Away From The Sunset
GS: hehe, I've gotten such good responses with this story! I'm gonna continue, to those of you reading My Kinda Fairy Tale, I am still working on it, this is just an idea floating in my head.
Chapter 2
Duo woke up the next morning with the sun. Even so, Wufei had been on the last shift for the night so he woke up to the boy putting out the fire with a pot of dirty water. He turned to Duo and tossed him a jerkin filled with water. Duo took a small swing of the boiled and cooled water and winced as it went down.
"We can move now, there's a town twenty miles from here that we haven't hit yet," Wufei said as Duo wiped the sleep from his eyes. "If we move now we should get there by night fall."
"Even with Tian?" Duo said groggily and reached for his hat beside his blanket. Wufei thought for a minute.
"Mid day tomorrow then, if we stop for camp. Dawn if we don't."
"What about packs? We've been here for a month so there was no reason to worry about it but Tian isn't up to carrying them now."
"I thought about that," Wufei said as he started to disassemble the ashes and rocks built around the campfire. "We can sling them over a saddle but whoever's horse it is will have to walk. We can switch off every hour or so."
"This time you take the first shift," Duo stood up and stretched. He slipped on his boots and went to move the packs onto a rock and started to hide any trace that they had been there. It took about half and hour to make the whole camp look abandoned. They saddled Cha and Shi while putting a frayed rope halter on Tian. Wufei attached it to Cha's horn and put the straps of the large saddle bags over his saddle and secured it. Duo did one last sweep of the camp and they started out as the sun rose on their faces.
After the sun started to beat down at midday, Shi found a small muddy river that trickled to an underground spring. They stopped and let the horses rest and Wufei consulted his map. They moved the bags to Shi and Duo grumbled for an hour straight. The sun was setting behind them when Wufei found a small grove carved in a cliff wall. There wasn't a roof but it was comfort enough. Duo scouted for some wood and they built a fairly nice fire. Shi settled on the ground near the packs after they unsaddled them. Tian fell asleep beside Cha who was dozing. Wufei quickly built a fire then took off his aching boots. He let the air circulate through his toes then turned to Duo.
Duo was curled on Shi's side, his head pillowed on her belly and the two slept on peacefully. Wufei bit his tongue regretfully and looked back to his fire. It looked like he was taking first guard today. His stomach grumbled loudly and he blushed even though nobody had heard. He took a swing of water boiled from the creek and made himself comfortable. On a pack. It had been a tiring day. He felt himself nodding off and jumped in panic. He couldn't fall asleep on his watch. Deciding to try and wake up more, Wufei stood and put his boots back on.
The cold air snapped his senses away almost immedently and he stretched his sore and aching muscles. It had been a month since they had last moved camp. Risky for two people on the run but because of Tian it was necessary. Wufei sat on a cold rock and contemplated tomorrow. They would spend the money on supplies but Tian was due to foal in a month and she wouldn't be able to keep up this pace for long. Wufei also knew that they couldn't do it either, neither Duo or himself could afford to walk most of the trip.
"I suppose we can pinch a temporary pack horse in the next town," Wufei mused outloud. "And sell it once Tian had foaled and she's stronger. Yes, that is the best plan."
Wufei sat out in the cold for a while before he felt his senses finally giving out on him. He went back into the warmth of the alcove and poked his slumbering companion awake. Duo jumped with a start and his knife pulled out but relaxed when he saw who it was. Wufei got out his own blanket and curled up, his mind easily slipping into unconsciousness.
He was woken the next morning by Duo kicking him softly with the toe of his boot. Wufei found his own knife drawn when he saw it was just Duo and put it away. Shi was on her feet and Duo brushed the dirt off her with their sole soft brush. Wufei sleepily saddled Cha and slung the packs on his saddle again. Tian's halter went on and Duo mounted up as they rode away into the sunrise. They kept a comfortable silence until Wufei remembered his plan last night.
"Duo, I think we need to take on another pack horse until Tian foals," Wufei broke the quiet so suddenly it broke Duo out of a trance.
"Huh? Oh yea, good idea. We can't keep on carrin' packs forever I guess. Pinchin' it?"
"That would be best," Wufei nodded. "We can sell it later too."
"That's use, thieves, robbers and horse rustlers!" Duo grinned easily. "Who knows maybe next we'll be plundering and raping the village women!"
"You talk too much," Wufei rolled his eyes. Duo laughed and they continued the silence. It was still early morning when Duo's stomach grumbled loudly. He smiled sheepishly as Wufei glared.
