Title: Love and Water 5/?
Author: Zoisite NightDragon
Pairing:1x4/4x1, 3x5 (it's weird, but it works. I hope *crosses fingers*) ... Duo will probably pop up with one eventually.
Warnings: I hate doing warnings. Decide for yourself. It'll get lemony (of course) and there will be some angst and other common themes. AU is a definite. Language as well. Domination, bondage, submission themes as well ahead. If this sort of thing isn't what you like to read, then I'd suggest stopping now. You have been warned. The Abydians are a tribe I just made up. I had no idea if it's even an actual word.
**
As soon as Noin crept back out of the room, Sally unclasped the chain from Quatre's cuffs, holding his injured hand in her own. That cuff was definitely going to have to come off, she noted with more than a little dismay. Blood was seeping out from under the metal, bubbling at the edge from the air trapped within. If left under there, the vitae would start to rot and infect his skin. When Galron, the metalsmith, got back, she was going to have him remove at least the one to treat him. Caught up in her examination and the innocent seeming hurt of Quatre, she never saw his fist swinging sharply for her jaw until stars exploded before her eyes.
Stumbling backwards to try to right herself, the second strike knocked her head back into the stone of Heero's wall hard enough to stun her. Quatre sighed, not liking the fact he had to hurt a woman to gain his freedom, but it was his life, damn it. Snatching his pants from the basket that Heero had cast them into last night, the blonde slid them on, listening intently for the other female. Steeling himself even with distaste welling up at what he was about to do, Quatre waited until Noin's head poked back into the room and then brought the chain down across the back of her head. Wincing, he carefully lifted the now unconscious female into Heero's bed, checking her to make sure there wasn't more damage than just a lump. Relief came at finding no other injuries to her or to Sally. Covering both of them with blankets, he tried to make them both comfortable, a mute apology for the lengths he had been forced to take.
Wracked with shivers from his fever, Quatre slid on one of Heero's heavier shirts. To him, the entire room was freezing cold; even the rivulets of sweat seeping from his skin had a chilled and slimy feel to them. Other than the shirt, he took nothing. His thoughts were that if he had nothing of theirs, perhaps they wouldn't pursue him. It made sense in his sickened logic, not realizing that he was a possession of theirs. Stumbling through the maze of tunnels that formed the Abydians' home, Quatre finally found where the horses were kept, something he had missed seeing the night he'd arrived. Much like where the people lived, the animals of the tribe had their own level of the caves in which they lived. Water filled their troughs, brought earlier by one of the slaves most likely. Picking one at random, Quatre wearily slid onto the animal's back, loosely holding onto the creature's mane for balance.
The horse he had chosen belong to Sally, the patient mare taking a look backwards at the human that scrambled onto her back. Illness hung around him in a stench that was all too clear to her senses. Just what did this silly human she didn't know think he was doing trying to ride her while he was sick? In her opinion, those two legged critters weren't the wisest of creatures at the times. The first weak kick to her sides to spur her on went ignored. She had oats to eat first. There would be none of this going anywhere until she was finished with breakfast, thanks very much. A second kick earned Quatre a warning look and swat of her tail. The third and final kick to her sides brought a sigh from the mare. Well, if he were just hell-bent and determined to go somewhere, she'd just have to take him. If it hadn't been for him being sick, she would have risen up on her hind legs and dumped him off backwards. Ambling along the passageway that led out, the mare slowly got used to the slight weight of Quatre versus that of Sally. It didn't help much that he kept sliding about and dripping sweat all over her. When this was over, she was going to the nearest oasis to swim.
Reaching the outer world, the mare took a few steps, waiting for her petite rider to give her some direction that he wanted to go in. When none came, he gave him another backwards glance. The boy had slumped against her neck, fingers wound tightly in her mane to keep from falling off even as he had fainted. Silly humans. Sniffing the air, the mare caught the scent of the rest of the tribe's horses on the wind and set out for them. Where they were, the rest of the humans would be, and they could take care of this one. Keeping her steps at that same slow pace, Sally's mare kept her ears pricked forward, whinnying softly for the rest of the herd.
