What if: Myth
By Rachel
A gundam wing fan fiction
Disclaimer: I do not own gundam wing or any of its characters. I also do not own Felina or Jasmine they were so gratefully lent to me by my dear role-playing friend Ashley.
Keys:
"…" Indicates talking
'…' Indicates thinking
(Notes from me)
Chapter 2
She saw her brother run over to her carrying a girl. She listened to him when he calmly explained what had happened. She even helped him change the strange girls bandages. But nothing could have prepared her for when this girl woke up and she knew it.
Catherine had washed the girl's clothes; they were made of dear hide, and she had dressed the unconscious girl in one of her old dresses that she couldn't fit anymore. She noted that her hair hands and face were strangely well kept in comparison to the rest of her.
"Is she going to be okay?" Trowa asked as he walked into the tent and motioned his head towards the girl in question.
"She'll be fine, she just needs to rest a little that's all" Cathy replied with a reassuring smile.
Trowa nodded, looked at his sister then at the injured girl, turned and left.
Catherine sighed. It was just like Trowa to not want to talk about it. He was blaming himself she could tell. But what he didn't want to realize was that with the girl's dear hide garments and how dark it must have been, it wasn't surprising at all that he mistook the girl for an animal, it was an easy mistake! Anyone could have made it. Catherine shook her head sadly. Trowa was beating himself up over this and there was nothing she could say or do to help him.
Trowa walked over to the lion cages. They seemed like the only ones that understood without him having to say anything. He knew that Cathy was worried, it would really make her feel better if he talked to her, or anyone, about it. He was glad to know that the girl would be okay, now all he had to do was wait for her to wake up… but then what would he do? He didn't know.
Cathy left the sleeping girl's tent to get something to eat; she was starving! She hadn't had a decent thing to eat for the past week! If that girl was going to wake up soon, she would have to wake up alone, Cathy was too tired and too hungry to care much about it right now.
Trowa saw his sister leave the tent and decided to pay a visit to the sleeping girl inside.
He quietly slipped into the small tent and seated himself in a chair next to her bed; she was extremely beautiful in a way; her long slender arms and legs, her silky moss brown hair and smooth creamy skin. She really was quite a vision to behold.
The more he stared at this girl the closer he seemed to lean in on his chair, as if drawn by her beauty. Then he tipped his chair over and almost hit the floor, had it not been for all of his years of training in the circus and quick reflexes he would have.
He picked up his chair and set it back upright when he heard a soft moan coming from the bed. He stiffened and slowly turned around 'take is easy Trowa try to stay calm. Real smooth, you just woke her up!' he scolded himself mentally.
Felina turned her head slowly on the pillow as she opened her eyes 'here the hell am I?' she said inwardly as she moaned again as she rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up.
"I wouldn't do that, you might reopen your wound" an almost frighteningly clam voice said next to her and she stopped moving.
"Mosses? Who are you?" She said when she spotted the source of the voice barely visible in the pitch-black room, or whatever it was.
"Mosses?" the man questioned.
Felina giggled almost insanely "Mosses! That's a funny word, mosses! I like the sound of it when I say it… but who are you?"
"I shot you with the arrow" he replied slowly.
"Pwa?"
"It was an accident. I thought you were a deer"
"Oh okie-dokie!"
"Your not mad?"
"No… why?"
"I could have killed you"
"But you didn't"
"What's your name?"
"You tell me your first ok?"
"I have no name, but if you must call me something call me Trowa Barton"
"Pwa? Ok! I'm Felina… have you seen my cousin? Unruly short brown hair, about so tall, Prussian blue eyes, glares a lot?"
"No I haven't, sorry"
"It's ok!" she said with a warm smile.
"Oh so your up! How do you feel?" Cathy said as she walked into the tent and saw Trowa talking with the girl.
"I'm fine" Felina replied.
"Cathy this is Felina, Felina this is my sister Catherine" Trowa said.
"Pleased to finely meet the person I've been taking care of for the past few days" Cathy said as she extended her hand.
"Really? Thanks" Felina said as she shook it.
"How do you like the clothes? I'm sorry if they're a little too big for you" Cathy said as she sat down at the foot of Felina's bed.
