Authors note: Hello, hello.. yes I know, I said I'd probably have this
chapter up on Tuesday but, well...I've been a little depressed lately. It
happens every once in a while. I get extremely, incredibly bored with just
about everything. Also, the temptation to read fics instead of writing
them is so strong.. Anyway, this is where we get into the reason I'm
writing this. [If you don't want to read my ramblings about how I came up
with the idea, skip to the next paragraph] For a long time I've been
messing with the idea that Heero should really tell everyone about his
past. During these musings, I came up with the idea that Heero was
involved with a gang of assassins (or something along those lines). I made
up a name, and a uniform, and a very strict code that Heero broke when he
left and now they're trying to kill him. (Only sometimes they wanted him to
do a special job for them). So Heero gets into this situation and has to
tell everyone about his past because obviously they aren't oblivious to the
fact that some unknown guy is talking to Heero like an old friend, calling
him a completely different name at a gathering of some kind (I never worked
that bit out..). For some reason I always thought that Heero must have
some sort of record of his past (or maybe it was just more entertaining to
me), so he first he has all this stuff, progressing into video clips (which
is where the camera in the eye thing eventually came from, and the computer
thing too, though slightly different than it is here) and him telling all
his thoughts. (If there's one thing I find annoying in most anime it's that
people don't talk enough. I want to know reasons!!) I decided it'd be
better to write the past from Heero's view than look back completely, with
comments and interruptions (though those can be fun!). Or I could..well, I
wouldn't want to ruin it for you would I?
Anyway, that's all after Endless Waltz, as is my other fic about the G- boys' kids and Relena pounding Heero into the dust. So it really doesn't matter right now, unless people decide they really want to read that (no I have not posted it). This bit takes place in the 'unknown time' before doctor J. And I really do want to know if anyone out there thinks that Heero and Relena should meet before the series..cause there's material and it'd be easy to do. Anyway.please r&r.
Disclaimer: Triton-dono does not own Gundam Wing, or any of the bird names mentioned in this chapter. Though why you would ever think she would I don't know..
P.S. I'm pretty sure all the characters except Heero are original creations of my own (I might mention a few other people. I'll put an asterisk by their names). If you want to use them, or any of the ideas in this fic, please e-mail me with a request. I do read a lot of fanfiction and if I find a story that is quite obviously using a character or idea of mine (not general, but specific ideas, like the mutant and camera stuff, including my jargon.) then I will send the author 1. A nice e-mail, and 2., if it's hugely plagiarism, a rather.er.pointed e-mail. Thanks to all of you who bother to review for me!! (And the rest of you too..but it's so easy to push the button at the bottom, it takes, at the most, five minutes.please)[Bold typing is my own thoughts in the story]
Chapter 6- Hawks on Red Wings
About thirty years ago the colonies started having problems with gangs. These problems were never made public on earth, or even worried about much by many people. Most of the gangs were fairly harmless, and the people who joined them could be called delinquent teenagers, or, in the case of older members, eccentric. But on Colony L3, the citizens did worry, because the most prominent gang at their colony wasn't made up of teenagers and adults. Its members consisted of young children who had, before the war, been stolen off the streets and trained to be gods-only-know-what by the twisted man behind it all. But then it was just a myth, not something too many people took seriously. Once the war started, the number of orphans caused the gang to expand dramatically, and revealed some of their purpose. The face that the gang showed to the public was of a group of highly trained assassins and spies.
They called themselves the Bloody Hawks, and the things they did were highly classified by L3. Both citizens and leaders knew that the military would only make the situation worse, so they kept the gang's entire existence a secret. Anyone who has ever spent time on L3, or grown up in the colonies, has some idea of what they are.
Even though the Bloody Hawks had long ago gained enough members to support their activities, they were constantly on the look out for promising young boys (no girls) that showed particular talents to help enhance the skill level of all members. At the time I had entered a public school dedicated to the pacifist leader Heero Yuy (funny how that keeps coming up isn't it?). Because of my age (and size), I was placed in the second grade, with children just learning to read, and struggling. I don't really remember when it was that I first started reading. I just know that I had full command of English and Japanese as well as several code languages by the time I met Odin. Needless to say, the classes were laughably easy for me. The simple math and grammar they were learning bored me stiff.
It took them a week to catch up with me. I was walking through a park near Odin's apartment, on my way 'home' after another boring day. I was frustrated with the need to do something, anything. Out of sheer exasperation I started running, not caring where I went as long as I was far away from anything that could remind me of the past. All I remember of that run is glimpses of startled faces as I flashed by, large buildings, open fields, the flash or bight light and color. At some point, someone grabbed my elbow. I stopped and looked up at them, hoping that I could get free and keep running without problems. The young man who held my arm was about twice my size with blazing red hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a red jacket with black trim, made mostly of leather, with black jeans and light boots. There was a steel pin in the shape of a hawk, and another of flames on his jacket, along with some others I couldn't recognize immediately. I could tell by his expression that I wouldn't be going anywhere if he didn't want me to. "Nani?" (what) He watched me curiously, as if I was a problem he needed to solve.