**
Zechs and Heero were headed back towards the mountain fortress, both in high spirits. There appeared to be no pursuit in any direction from those that Quatre had been stolen from. The others of the tribe had been sent into the nearest city that lay to their west. With Quatre's old home at the east, there was less chance of them hearing anything about the boy's abduction. Due to all the gems that had been stripped from the new slave, the entire tribe would be able to feast tonight. It had been sometime since they'd had cause for a celebration.
As they crested the steppe, Heero reined his stallion in, stopping short at the sight of the slow moving mare heading towards them. "Zechs, isn't that Sally's nag? Stormfire or something like that?"
Zechs lifted a hand to shade his eyes, platinum gaze narrowing down against the harsh rays of the sun above. "She hears you call her horse a nag, and you're going to be dodging a sword before the night is out. I think it is."
Grim lines settled on both men's faces as they started cautiously towards the horse heading for them. It could be a trap, an old ploy often pulled by desert people where they would release a herd animal and follow it to see where it finally rejoined the rest of its group. It could also mean that something had happened back at their fortress, and Sally had only gotten enough time to drive the horses out before whatever danger it was befell her. Neither possibility was attractive. Approaching gingerly, the mare lifted her head and whinnied a greeting, still trying not to jar the rider off her back. At first, all that Heero and Zechs could do was stare in dumb disbelief at Quatre slumped over the horse's neck. Pulling the blonde gently into his arms, Heero winced at the feverish flush and feel of his skin. There were no wounds on him, nothing that would have indicated a battle back at their home. An escape attempt gone sour seemed the best explanation.
"Heero, didn't you chain him up?"
"Hai, I did. You don't think that Sally or Noin would have…"
"My Noin knows better," Zechs scowled, taking a slight insult from that. "Sally, I have my doubts about. She might very well have if she thought there was a good enough reason to release him."
"I meant no offense, Zechs," Heero murmured in reply as he pulled off his outer robe, folding it around the slave. Sunburnt now along with what felt like a fever. He was starting to wonder if there might have been some wisdom in Une's words. A crack with a whip might break through the blonde's thick skull where he was failing to do so. Stopping himself, Heero forced calmness through his system. His own thoughts were giving way. Where he was failing to do so… grabbing a whip and beating Quatre into doing something that he himself was failing to make work with Quatre wasn't going to solve anything. Kami-sama. As for Zechs, if the Abydian leader was truly offended, Heero was going to find himself in a duel most likely later tonight, and no amount apology would change that. It would have quite the opposite effect actually and make him seem like less than a man who whined about having offended someone rather than stand and take the result of careless words spoken.
"None taken, Heero," Zechs replied gruffly, peering at Quatre himself. "Tell me he's not as sick as he looks."
"I've never had you ask me to lie before. Do you intend for me to start now?"
"Kuso."
In silence, the two turned their mounts back towards home.
**
Zechs was hard put not to snicker as he helped Sally to her feet, the usually composed woman spouting off enough obscenities to make a sailor blush with shame. There were ones in there that he had never heard before, not to mention that sounded a bit physically impossible if not mentally damaging. Oddly enough, none of the rant was really directed towards Quatre, most of it dealing with herself for being stupid enough not to watch him after he'd attempted his first strikes against her. Once the chieftain had been assured that Noin was fine other than a headache, his own rage at the blonde had subsided as well. The kid was inventive, that much he had to give him. Letting the healer continue her discovery of new and interesting ways to curse, Zechs stepped into Heero's room.
Stretched out on Heero's bed was Quatre, his hair plastered back with a combination of water and sweat. At his side, the Japanese male sat patiently, sponging the blonde's body off gently to cool him down some, a constant motion that had to be kept up given the arid nature of the air as well as the desert heat that managed to find its way into even the cave complex as the sun reached its peak outside. It had taken both Zechs and Heero to break off the carefully made cuffs about Quatre's wrists to treat the wounds beneath. Somehow, the blonde had withstood the pain of wearing through his own skin with the metal bands in an attempt to lubricate the area with blood to try to pull them off. That sort of persistence was frightening.
Zechs cleared his throat as he settled beside Heero, keeping his gaze on Quatre for now. "I have a proposition for you, Heero. Hear me out completely before you object, please. I do not think Quatre will ever make a good slave. Some birds are just too beautiful and wild to be caged. Why not make him your mate and equal instead? He's got an incredible spirit. He would be a credit to our tribe."