"Pwa?" Felina looked down and noticed that she was wearing a lovely aqua blue dress. "Oh I love it! Thanks"
Trowa smiled slightly, it was very seldom that he met someone with such a free spirit; the only other one he had ever met was Cathy. He could hardly believe that there were still people like that these days.
"Your welcome to say here with the circus troop as long as you want Felina… I've already talked with Manager and he said that you could help Trowa work with the animals if you wanted to" Cathy said sweetly.
"Pwa? Thanks but I need to find my cousin Heero… you wouldn't happen to know where he is would you?" Felina asked hopefully.
"Well, what does he look like?" Cathy asked.
"He has brown hair and blue eyes, so tall and glares a lot" Felina replied.
"Hum… no… I'm sorry I don't think that I've seen anyone like that about"
"It's ok! I have to go find him though, he might need me" Felina said with a frown.
"Trowa and I will keep an eye open for him for you until your better, isn't that right Trowa?"
Trowa nodded.
"Thanks. That's nice of you"
"No need to thank us, it was no trouble at all" Cathy said kindly.
"Sis… we need to get ready for our performance" Trowa said as he stood up.
"Yes… and you, Felina, need to rest… we'll be back in about an hour or so okay?"
"Mosses! Ok! Good luck"
"Thanks" and with that Cathy and Trowa left the tent and Felina turned over to go back to sleep.
*****
He was sitting in the throne room when he heard the fanfare announcing her arrival.
"Here so soon? I didn't think she would arrive for another week now" he said to the echoing room as he stood up and ran to greet his guest.
One of the princess's escorts helped her off of her horse when she arrived at the front gates.
"Princess Jasmine! I'm surprised to see you here this soon… how was you trip? Did everyone make it okay? I would have come for you myself but I have been so busy! I'm really vary sorry I couldn't come to see you personally, you must be exhausted after your long and hard travels! Please come, rest a while then we'll talk," He said in a rush as he gently took her arm in his and led her to her sleeping chambers.
"The trip took less time then expected. Yes, everyone is fine, a little weary but fine. It's quite all-right Prince Quatre, I understand completely, I'm sorry of your loss. Thank you Prince Quatre, you are too kind" she answered his questions in exact order and closed the door to her room gently behind her.
Two hours later Jasmine emerged from her sleep and decided to explore the castle; she soon found herself in the throne room and was greeted with a warm hug from the prince.
"Did you rest well Princess Jasmine?" he asked when he pulled away to study her face, which was colored a soft pink from blushing. Quatre smiled and kissed her hand for good measure, which made her blush even more.
"Yes I did thank you, and please, call me Jasmine," she said as she looked down at her feet, hiding her face with her long glistening black hair.
"Only if you call me Quatre," he said with a smile.
"I would be honored to Pri-oops I mean Quatre" she said and, if possible, blushed even more.
'She is so shy and quiet' Quatre thought.
"Oh my! Where are my manners? Please sit down! You must still be very tired from your journey" he said as he led her to a chair.
"Thank you, it's very kind of you. I'm sorry to hear about your father, from what I was told he was a great man and an even greater king to his country"
"Thank you, I can only hope that I'm only half as great of a leader as he. Do you know why I asked for you to come here?" Quatre asked.
"Yes, my mother said that you wished to meet me, I'm sorry that our meeting is not under different circumstances" Jasmine said solemnly.
"Me too. As I am sure that you know, my father's last request was that I marry you, but long ago I had made it clear that I would never marry anyone that I didn't even know or love. Father was furious with me but he never pushed the matter, but when he--when he died the magi informed me that his last request was for me to marry you, under ordinary circumstances, I would have objected to the very thought of it, but I decided on a compromise, that we get to know one another and if we feel that we should honor his wishes then we will… other wise I would at least like to be your friend. That's not a problem, right?"
"Not at all Quatre, I think that is a great idea. To tell the truth I wasn't sure if I wanted to marry a complete stranger. Even if he was well spoken of, but now that I've met you, the rumors hardly seem to do you justice, if you don't mind me saying so" Jasmine said as she bowed her head slightly.
"No! Not at all! If anything, it should be me who should be saying such things" Quatre replied with a smile.
"Thank you, that's very kind of you, but hardly the truth," Jasmine said as she hid her face behind her hair.