"Sorry," he mumbled blushing but then Wufei's stomach growled too. Duo broke out in helpless laugher on Shi's neck. Wufei glared at him, a pinkish tinge on his face. Once Duo stopped laughing he sat up and said abruptly, "Fei, we have to clean up! If we are purchasin' stuff we need to look presentable or people'll know we are bandits."
"Maybe there's a creek around here somewhere," Wufei muttered and stopped. He pulled out his map and squinted. "There is an underground creek around here somewhere, there must be a farmhouse built nearby or something."
"Well then let's go find it! Maybe there'll be a nice farmwife willin' to cook us a meal! I Haven't had a cooked meal in years Fei!"
"I cook," Wufei defended himself as they started moving again. "And I cook damn well for what we have!"
"Of course," Duo said absently. "Maybe they'll have a nice, shy little farm girl willin' to give a lonely traveller a good time." Duo got a far off dreamy look in his eyes.
"Keep your self in check Maxwell," Wufei growled. They went over another dirt hill and ran into a fence. They stopped, surprised that it had just popped out at them. A small herd of cattle grazed on the hay inside as a farmhouse and barn stood behind them at the far end of the pasture. Duo let out a whoop.
"Aha Fei!" Duo crowed. "Look, there's my farm house! Grand ain't it?"
"It's not yours Maxwell," Wufei grumbled and glared down at the braided boy. He nudged Cha forward and Duo started with him, his hands lying gently on Shi's reins. Tian stood there before the rope pulled at her halter and she was forced forward. They made their way around the dairy cow herd in the fences until they approached the door. The house looked abandoned.
"Uh, I don't think anyone's home," Duo said nervously. Wufei nodded, the quiet was fairly eerie. Suddenly the door jumped open and both the bandits pulled out their knives. The farmer stood in the doorway, a shotgun levelled steadily at Wufei's chest.
"Git off my land," the farmer said slowly. Duo's eyes narrowed and he put his knife away.
"Now wait a minute-" Duo stepped forward and the gun was trained on him. "We don't want to-"
"Oh father!" there was a new voice as a young girl threw herself at her father's feet. Duo stepped back again surprised. "Please don'ta let 'em take me or ma sister! Do what they say but don't give 'em us!"
Wufei almost laughed at the bad dramatics the girl acted, kneeling on the porch and weeping openly. The father seemed just as surprised and stepped back his gun lowering.
"Mary Ann, git back in the house!" he said, realising he had lost the fear he had held over the two boys.
"But father!" the girl cried. "I'm so scared! Please, ask 'em what they want!"
"Fine!" the farmer growled and aimed a harsh word in the boy's direction. "What do ya want?!"
"Some food would be nice," Wufei commented. The farmer growled, grabbed his daughter's wrist and dragged her back in the house. Wufei and Duo looked at each other and Duo gave a small sigh of relief. The father came back out quickly, another girl clutched in his wrist. He painfully threw her down the stairs so she landed in a heap at the bottom.
"We don't need a girl-" Duo started but was interrupted by a pleading voice
"Please take me," the girl looked at Duo with large brown eyes. Duo fell silent as the farmer started up again.
"Ya can take her!" the man growled and raised his gun again. "Now I won't tell ya again. Get off my land."
Wufei looked helplessly at Duo as the girl struggled to her feet and staggered over to the two boys. Wufei offered her and hand and pulled her on behind him on Cha. Duo jumped on Shi, his legs cramped uncomfortable on the saddle packs but he clucked to Shi and she took off at a canter. Tian lumber behind her. Wufei looked back at the man with a glare then kicked Cha forward as the girl clutched his waist.
They cantered well out of sight before Tian tired and they slowed to a walk. Wufei shot a glare at the direction of the house then turned over his shoulder to talk to the girl. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," the girl said miserably. Her voice was heavily accented with something over then the western accent. "I am glad to be avay. Day were 'orrible masters." She stopped talking and took her face from it's resting spot on Wufei's back. "You are not going to vape me, right?"
Wufei wrinkled his nose. 'What do you take me for!?"
"A thief an' a bandit," the girl smiled relief. "My name is Hilde Schbeiker. My family moved from Germany a few years ago an' I' 'ave been at deir house for a year and it was noting but 'orred."
"My name's Duo Maxwell. I may run an' hide but you can trust me to never tell a lie! That's my good buddy Mr Wu-Chang. He immigrated from China but I was born in Boston."
"Nice to meet you Duo Maxwell an' Mr Wu-Chang."
"My name is Wufei, Maxwell!"