A faint frown crossed Heero's lips as he wrung out the sponge. "You don't think me capable of having a slave?"
A slow shake of the chieftain's head answered that question, the solemn expression staying fixed on the elder man's face. "I think you more than capable, Heero. What I am talking of is something much harder than slavery, to meet a person on yours and their terms. To enforce one's will on a person is easier than accepting them for how they are and merge your own self with that. You can always acquire a slave. We could ride tomorrow to Pampanas and buy you one or let you take whichever one catches your fancy. A mate is something far more."
"I don't know, Zechs. I want him."
"When you were sitting in that cage, not knowing that we were already preparing to raid that city to retrieve you if necessary, would you have allowed yourself to go into slavery if that had been what they intended versus execution?"
The Japanese male was silent as he gave due thought to his answer, cobalt eyes narrowing faintly. Him? Some rich or powerful man or woman's plaything? Not bloody likely. Sighing, he realized the trap of words he'd been led right into. "No, I wouldn't have. I probably would have tried anything to kill myself before that could happen."
Zech lifted one of Quatre's chaffed and raw wrists up to Heero's eyelevel, tracing a fingertip over where the lines cut right across the veins. It was dumb luck and Galron's skill in metalwork that had kept the bands from finally cutting open one of the life veins beneath. "Like this? Ignoring the hurt as you slowly wore through layer after layer of skin for the shred of hope that you'd be able to spill your own blood? Failing that, would you fight bare skinned against your captor and be willing to challenge an entire tribe of people for your freedom?"
"Hai," Heero muttered, running the damp cloth across Quatre's face while drizzling the cooler water onto his hair. "You know I would. I fought Treize and his friends tooth and nail."
"You're thinking of this in terms of defeat when it's not that at all. You two are very much alike. Put either of you in chains, and you'll fight until your own deaths come to you to get out. I saw a tiger once at a Sultan's game preserve that was the same way. It just kept throwing itself at the stonewall around its enclosure until it would knock itself out. When the poor creature would wake back up, it would start it all over again. In the end, it was a mercy to kill the beast. Just think it over for tonight."
Zechs clapped a hand to Heero's shoulder as he rose, heading back into the main part of the tribe's quarters, leaving the Abydian to his own thoughts and duties.
**
Quatre awoke slowly, raising a hand to swipe at his eyes. Every bone and muscle in his body hurt, the same pain coming from his eyes as shards of light pierced through them. A soft whisper soothed him some as a cool cloth was laid over his eyes, the voice telling him to lay back and relax for a moment. A broth was touched to his lips, something he drank down greedily from the wooden spoon. Another followed and then another until he found himself too full for more. With his hands free, he assumed he had made it back home, content to fall asleep once more. The pattern followed many times after that, coming awake long enough to eat something. At times, he caught sight of someone above him, dark blue eyes gazing into his own along with cool touches of a cloth to skin that drove away the feverish heat in him.
At times, the shakes were the worst; cold chills settling in his body and wracking him thin frame. Strong arms held him them, trying to still his hurts while cradling him. Half aware that he was even crying, Quatre clung to the Abydian, wanting some solace in what was a universe of hurt to him. The same dead calm voice always answered his cries, telling him in words that he couldn't fully understand but caught only the tones of that everything would be all right if he could just hold on and get better. The dreams he had then were wild flights of hallucinations, filled with half nightmarish visions of Heero while others were pleasant dreams of the same azure-eyed monster. He made him feel protected yet vulnerable at the same time. Neither were sensations that he was used to or knew how to accept. There wasn't a time he could remember that he had come to for any length of time, and Heero wasn't there at his side.
Turmoil from another room brought him back to consciousness, the blonde pulling the cloth from over his eyes. Beside him sat the same raider that he had woken up with before, the Japanese male's intense eyes focused on the doorway as he lifted a blade in his hands. A fingertip touched to Quatre's lips as Heero waited, looking once more like a panther on the hunt, the same way he had back in the cage when he had been in the Arab's city. Quatre kept trying to will his body to move, but the weakness he had felt before kept him from doing so. Outside, the voices rose towards shouting, the sound of metal ringing off metal following.
