Author's Note: I hope people realize that the only reason these chapters
have been going up so (extremely) fast is that I have been sick at home
with nothing to do all day (and I just got all my homework, AAAAHHHHHH!!!).
Once I actually start going to school again, it'll be a longer interval
(but I'm sure you figured that out already). On a happier note, I want to
once again thank my reviewers ( Suni, thank you for the compliment and
Katie, I'm glad you liked it! It was the best way I could think of to get
Heero through the training without having a complete mental breakdown.
This chapter is, as I mentioned earlier, about Heero's meeting with Odin
Lowe. For all of you who haven't read Episode Zero he's..well you'll find
out soon enough. For those of you who do know Odin, you'll understand why I
say that this is where it starts getting more violent (well, maybe not
quite yet, but it's coming up here).
(Also, I changed the rating to PG-13. there are a lot of reasons, the main
of which is that until I actually get some R content, it's pointless to
keep it on R and stay hidden from most readers because the main screen
comes up G-PG-13. I looked at some of my movies to see when I would need to
change it back, but it didn't help me much. Would you believe that Princess
Mononoke is rated PG-13?)
Disclaimer: *stares into the dark swirling vortex that has appeared above it's desk, trying to figure out what bad combination it had consumed during it's small vacation that would create this sort of hallucination. Suddenly a light appears inside the vortex. It grows progressively nearer. It bursts out of the vortex and shoves Disclaimer out of its chair. When Disclaimer comes to, the only trace of the vortex is a slightly burned sheet of computer paper with this message on it* No anime of any kind currently belongs to Triton Bloom.
Chapter 3- The Stranger
After spending the last year or so confined to the same section of architecture, the outside world was a shock to me. Not to the extent that color or the loss of part of my mind had been, but enough to give me a glazed and helpless look as I wandered over the deserted grassland that made up that part of the colony (1). When a traveler found me and decided to "take me in" that dazedness in my face was no doubt greatly responsible for his impression that I was an innocent eight year old war orphan. I was standing at the bottom of a small hill gazing at nothing as I contemplated what I should do next when he found me. He almost tripped over me actually. It was getting dark and the artificial night cast strange shadows through the colony. I looked up at him as he stumbled, cursing.
"You alright kid?" I didn't answer and he bent down to get a better look at me.
"Kid, are you okay?" I just stared at him unable to remember what you were supposed to say in that sort of situation. The man stared at me, taking in the cheap T-shirt and cut-off shorts that had obviously been worn by at least five children before me.
"Where are your parents kid?" I cocked my head questioningly at him, unsure what he was asking about. 'Parents' were not something that had ever made any impression in my life. They were something real children had, not me. He noticed my puzzlement.
"Your parents, your mom and dad." He tried again. And then, I realized that he couldn't see that I wasn't human. That surprised me. I had always thought, shut up in that compound as I had been, that it was readily evident to anyone, any human, that we were mutants. Every human I had ever had contact with had known what I was and I thought there must be some sign, something that identified all of us as being less than human. I didn't even know what it was that made us mutants. I knew my own history certainly, but I had been called a mutant all my life and had never had a single thought that it might be otherwise. The fact that this total stranger was mistaking me for a lost human child opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. No one would ever need to know that I wasn't everything I seemed to be. I was still unsure however, and I answered hesitantly.
"'haven't got any parents."(2) He gave me an understanding look.
"Any brothers or sisters?" It took me a moment to remember what brothers and sisters were. There weren't any twins at the compound and after learning the words as we learned the rest of the language we never used them again. I shook my head.
"Have you got any family?" I had never had a family. Well, I suppose my friends before they started taking us away could count as family, but they could be dead for all I knew. I was certain I'd never see any of them again.
"No"
"What's your name?" I stared at him and shrugged before looking at my worn boots. The other children had called me Red, but that was years ago, and hardly appropriate now. For the last year and a half I had been referred to as "The Project". That wasn't even a semblance of a name. I looked up and shrugged again, sure he would figure out what I was now. But he just looked at me with pity in his eyes. "Poor kid." I just blinked at him. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything more, I started to walk away. Before I had gone three feet I felt a hand on my elbow. Startled, I looked back at him, and he smiled at me.
"Kid like you shouldn't be wandering around alone. At least let me give you some food and a blanket to sleep under until we get near to a town." I hadn't a clue what to do. Where I had spent my brief childhood, no one ever offered food or warmth, or even really cared if anyone else lived or died. All those things were in the past. Didn't he know there was a war going on? I was about to nod my consent when he bent over, grabbed me around the waist, swung me over his shoulder, and started to carry me to the place he had chosen to camp. Shock rendered me motionless for a moment before I started to struggle. I was not going to be treated like a helpless baby!
