying to push the damned thing, without much success.
"It's gotta work!" Heero said. "We need another person!"
Duo scanned the small crowd for a familliar face, and found one.
"Yo! Trowa!" He screamed.
The centaur turned at the mention of his name.
"Little help?!" Duo asked, still pushing the boulder.
Trowa nodded and gallopped over, getting into postion behind the rock and bracing his shoulder against it.
"On three." Duo instructed.
"One..." He braced himself.
"Two..." The three young men stiffened.
"THREE!"
Each shoved as hard as they could, and the rock moved.
All of about six inches, that is.
"SHIT!" Duo screamed. "THIS STUPID ROCK IS NEVER GOING TO MOVE!"
"Um... guys?" a small voice asked from behind them. "Lemme give it a try?"
"Huh?" Duo turned around.
Quatre smiled.
"Stand back you three."
The angel, faun, and centaur complied, stepping away from the rock. Quatre braced himself, shoved as hard as he could, and succeeded where the other three had failed.
The last rock fell into place, and the river obediently swelled over its banks, spreading out to cover the fire completely.
As the smoke cleared, the elf's grin got bigger.
"Great plan Duo."
Duo sighed. "Thank Heero here." Stepping out of the way, he revealed the stone faced angel, whom Quatre regarded with interest, extending his hand.
"Heero is it?" He asked. "You saved the forest, you know."
Heero had the good grace to extend his hand in return, though he didn't acknowledge Quatre's compliment.
Quatre cocked an eyebrow.
"He's antisocial." Duo grinned. "Barely said five words since I found 'im."
"Well, my name's Quatre Winner." the elf introduced himself.
"The elven aristocrat." Duo finished.
Quatre shot the faun a pained look. "You don't really think that, do you?"
"Course not, man, but it's what people expect me to say!" He clapped Quatre on the back.
Trowa coughed, and the elf and faun grinned.
"And THIS," Quatre said, "is our good friend Trowa Barton."
The centaur nodded to Heero.
Now that the introductions were over, Duo's face lost the smile it had almost perpetually. "So anyway," He got down to business, "What happened here?"
He had a feeling, though, that he already knew the answer.
"Treize." Quatre affirmed Duo's suspicion. "Sloppy. The soldiers here weren't wearing his colors, but they forgot to cover their shields. Treize's emblem was on them."
"So they weren't footsoldiers."
Quatre shook his head. "Royal Guard." He said, "Whatever this was supposed to do, it was big for them to get involved."
Duo scowled.
"This isn't good."
"It gets worse." Quatre said. "You know why the fire was so hard to put out?"
Duo was beginning to feel sick. "I think I do... but I hope I don't."
The elf nodded. "Sorcery."
Duo habitually lapsed into a string of obscenities.
Heero meanwhile twitched his wings. Whoever this "Treize" was, it seemed that this was an act of aggression between races. As a peacekeeper angel, it was Heero's job to see this through. Looks like he'd be extending his stay after all...
Relena abruptly reined in her horse. The column of smoke had cleared. The fire had been put out.
Her immediate relief was shadowed over by her dissapointment.
Cursing softly in the dryad tongue, she turned her mount around and headed for home.
Once again, she'd been no use to anyone.
To Be Continued
Sailor Shinigami's post chapter rant:
Sorry, but this one was kinda, um... lame.
I had to set up a whole bunch of things, and thankfully I did (most of 'em anyway) so the series should pick up soon. And a long series it's gonna be too. ^_~
As always, Comments, Critisim, and other stuffs welcome and greatly appreciated! Ja Ne, minna-san!