"Shinigami has come for you!"
Author: Zoisite NightDragon
Pairing:1x4/4x1, 3x5 (it's weird, but it works. I hope *crosses fingers*) ... Duo will probably pop up with one eventually.
Warnings: I hate doing warnings. Decide for yourself. It'll get lemony (of course) and there will be some angst and other common themes. AU is a definite. Language as well. Domination, bondage, submission themes as well ahead. If this sort of thing isn't what you like to read, then I'd suggest stopping now. You have been warned. The Abydians are a tribe I just made up. I had no idea if it's even an actual word.
**
As soon as Noin crept back out of the room, Sally unclasped the chain from Quatre's cuffs, holding his injured hand in her own. That cuff was definitely going to have to come off, she noted with more than a little dismay. Blood was seeping out from under the metal, bubbling at the edge from the air trapped within. If left under there, the vitae would start to rot and infect his skin. When Galron, the metalsmith, got back, she was going to have him remove at least the one to treat him. Caught up in her examination and the innocent seeming hurt of Quatre, she never saw his fist swinging sharply for her jaw until stars exploded before her eyes.
Stumbling backwards to try to right herself, the second strike knocked her head back into the stone of Heero's wall hard enough to stun her. Quatre sighed, not liking the fact he had to hurt a woman to gain his freedom, but it was his life, damn it. Snatching his pants from the basket that Heero had cast them into last night, the blonde slid them on, listening intently for the other female. Steeling himself even with distaste welling up at what he was about to do, Quatre waited until Noin's head poked back into the room and then brought the chain down across the back of her head. Wincing, he carefully lifted the now unconscious female into Heero's bed, checking her to make sure there wasn't more damage than just a lump. Relief came at finding no other injuries to her or to Sally. Covering both of them with blankets, he tried to make them both comfortable, a mute apology for the lengths he had been forced to take.
Wracked with shivers from his fever, Quatre slid on one of Heero's heavier shirts. To him, the entire room was freezing cold; even the rivulets of sweat seeping from his skin had a chilled and slimy feel to them. Other than the shirt, he took nothing. His thoughts were that if he had nothing of theirs, perhaps they wouldn't pursue him. It made sense in his sickened logic, not realizing that he was a possession of theirs. Stumbling through the maze of tunnels that formed the Abydians' home, Quatre finally found where the horses were kept, something he had missed seeing the night he'd arrived. Much like where the people lived, the animals of the tribe had their own level of the caves in which they lived. Water filled their troughs, brought earlier by one of the slaves most likely. Picking one at random, Quatre wearily slid onto the animal's back, loosely holding onto the creature's mane for balance.
The horse he had chosen belong to Sally, the patient mare taking a look backwards at the human that scrambled onto her back. Illness hung around him in a stench that was all too clear to her senses. Just what did this silly human she didn't know think he was doing trying to ride her while he was sick? In her opinion, those two legged critters weren't the wisest of creatures at the times. The first weak kick to her sides to spur her on went ignored. She had oats to eat first. There would be none of this going anywhere until she was finished with breakfast, thanks very much. A second kick earned Quatre a warning look and swat of her tail. The third and final kick to her sides brought a sigh from the mare. Well, if he were just hell-bent and determined to go somewhere, she'd just have to take him. If it hadn't been for him being sick, she would have risen up on her hind legs and dumped him off backwards. Ambling along the passageway that led out, the mare slowly got used to the slight weight of Quatre versus that of Sally. It didn't help much that he kept sliding about and dripping sweat all over her. When this was over, she was going to the nearest oasis to swim.
Reaching the outer world, the mare took a few steps, waiting for her petite rider to give her some direction that he wanted to go in. When none came, he gave him another backwards glance. The boy had slumped against her neck, fingers wound tightly in her mane to keep from falling off even as he had fainted. Silly humans. Sniffing the air, the mare caught the scent of the rest of the tribe's horses on the wind and set out for them. Where they were, the rest of the humans would be, and they could take care of this one. Keeping her steps at that same slow pace, Sally's mare kept her ears pricked forward, whinnying softly for the rest of the herd.