"But it is! You are really too modest Jasmine, and very lovely indeed" He said as he hooked his finger under her chin and lifted it up so that he could see her.
"And you are far too humble" she whispered.
Quatre laughed. "Perhaps we're both right!"
Jasmine just smiled sweetly at him.
"Well then, ahem! Would you like to take a tour of the castle Jasmine?"
"I would love to. Thank you Quatre" Jasmine said as they stood up and walked out of the throne room.
*****
He was wondering through the forest for some time now, muttering and mumbling to himself as he tried to figure out what happened at that castle and where his cousin was.
'It just doesn't make any sense! What's wrong with me? Not that it matters…. She is a human and I'm… well… not… this isn't possible! Dryads aren't supposed to fall in l… lo…lov…. I can't even say the word! She can't be like normal a human… that has to be it! CRAP! I told her my name! I'm not supposed to do that! Great… now what do I do? And where the hell is Felina?'
(Oh and just so that you know… Dryads are a kind of fairy being that lives in forests and some fairies have this thing against giving people their names)
Heero came to a small clearing when he heard voices coming not far away from him and he ducked back into the shadows.
"What is your take on that girl that Barton found?"
"You mean the one he shot? Hum… donno what to make out of her… she sure is a strange one she is…"
"Did you see what she did when those male lions got into a fight?"
"Yeah… she just started mumbling gibberish and they stopped… something isn't quiet right about that girl I tell you Samson"
"Think she's a witch?"
"Maybe…" the men's voices trailed off as they disappeared from Heero's sight and hearing range.
'Girl? Shot? Gibberish? Who is this Barton person? That girl has to be Felina! It has to! She might be in trouble…I should follow them…' Heero thought as he crept out of his hiding place and started to follow footprints left behind by the men.
The trail ended at what looked to be so kind of human campsite, within the campsite there was a host of strange things, men breathing fire, women with hair growing off of their chins, many different kinds of animals locked in cages of varying sizes, Heero cringed inwardly at the thought of the cage, there was also the nasty smell of human food floating in the air.
'She can't survive here for long… if they locked her up in one of those cages I swear I'll…' Heero didn't finish that thought because he heard someone yelling from just up ahead.
"Hey You! Over there! Are you Felina's cousin?" a tall, lean and strong looking man called out to him.
'She told him her name…'
"Yes… you've seen her?" Heero replied.
"Yeah I did… I mistook her for a dear and I shot her by mistake" the man responded.
'Well at least he is being upfront about it' Heero thought.
"Is she all right?"
"Yes… I can get her for you if you want" the man replied.
Heero nodded his approval and the man ran into a tent, only to come out a minute later with a girl with an aqua blue dress on her slender form.
'Felina? No it can't be her! Can't it? What is she doing wearing human clothing?'
"HEERO!" her voice chirped as she broke out into a run and wrapped him into a hug.
'And now they know my name… just great'
"Are you well cousin? Have they been treating you well?" Heero asked when they finely pulled away from each other.
"Yep! I've never been better… honest Heero I'm fine… see?" Felina replied with a bright smile.
"What happened to your clothes? Where are they?" Heero asked as he looked over her once more.
"Catherine washed them for me and gave me this to wear… isn't it pretty?" Felina replied as she spun around to show off her new garments.
"Catherine?" Heero asked with a curious look.
"Trowa's sister" Felina replied quickly.
"Who is Trowa?" Heero asked with a raised eyebrow at her.
"I'm the one they call Trowa," the tall man said from behind Felina.
"It's a pleasure," Heero said with a nod.
"Oh! So you're Heero!" a female voice said from behind him; he turned around.
"Hi Cathy! Heero this is Catherine, Cathy this is my cousin Heero" Felina said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you Heero… why don't you and Felina stay a while?" Catherine said with a smile.
"No we can't stay… we're already late enough as it is"
"Where are you headed?" Trowa asked.
"…Heero's being mean! We don't have to go anyplace…" Felina said quickly.
'Why is she going this? We have to go back to the lair to recharge our magic or we'll be helpless out in the human world!'
"Felina… yes we do… our brothers and sisters are waiting for us" Heero said with a glare at Felina.