"Calm down kid, I'm not taking no for an answer."
"I'll walk."
"Only if you promise not to run off. " I glared at his back, but I wasn't about to give up a chance at my first real food in three days.
"I promise."
"Good" He put me down and we continued on. Five minutes later he stopped and set down his pack, stretching. I stood there as if I was made of wood. Smiling slightly to himself he started unpacking, revealing a sleeping bag, blanket, cook stove, several packages of dried and instant food and a canteen among other things I couldn't recognize because they were wrapped in paper. He threw the canteen at me and I caught it easily not thinking that most eight year olds would need to use both hands (3). He raised an eyebrow before turning back to his pack.
"There's a stream a little behind you, why don't you go get us some water."
It wasn't really a question, so I went to go find the stream. I really wanted that food. When I returned with the dripping canteen in hand the man had set up a fairly cozy little campsite. I gave him the canteen and he started to make some kind of soup I couldn't recognize (beef, potatoes and corn) as I sat at the edge of the small circle of light the stove gave off. At one point as he was waiting for our dinner to finish simmering he looked up at me.
"You can move closer, I'm not going to bite you." I moved closer to the warmth of the stove, wary of this stranger. He handed me a mug of the soup, taking another for himself. It wasn't anything special, but it was the best food I'd tasted since before they started that "Perfect Soldier Project". It also made me very sleepy to have hot food in me and I started dozing off right in front of the fire. I actually fell asleep for a while, only waking when he tucked the blanket around me. My eyes were heavy but I forced them open, determined to stay awake just a little longer so I could ask my question.
"Who are you?" He smiled.
"My name is Odin Lowe." I nodded drowsily and let my insistent eyelids close. Notes: I decided not to do Heero's entire experience with Odin all in one chapter. For what I'm going to try, it's simply too long for that. If this chapter seemed a little short, I'm sorry. It seemed like a good place to stop. Time should progress more slowly now for a while (it'll skip some, I'm not going to go over every day for two years, just a couple important ones here and there), and I'm going to mess with it in other ways too. The Timeline says that Heero leaves Odin and meets Doctor J in AC188, but I think that even with the training J will put him through, seven years is too much time. Besides, I have an idea I want to try with some original characters of my own hehehehe. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please Read and Review!!
There seem to be a lot of these in Episode Zero * shrugs* maybe it's farmland or something. I wrote this line and realized why it sounded so familiar. I think Peter Pan says it in J.M. Barry's Peter Pan. I don't own it, no matter how much I love the story. I figure most eight year olds' hands are too small to catch a full size canteen with one hand, but Heero did go through all that training right? (They had to have taught him how to make up for his size if they send him out at eight..) [Oh, and I corrected my little age mess up in chapter two. Heero was colorblind for the first seven years of his life.]
Disclaimer: *stares into the dark swirling vortex that has appeared above it's desk, trying to figure out what bad combination it had consumed during it's small vacation that would create this sort of hallucination. Suddenly a light appears inside the vortex. It grows progressively nearer. It bursts out of the vortex and shoves Disclaimer out of its chair. When Disclaimer comes to, the only trace of the vortex is a slightly burned sheet of computer paper with this message on it* No anime of any kind currently belongs to Triton Bloom.
Chapter 3- The Stranger
After spending the last year or so confined to the same section of architecture, the outside world was a shock to me. Not to the extent that color or the loss of part of my mind had been, but enough to give me a glazed and helpless look as I wandered over the deserted grassland that made up that part of the colony (1). When a traveler found me and decided to "take me in" that dazedness in my face was no doubt greatly responsible for his impression that I was an innocent eight year old war orphan. I was standing at the bottom of a small hill gazing at nothing as I contemplated what I should do next when he found me. He almost tripped over me actually. It was getting dark and the artificial night cast strange shadows through the colony. I looked up at him as he stumbled, cursing.
"You alright kid?" I didn't answer and he bent down to get a better look at me.
"Kid, are you okay?" I just stared at him unable to remember what you were supposed to say in that sort of situation. The man stared at me, taking in the cheap T-shirt and cut-off shorts that had obviously been worn by at least five children before me.
"Where are your parents kid?" I cocked my head questioningly at him, unsure what he was asking about. 'Parents' were not something that had ever made any impression in my life. They were something real children had, not me. He noticed my puzzlement.