**
Zechs and Heero were headed back towards the mountain fortress, both in high spirits. There appeared to be no pursuit in any direction from those that Quatre had been stolen from. The others of the tribe had been sent into the nearest city that lay to their west. With Quatre's old home at the east, there was less chance of them hearing anything about the boy's abduction. Due to all the gems that had been stripped from the new slave, the entire tribe would be able to feast tonight. It had been sometime since they'd had cause for a celebration.
As they crested the steppe, Heero reined his stallion in, stopping short at the sight of the slow moving mare heading towards them. "Zechs, isn't that Sally's nag? Stormfire or something like that?"
Zechs lifted a hand to shade his eyes, platinum gaze narrowing down against the harsh rays of the sun above. "She hears you call her horse a nag, and you're going to be dodging a sword before the night is out. I think it is."
Grim lines settled on both men's faces as they started cautiously towards the horse heading for them. It could be a trap, an old ploy often pulled by desert people where they would release a herd animal and follow it to see where it finally rejoined the rest of its group. It could also mean that something had happened back at their fortress, and Sally had only gotten enough time to drive the horses out before whatever danger it was befell her. Neither possibility was attractive. Approaching gingerly, the mare lifted her head and whinnied a greeting, still trying not to jar the rider off her back. At first, all that Heero and Zechs could do was stare in dumb disbelief at Quatre slumped over the horse's neck. Pulling the blonde gently into his arms, Heero winced at the feverish flush and feel of his skin. There were no wounds on him, nothing that would have indicated a battle back at their home. An escape attempt gone sour seemed the best explanation.
"Heero, didn't you chain him up?"
"Hai, I did. You don't think that Sally or Noin would have…"
"My Noin knows better," Zechs scowled, taking a slight insult from that. "Sally, I have my doubts about. She might very well have if she thought there was a good enough reason to release him."
"I meant no offense, Zechs," Heero murmured in reply as he pulled off his outer robe, folding it around the slave. Sunburnt now along with what felt like a fever. He was starting to wonder if there might have been some wisdom in Une's words. A crack with a whip might break through the blonde's thick skull where he was failing to do so. Stopping himself, Heero forced calmness through his system. His own thoughts were giving way. Where he was failing to do so… grabbing a whip and beating Quatre into doing something that he himself was failing to make work with Quatre wasn't going to solve anything. Kami-sama. As for Zechs, if the Abydian leader was truly offended, Heero was going to find himself in a duel most likely later tonight, and no amount apology would change that. It would have quite the opposite effect actually and make him seem like less than a man who whined about having offended someone rather than stand and take the result of careless words spoken.
"None taken, Heero," Zechs replied gruffly, peering at Quatre himself. "Tell me he's not as sick as he looks."
"I've never had you ask me to lie before. Do you intend for me to start now?"
"Kuso."
In silence, the two turned their mounts back towards home.
**
Zechs was hard put not to snicker as he helped Sally to her feet, the usually composed woman spouting off enough obscenities to make a sailor blush with shame. There were ones in there that he had never heard before, not to mention that sounded a bit physically impossible if not mentally damaging. Oddly enough, none of the rant was really directed towards Quatre, most of it dealing with herself for being stupid enough not to watch him after he'd attempted his first strikes against her. Once the chieftain had been assured that Noin was fine other than a headache, his own rage at the blonde had subsided as well. The kid was inventive, that much he had to give him. Letting the healer continue her discovery of new and interesting ways to curse, Zechs stepped into Heero's room.
Stretched out on Heero's bed was Quatre, his hair plastered back with a combination of water and sweat. At his side, the Japanese male sat patiently, sponging the blonde's body off gently to cool him down some, a constant motion that had to be kept up given the arid nature of the air as well as the desert heat that managed to find its way into even the cave complex as the sun reached its peak outside. It had taken both Zechs and Heero to break off the carefully made cuffs about Quatre's wrists to treat the wounds beneath. Somehow, the blonde had withstood the pain of wearing through his own skin with the metal bands in an attempt to lubricate the area with blood to try to pull them off. That sort of persistence was frightening.
Zechs cleared his throat as he settled beside Heero, keeping his gaze on Quatre for now. "I have a proposition for you, Heero. Hear me out completely before you object, please. I do not think Quatre will ever make a good slave. Some birds are just too beautiful and wild to be caged. Why not make him your mate and equal instead? He's got an incredible spirit. He would be a credit to our tribe."