GS: hehe, I've gotten such good responses with this story! I'm gonna continue, to those of you reading My Kinda Fairy Tale, I am still working on it, this is just an idea floating in my head.
Chapter 2
Duo woke up the next morning with the sun. Even so, Wufei had been on the last shift for the night so he woke up to the boy putting out the fire with a pot of dirty water. He turned to Duo and tossed him a jerkin filled with water. Duo took a small swing of the boiled and cooled water and winced as it went down.
"We can move now, there's a town twenty miles from here that we haven't hit yet," Wufei said as Duo wiped the sleep from his eyes. "If we move now we should get there by night fall."
"Even with Tian?" Duo said groggily and reached for his hat beside his blanket. Wufei thought for a minute.
"Mid day tomorrow then, if we stop for camp. Dawn if we don't."
"What about packs? We've been here for a month so there was no reason to worry about it but Tian isn't up to carrying them now."
"I thought about that," Wufei said as he started to disassemble the ashes and rocks built around the campfire. "We can sling them over a saddle but whoever's horse it is will have to walk. We can switch off every hour or so."
"This time you take the first shift," Duo stood up and stretched. He slipped on his boots and went to move the packs onto a rock and started to hide any trace that they had been there. It took about half and hour to make the whole camp look abandoned. They saddled Cha and Shi while putting a frayed rope halter on Tian. Wufei attached it to Cha's horn and put the straps of the large saddle bags over his saddle and secured it. Duo did one last sweep of the camp and they started out as the sun rose on their faces.
After the sun started to beat down at midday, Shi found a small muddy river that trickled to an underground spring. They stopped and let the horses rest and Wufei consulted his map. They moved the bags to Shi and Duo grumbled for an hour straight. The sun was setting behind them when Wufei found a small grove carved in a cliff wall. There wasn't a roof but it was comfort enough. Duo scouted for some wood and they built a fairly nice fire. Shi settled on the ground near the packs after they unsaddled them. Tian fell asleep beside Cha who was dozing. Wufei quickly built a fire then took off his aching boots. He let the air circulate through his toes then turned to Duo.
Duo was curled on Shi's side, his head pillowed on her belly and the two slept on peacefully. Wufei bit his tongue regretfully and looked back to his fire. It looked like he was taking first guard today. His stomach grumbled loudly and he blushed even though nobody had heard. He took a swing of water boiled from the creek and made himself comfortable. On a pack. It had been a tiring day. He felt himself nodding off and jumped in panic. He couldn't fall asleep on his watch. Deciding to try and wake up more, Wufei stood and put his boots back on.
The cold air snapped his senses away almost immedently and he stretched his sore and aching muscles. It had been a month since they had last moved camp. Risky for two people on the run but because of Tian it was necessary. Wufei sat on a cold rock and contemplated tomorrow. They would spend the money on supplies but Tian was due to foal in a month and she wouldn't be able to keep up this pace for long. Wufei also knew that they couldn't do it either, neither Duo or himself could afford to walk most of the trip.
"I suppose we can pinch a temporary pack horse in the next town," Wufei mused outloud. "And sell it once Tian had foaled and she's stronger. Yes, that is the best plan."
Wufei sat out in the cold for a while before he felt his senses finally giving out on him. He went back into the warmth of the alcove and poked his slumbering companion awake. Duo jumped with a start and his knife pulled out but relaxed when he saw who it was. Wufei got out his own blanket and curled up, his mind easily slipping into unconsciousness.
He was woken the next morning by Duo kicking him softly with the toe of his boot. Wufei found his own knife drawn when he saw it was just Duo and put it away. Shi was on her feet and Duo brushed the dirt off her with their sole soft brush. Wufei sleepily saddled Cha and slung the packs on his saddle again. Tian's halter went on and Duo mounted up as they rode away into the sunrise. They kept a comfortable silence until Wufei remembered his plan last night.
"Duo, I think we need to take on another pack horse until Tian foals," Wufei broke the quiet so suddenly it broke Duo out of a trance.
"Huh? Oh yea, good idea. We can't keep on carrin' packs forever I guess. Pinchin' it?"
"That would be best," Wufei nodded. "We can sell it later too."
"That's use, thieves, robbers and horse rustlers!" Duo grinned easily. "Who knows maybe next we'll be plundering and raping the village women!"
"You talk too much," Wufei rolled his eyes. Duo laughed and they continued the silence. It was still early morning when Duo's stomach grumbled loudly. He smiled sheepishly as Wufei glared.