"Your parents, your mom and dad." He tried again. And then, I realized that he couldn't see that I wasn't human. That surprised me. I had always thought, shut up in that compound as I had been, that it was readily evident to anyone, any human, that we were mutants. Every human I had ever had contact with had known what I was and I thought there must be some sign, something that identified all of us as being less than human. I didn't even know what it was that made us mutants. I knew my own history certainly, but I had been called a mutant all my life and had never had a single thought that it might be otherwise. The fact that this total stranger was mistaking me for a lost human child opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. No one would ever need to know that I wasn't everything I seemed to be. I was still unsure however, and I answered hesitantly.
"'haven't got any parents."(2) He gave me an understanding look.
"Any brothers or sisters?" It took me a moment to remember what brothers and sisters were. There weren't any twins at the compound and after learning the words as we learned the rest of the language we never used them again. I shook my head.
"Have you got any family?" I had never had a family. Well, I suppose my friends before they started taking us away could count as family, but they could be dead for all I knew. I was certain I'd never see any of them again.
"No"
"What's your name?" I stared at him and shrugged before looking at my worn boots. The other children had called me Red, but that was years ago, and hardly appropriate now. For the last year and a half I had been referred to as "The Project". That wasn't even a semblance of a name. I looked up and shrugged again, sure he would figure out what I was now. But he just looked at me with pity in his eyes. "Poor kid." I just blinked at him. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything more, I started to walk away. Before I had gone three feet I felt a hand on my elbow. Startled, I looked back at him, and he smiled at me.
"Kid like you shouldn't be wandering around alone. At least let me give you some food and a blanket to sleep under until we get near to a town." I hadn't a clue what to do. Where I had spent my brief childhood, no one ever offered food or warmth, or even really cared if anyone else lived or died. All those things were in the past. Didn't he know there was a war going on? I was about to nod my consent when he bent over, grabbed me around the waist, swung me over his shoulder, and started to carry me to the place he had chosen to camp. Shock rendered me motionless for a moment before I started to struggle. I was not going to be treated like a helpless baby!
"Calm down kid, I'm not taking no for an answer."
"I'll walk."
"Only if you promise not to run off. " I glared at his back, but I wasn't about to give up a chance at my first real food in three days.
"I promise."
"Good" He put me down and we continued on. Five minutes later he stopped and set down his pack, stretching. I stood there as if I was made of wood. Smiling slightly to himself he started unpacking, revealing a sleeping bag, blanket, cook stove, several packages of dried and instant food and a canteen among other things I couldn't recognize because they were wrapped in paper. He threw the canteen at me and I caught it easily not thinking that most eight year olds would need to use both hands (3). He raised an eyebrow before turning back to his pack.
"There's a stream a little behind you, why don't you go get us some water."
It wasn't really a question, so I went to go find the stream. I really wanted that food. When I returned with the dripping canteen in hand the man had set up a fairly cozy little campsite. I gave him the canteen and he started to make some kind of soup I couldn't recognize (beef, potatoes and corn) as I sat at the edge of the small circle of light the stove gave off. At one point as he was waiting for our dinner to finish simmering he looked up at me.
"You can move closer, I'm not going to bite you." I moved closer to the warmth of the stove, wary of this stranger. He handed me a mug of the soup, taking another for himself. It wasn't anything special, but it was the best food I'd tasted since before they started that "Perfect Soldier Project". It also made me very sleepy to have hot food in me and I started dozing off right in front of the fire. I actually fell asleep for a while, only waking when he tucked the blanket around me. My eyes were heavy but I forced them open, determined to stay awake just a little longer so I could ask my question.
"Who are you?" He smiled.
"My name is Odin Lowe." I nodded drowsily and let my insistent eyelids close. Notes: I decided not to do Heero's entire experience with Odin all in one chapter. For what I'm going to try, it's simply too long for that. If this chapter seemed a little short, I'm sorry. It seemed like a good place to stop. Time should progress more slowly now for a while (it'll skip some, I'm not going to go over every day for two years, just a couple important ones here and there), and I'm going to mess with it in other ways too. The Timeline says that Heero leaves Odin and meets Doctor J in AC188, but I think that even with the training J will put him through, seven years is too much time. Besides, I have an idea I want to try with some original characters of my own hehehehe. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please Read and Review!!
There seem to be a lot of these in Episode Zero * shrugs* maybe it's farmland or something. I wrote this line and realized why it sounded so familiar. I think Peter Pan says it in J.M. Barry's Peter Pan. I don't own it, no matter how much I love the story. I figure most eight year olds' hands are too small to catch a full size canteen with one hand, but Heero did go through all that training right? (They had to have taught him how to make up for his size if they send him out at eight..) [Oh, and I corrected my little age mess up in chapter two. Heero was colorblind for the first seven years of his life.]