A faint frown crossed Heero's lips as he wrung out the sponge. "You don't think me capable of having a slave?"
A slow shake of the chieftain's head answered that question, the solemn expression staying fixed on the elder man's face. "I think you more than capable, Heero. What I am talking of is something much harder than slavery, to meet a person on yours and their terms. To enforce one's will on a person is easier than accepting them for how they are and merge your own self with that. You can always acquire a slave. We could ride tomorrow to Pampanas and buy you one or let you take whichever one catches your fancy. A mate is something far more."
"I don't know, Zechs. I want him."
"When you were sitting in that cage, not knowing that we were already preparing to raid that city to retrieve you if necessary, would you have allowed yourself to go into slavery if that had been what they intended versus execution?"
The Japanese male was silent as he gave due thought to his answer, cobalt eyes narrowing faintly. Him? Some rich or powerful man or woman's plaything? Not bloody likely. Sighing, he realized the trap of words he'd been led right into. "No, I wouldn't have. I probably would have tried anything to kill myself before that could happen."
Zech lifted one of Quatre's chaffed and raw wrists up to Heero's eyelevel, tracing a fingertip over where the lines cut right across the veins. It was dumb luck and Galron's skill in metalwork that had kept the bands from finally cutting open one of the life veins beneath. "Like this? Ignoring the hurt as you slowly wore through layer after layer of skin for the shred of hope that you'd be able to spill your own blood? Failing that, would you fight bare skinned against your captor and be willing to challenge an entire tribe of people for your freedom?"
"Hai," Heero muttered, running the damp cloth across Quatre's face while drizzling the cooler water onto his hair. "You know I would. I fought Treize and his friends tooth and nail."
"You're thinking of this in terms of defeat when it's not that at all. You two are very much alike. Put either of you in chains, and you'll fight until your own deaths come to you to get out. I saw a tiger once at a Sultan's game preserve that was the same way. It just kept throwing itself at the stonewall around its enclosure until it would knock itself out. When the poor creature would wake back up, it would start it all over again. In the end, it was a mercy to kill the beast. Just think it over for tonight."
Zechs clapped a hand to Heero's shoulder as he rose, heading back into the main part of the tribe's quarters, leaving the Abydian to his own thoughts and duties.
**
Quatre awoke slowly, raising a hand to swipe at his eyes. Every bone and muscle in his body hurt, the same pain coming from his eyes as shards of light pierced through them. A soft whisper soothed him some as a cool cloth was laid over his eyes, the voice telling him to lay back and relax for a moment. A broth was touched to his lips, something he drank down greedily from the wooden spoon. Another followed and then another until he found himself too full for more. With his hands free, he assumed he had made it back home, content to fall asleep once more. The pattern followed many times after that, coming awake long enough to eat something. At times, he caught sight of someone above him, dark blue eyes gazing into his own along with cool touches of a cloth to skin that drove away the feverish heat in him.
At times, the shakes were the worst; cold chills settling in his body and wracking him thin frame. Strong arms held him them, trying to still his hurts while cradling him. Half aware that he was even crying, Quatre clung to the Abydian, wanting some solace in what was a universe of hurt to him. The same dead calm voice always answered his cries, telling him in words that he couldn't fully understand but caught only the tones of that everything would be all right if he could just hold on and get better. The dreams he had then were wild flights of hallucinations, filled with half nightmarish visions of Heero while others were pleasant dreams of the same azure-eyed monster. He made him feel protected yet vulnerable at the same time. Neither were sensations that he was used to or knew how to accept. There wasn't a time he could remember that he had come to for any length of time, and Heero wasn't there at his side.
Turmoil from another room brought him back to consciousness, the blonde pulling the cloth from over his eyes. Beside him sat the same raider that he had woken up with before, the Japanese male's intense eyes focused on the doorway as he lifted a blade in his hands. A fingertip touched to Quatre's lips as Heero waited, looking once more like a panther on the hunt, the same way he had back in the cage when he had been in the Arab's city. Quatre kept trying to will his body to move, but the weakness he had felt before kept him from doing so. Outside, the voices rose towards shouting, the sound of metal ringing off metal following.
"Shinigami has come for you!"