Felina sighed. "Yes, you're right… I'll miss you both… maybe I'll see you again sometime?" Felina said, as she looked up at Trowa with hopeful tears in her eyes.
"Yes… I think we will… we stop here every year… our route never changes… this time next year if not sooner… I promise Felina" Trowa said in barely a whisper.
Felina smiled and waved goodbye to them as she and Heero ventured back into the forests.
*****
"LAND HO!" the man up in the crow's nest called to the captain below.
"ALL RIGHT M'LADS HOIST THE FLAG! WE'RE COMING IN TO LAND!" Captain Gethin yelled above the resounding cheers from his crew.
But there was one voice that wasn't in the crowd… there, nestled in her fathers bed was the sleeping angel of the sea, Fiora heard her fellow men above deck cheering but it didn't register in her mind until she heard the door to the cabin swing open and slam shut.
"Huh! What? Come out you disgusting fleabag! Or I'll rip you in half!" Fiora said as she quickly scrambled to her feet, sword already drawn.
"A fleabag am I? Now that is no way to talk to your father… now is it lass?" Gethin said with an amused chuckle.
"Oh… it's just you… well then in that case… what do you want from little me?" Fiora said with a smug look on her face as she put her short sword away.
"I thought that I would tell you that we've spotted land and…" he didn't get to finish; Fiora had already whizzed past him and was out the cabin door in the blink of an eye.
Gethin shook his head sadly. "And that, my dear wife, is why our daughter will never have a ship of her own, she loves the land more then the sea…" he said to himself as he walked back up onto the main deck.
"FIORA! STOP! THIS ISN'T LADY-LIKE!" Kiora screamed as Fiora leapfrogged herself over her aunt and dove off of the end of the ship into the waters below.
"THEN IT'S A GOOD THING I AIN'T A LADY!" Fiora yelled back with a laugh as she swam for shore.
"Leave her be Kiora… can't you see that she is happy?" Gethin said as he watched his little girl pull herself up onto a dock and disappear into the crowds.
Fiora wringed the water out of the corner of her dark blue shirt then started off into the town.
"Freedom at last! Two moons of time for me to be free!" Fiora said as she wondered the hard gravel streets. The one price she paid for wanting to be with her father was being stuck on the same ship with her aunt, and after about a year of being on that ship, land never felt so good to her at the moment.
Everyone seemed to be minding their own business, talking to a friend here, buying something there, all in all, it was a simple town… no one pushing, not a person ordering you in sight, yes is was a nice, peaceful, quiet…
"Get back here you little! Thief! Thief! Guards! After him!" a man yelled as a boy pushed through the crowd.
Fiora stepped into a dark ally way to avoid being knocked down.
'What a bunch of assholes! He can't be much older then I am!' she thought as the boy ran by; he was dressed in dark rags and was as thin as a twig with a long braid trailing behind him as he ran.
"YOU GUYS NEVER GIVE UP DO YOU? YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T CATCH ME! HA HA! LOSERS! GO TO HELL!" the boy shouted over his shoulder at the men tailing him.
'Hum… this I have to see…' Fiora thought as she climbed onto a roof and watched the scene down below.
"You, you, you and you… take the left… the rest of us will head him off at the pass… he wont get away this time!" a man said with a sneer.
'That kid needs help…' Fiora thought as she quickly took off her hat and let her long brown hair fall to her waist. She quickly braided it and climbed off the roof and ran down the ally to cut them off. "Perfection! They wont know what hit them!" she said aloud to herself with a mischievous laugh.
Duo climbed onto some large wooden barrels and jumped onto a nearby roof. "You guys couldn't hit a castle wall even if it was two feet in front of you!" He laughed.
"WHY YOU! I'LL GET YOU, YOU LITTLE GOOD-FOR-NOTHING LOUSY STREET TRAMP!" a man yelled from down below him.
"HA! YOU AND WHAT ARMY?" Duo retorted as he ran to the other side of the roof and jumped into a pile of hay.
Fiora saw him land and she hid nearby. 'If I'm gonna help him, he ain't gonna know about it' she thought with a smile.
The two teams of men met not far from where Duo had landed. They started combing the area for him.
"He has to be here somewhere… keep looking! We'll find him" one man said as he slapped a large club on the palm of his hand.
Duo gulped. He looked around for a quick escape but he was trapped, he had landed in a dead end!