"Sorry," he mumbled blushing but then Wufei's stomach growled too. Duo broke out in helpless laugher on Shi's neck. Wufei glared at him, a pinkish tinge on his face. Once Duo stopped laughing he sat up and said abruptly, "Fei, we have to clean up! If we are purchasin' stuff we need to look presentable or people'll know we are bandits."
"Maybe there's a creek around here somewhere," Wufei muttered and stopped. He pulled out his map and squinted. "There is an underground creek around here somewhere, there must be a farmhouse built nearby or something."
"Well then let's go find it! Maybe there'll be a nice farmwife willin' to cook us a meal! I Haven't had a cooked meal in years Fei!"
"I cook," Wufei defended himself as they started moving again. "And I cook damn well for what we have!"
"Of course," Duo said absently. "Maybe they'll have a nice, shy little farm girl willin' to give a lonely traveller a good time." Duo got a far off dreamy look in his eyes.
"Keep your self in check Maxwell," Wufei growled. They went over another dirt hill and ran into a fence. They stopped, surprised that it had just popped out at them. A small herd of cattle grazed on the hay inside as a farmhouse and barn stood behind them at the far end of the pasture. Duo let out a whoop.
"Aha Fei!" Duo crowed. "Look, there's my farm house! Grand ain't it?"
"It's not yours Maxwell," Wufei grumbled and glared down at the braided boy. He nudged Cha forward and Duo started with him, his hands lying gently on Shi's reins. Tian stood there before the rope pulled at her halter and she was forced forward. They made their way around the dairy cow herd in the fences until they approached the door. The house looked abandoned.
"Uh, I don't think anyone's home," Duo said nervously. Wufei nodded, the quiet was fairly eerie. Suddenly the door jumped open and both the bandits pulled out their knives. The farmer stood in the doorway, a shotgun levelled steadily at Wufei's chest.
"Git off my land," the farmer said slowly. Duo's eyes narrowed and he put his knife away.
"Now wait a minute-" Duo stepped forward and the gun was trained on him. "We don't want to-"
"Oh father!" there was a new voice as a young girl threw herself at her father's feet. Duo stepped back again surprised. "Please don'ta let 'em take me or ma sister! Do what they say but don't give 'em us!"
Wufei almost laughed at the bad dramatics the girl acted, kneeling on the porch and weeping openly. The father seemed just as surprised and stepped back his gun lowering.
"Mary Ann, git back in the house!" he said, realising he had lost the fear he had held over the two boys.
"But father!" the girl cried. "I'm so scared! Please, ask 'em what they want!"
"Fine!" the farmer growled and aimed a harsh word in the boy's direction. "What do ya want?!"
"Some food would be nice," Wufei commented. The farmer growled, grabbed his daughter's wrist and dragged her back in the house. Wufei and Duo looked at each other and Duo gave a small sigh of relief. The father came back out quickly, another girl clutched in his wrist. He painfully threw her down the stairs so she landed in a heap at the bottom.
"We don't need a girl-" Duo started but was interrupted by a pleading voice
"Please take me," the girl looked at Duo with large brown eyes. Duo fell silent as the farmer started up again.
"Ya can take her!" the man growled and raised his gun again. "Now I won't tell ya again. Get off my land."
Wufei looked helplessly at Duo as the girl struggled to her feet and staggered over to the two boys. Wufei offered her and hand and pulled her on behind him on Cha. Duo jumped on Shi, his legs cramped uncomfortable on the saddle packs but he clucked to Shi and she took off at a canter. Tian lumber behind her. Wufei looked back at the man with a glare then kicked Cha forward as the girl clutched his waist.
They cantered well out of sight before Tian tired and they slowed to a walk. Wufei shot a glare at the direction of the house then turned over his shoulder to talk to the girl. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," the girl said miserably. Her voice was heavily accented with something over then the western accent. "I am glad to be avay. Day were 'orrible masters." She stopped talking and took her face from it's resting spot on Wufei's back. "You are not going to vape me, right?"
Wufei wrinkled his nose. 'What do you take me for!?"
"A thief an' a bandit," the girl smiled relief. "My name is Hilde Schbeiker. My family moved from Germany a few years ago an' I' 'ave been at deir house for a year and it was noting but 'orred."
"My name's Duo Maxwell. I may run an' hide but you can trust me to never tell a lie! That's my good buddy Mr Wu-Chang. He immigrated from China but I was born in Boston."
"Nice to meet you Duo Maxwell an' Mr Wu-Chang."
"My name is Wufei, Maxwell!"