'Well it looks like my luck as finely run out…' Duo thought as he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.
"OH BOYS! LOOKIN' FOR LITTLE OL' ME?" Fiora said with a perfect imitation of his voice as she stepped out of her hiding place and turned to run.
"Why you… AFTER HIM!" a man yelled as he drew his sword and started to chase her.
'Perfection! I can't believe they're sooo stupid! This is too easy!' Fiora thought as she led them on a wild goose chase.
Duo popped his head out from under the hay and looked around. "Hey… what the… what just happened? And who the hell was that? They guy's gonna get himself killed! Is he INSANE?"
Duo crawled out of the hay and quietly stepped out of the ally to see what was going on.
Fiora was running back and forth, slowly whittling them down one-by-one.
"Hey… this guy's pretty good…wonder who he is…" Duo said to himself.
Luck wasn't on her side though it seems, just as she was about to draw her sword she tripped on a lose rock and hit the ground. That was just the opening they needed and two of the biggest men grabbed her and yanked her to her feet.
"Well, well, well… look what we have here boys… why it's that filthy street rat! Not so cocky when you can't escape now are you?" another man said, who was obviously the ringleader, as he cracked his knuckles right next to her face.
"Yeah well… what can I say? Even an asshole like you has to get lucky sometime!" Fiora replied, still mimicking Duo's voice.
"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" he said as he delivered a left hook to her jaw with a sickening CRACK!
Fiora's head slumped onto her shoulder as she let the blood run out of her mouth. Then with a laugh that could only be described as evil, she turned her head to face the man again. "That's it? That's your best shot? My grandmother could throw a punch better then you ever could! Oh yeah, big strong man you are, beat up on a poor, defenseless, little kid! You wouldn't stand a chance if I could fight back!" Fiora said with an equally evil smile that showed her blood-smeared teeth.
Duo's jaw dropped. 'How? How? How was it even possible? Damn! This guy's got some guts! Christ! And now look at him! They're gonna spread those guts out on the street! What was he thinking?' the answer was simple… he wasn't.
"I said…SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" the leader said as he punched her in the gut.
Fiora tried doubling over in pain but the two men holding her up refused to let her; Fiora just laughed harder. "You really think that's gonna make me shut up? Boy you are a moron! Why don't you go pick on someone with the same low I.Q. level as yours?"
That earned Fiora a kick to the crotch (and I don't care if she's a girl of not! It still hurts no matter what the gender!) But, once again, she just laughed it off. "Go ahead, punch away, but you ain't gonna get anywhere with it, but I gotta know… bet it just gives you a real thrill to hear a man scream like girl, huh? Doesn't it?"
"YOU MOTHER FUCKING, SON OF A BITCH!" the man screamed as the men holding her let her hit the ground where they all started to beat her.
Fiora forced herself to stand up, even with them slugging her left and right with clubs, hilts from swords, fists, saps (saps are large bags full of lead balls and they hurt like hell!) and various other objects.
'No! I can't take it! Why don't they just kill him and get it over with? WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE?'
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Duo screamed as he jumped one of them and started to beat the crap out of him.
Fiora blinked once, twice. 'Why is he helping me? He should have been long gone by now if he had any kind of smarts in that head of his!' Fiora saw a sword hit the ground next to her and in the blink of an eyelash she had it in her hands and was using it to fend them off the boy and herself.
"WE HAVE TO GET OUTTA HERE!" Fiora yelled, still in Duo's voice, once she fought her way over to him.
"I KNOW A WAY! FOLLOW MY LEAD!" he replied as he grabbed her hand and pulled her down a long ally and into a small, rundown, church.
"We'll be safe here," Duo said quietly as he sat down on the cold, dust-covered floor.
"What is this place?" Fiora asked, amazingly still able to sound like him even though her voice was very hoarse.
"This is where I grew up… father Maxwell and Sister Helen raised me sense I was only seven years old" Duo replied sadly.
"What happened to them?"
"They were killed in a war… their army attacked our church! A CHURCH! I was the only survivor"
"Ouch… that must of really been though for you" Fiora replied.
"I manage," he said with a smile.
"Say! Thanks for helping me out, I was almost expecting you to have run off as soon as you got the chance"
"Yeah well, I couldn't very well leave you to die by the likes of them, now could I? Hey! You haven't told me your name yet have you?"
"Nope, and it's gonna stay that way" Fiora said as she stood up.
"Why? You helped me and I helped you… that kinda makes us buddies, right?"
"Trust me, you don't want to be a friend to a pirate" Fiora said with a smirk.
"A Pirate? Well that explains how you were able to put up a fight. Man! What I wouldn't give to get off of this place and sail on the high seas"
"It's not all that it's cracked up to be, believe me, you're stuck on a ship with a bunch of people that you may or may not like! And you can't really get away from them either, besides that… it smells bad most of the time" Fiora said with a laugh.
"Well! If you aren't gonna tell me your name I might as well tell you mine! I'm Duo, Duo Maxwell, I might run and hide, but I never tell a lie. Ha! That's me in a nutshell"
"Well if you're going to be all fancy about it I guess it couldn't hurt, the name's Fiora, Fiora Long sword Eleri! At your service!" Fiora said with a bow that made her wince in pain.
"HEY! You okay?" Duo asked as he jumped up and helped her sit down.
"I'll live… its just a few ribs"
"Say, Fiora, that's a girls name, isn't it?" Duo asked as he looked at her.
"Yeah, what about it?" Fiora said with a raised eyebrow at him.
"Are you a girl or a boy?" he asked carefully, not sure on how she would take being asked that.
"Does it matter?" Fiora replied, slowly.
"No not really, I just wanna know that's all" Duo said with a shrug.
"I'm a girl…"Fiora replied
"You sure sound funny for a girl" Duo remarked.
"Which one are you?" Fiora said, trying to change the subject.
"WHAT? I'm a BOY! Couldn't you tell?" Duo said while swinging his arms around wildly.
"You couldn't tell with me," Fiora pointed out.
"Yeah but that's different!" Duo replied quickly.
"How?" Fiora asked with an amused look on her face.
"It's um… err… Ah… oh forget it!" Duo said, dropping his arms at his sides in defeat.
"Whatever you say," Fiora said, looking at him through the corner of her eye.
"You didn't answer my question" Duo said changing the subject back.
"Which one?" Fiora asked innocently.
"Why do you sound funny?" Duo replied.
"Are you saying that your own voice sounds funny?" Fiora said with a snicker.
"MY WHAT?" Duo shouted.
"I'm mimicking it… who needs a parrot when they got me around huh?" Fiora said with a laugh.
"You're WHAT?" Duo said as his jaw dropped for the second time that day.
"I'm mimicking" Fiora replied, trying very hard to sound indifferent.
"Well then, enlighten me on how you're real voice sounds like… or are you chicken?" Duo asked with a sly look on his face.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck" Fiora replied, flapping her arms like they were wings.
"Oh come on! Please?" Duo pleaded as he looked into her honey brown eyes.
"Fine!" Fiora cleared her throat. "Ahem! This better?" she said in her normal voice.
"Much!" Duo proclaimed as his sat back down and leaned against what was left of a wall with a sigh.
"I gotta get back to the ship… they'll be wondering what kind of trouble I've gotten into," Fiora said as she tried to get up.
"When do you leave the port?" Duo asked, wincing himself when he herd the sickening crunch her ribs made when she stood up.
"Two months" Fiora replied as she wrapped her right arm protectively over her rib cage.
"Do you have to go now?" Duo asked with a worried tone in his voice.
"I don't think they would miss me much if I didn't… why?" she replied as she used what was left of a stone pillar next to her to hold herself up.
"I need some help with something," Duo said quickly making up an excuse for her to stay put so that her wounds could heal.
"Oh? What kinda something?" Fiora asked sounding interested.
"Glad you asked… you see there is this castle not far from here and……………"
______________________________________________________________________________
That's it for chapter two! What do you think? Sorry if I cut things short… there was just so much stuff for these guys I had to get it all in! Lol ^_^; anyway! Sorry that Felina had to leave Trowa for a while there but I promise that it won't last long! Okay? Don't hurt me! Oh and please review! Tell me what you think! My E-mail is FioraEmbyr@aol.com thanks! And feel free to send me praise, comments, suggestions, and even a flame or two… chio!