"Why are you running?" I shrugged. His eyes narrowed.
"What's your name, where're your parents?" I stared at him a moment, unsure of how to answer. What was it about those questions? Was there some law in humans' minds that didn't allow them to speak without those questions? Was no one allowed to remain anonymous? All the same, it couldn't hurt to tell him the truth, and I was burning to tell someone. I was tired of being lost. Someone had to know who I was.
"I haven't got any parents. Or a name." That made him look closer.
"Who are you staying with boyo?"
"No one." He seemed surprised, and a little sad. But there was an expectant gleam in his eyes when he next spoke.
"I know a place where you can stay. Do you want to come?" I thought about it. There was always Odin's apartment to go back to; but I couldn't deal with that yet.
"What sort of place?" He laughed.
"Cautious sort aren't you. It's a place where you can learn anything you want, and we've got food and beds." Learn anything I wanted? Food? The two things I needed most in the world just then, bored and hungry as I was. (Odin did not have much food stocked in his home.) The youth asked again.
"How 'bout it. You wanna come?"
"Hai." I managed a small smile, and he laughed again.
"Come on then boyo, dinner's at six sharp, we wouldn't want to be late." We started off, sometimes jogging, sometimes walking, until we reached what looked like a school campus. My companion typed something into the panel next to the door, causing the door to open by sliding sideways, not inward as I had thought it would. The world I entered then was unlike any I had ever seen before.
Behind the door was a long corridor with many doorways off it at irregular intervals. We bypassed all of these, took one of many cross-corridors and followed it to its end. There was another set of doors, but these were of cherry wood and had steel designs in the form of a phoenix, rising from copper flames. Beyond that doorway was what I would later learn to call the mess hall. It was a large, high-ceilinged room with about twenty or thirty large round tables and a sort of stage at the far end. The boys who were already sitting, or traveling in that direction, seemed to have specific seats, factions that kept them separate from each other.
"Why are the tables in groups? Everyone seems to belong at a certain place." The redheaded youth at my side grinned.
"Observant aren't you. The tables represent our flocks; everyone belongs to a flock, which is run by the Captain. I'm the Captain of the Raptors." I cocked my head to one side.
"Are they all birds?"
"Of course they're birds." I didn't understand what he meant.
"Which flock will I be in?"
"Well that depends on what you study, how good you are, and who chooses you. You'll start out with the other fledglings. Every four months or so we have a flight. The most promising sparrows are chosen by the Captains to join flocks. Since I brought you in, I get kills to you when it's your turn to be flown." I blinked at him. What? He noticed my confusion.
"Don't worry, you're a fast flitter, you'll pick it up soon enough." Of course this left me only slightly less confused. If he thought I'd understand soon, I'd take his word for it. He led me to a line of other boys, some teenagers, and some 10-13 year olds. No one there was as young as me. Most of the other boys seemed to be wearing the same outfit as he was, but without most of the pins. In fact, as I watched them socialize with each other I realized that the pins were marks of rank; my companion was of much higher rank than most people in the room.
"So who's the fledgling Cardinal?" It was a boy of about twelve years with sandy hair and dark eyes. I realized he was referring to me, and that fledglings must be without rank. The child addressing 'Cardinal' watched me with interest.
"I found him dashing through the territory like he was going to out race the wind. He doesn't have family, or a name." He grinned, glancing down at me. "He doesn't talk much, but he's sharp, noticed the flocks right off, probably figured out rank by now too." I stared at him expressionlessly; knowing that anything I did here for a while would play directly into someone's plans for me. If Cardinal was any example, I'd have to be careful if I wasn't going to reveal my secrets.
"Is your name Cardinal then?"
"Yeah, and this is Cooper, my second in command. You'll be sitting with us today." I glanced over their uniforms, noticing differences and similarities.
"Is that hooked beak the raptor sign?"
"Yes."
"And yours has a gold stripe 'cause you're Captain, and his is silver 'cause he's second." Cooper looked shocked and Cardinal laughed at his friend.
"Told you he was sharp didn't I?"
By this time we were close enough to the kitchen to see the food and Cooper had to get me a tray; I was too short to reach. I glared at him for a moment, trying to communicate that I could have gotten it myself, but the smell of food was too powerful to resist. As I made my way through the line I heard a lot of comments on my size and obvious displacement in my collared shirt and tie coupled with blue jean shorts. The mask wouldn't lift even if I wanted to, and my face remained calm and blank as I piled food on my tray. I hadn't eaten food that good since before we started that last job. When he came out of the salad bar to find me waiting for him Cardinal laughed. He was by far the most cheerful person I'd met in my life.
"You sure you can eat all that boyo?" I just nodded and followed him wordlessly to a table in the middle the room. As he and Cooper talked about work and missions and how the fledglings were doing I ate silently and listened carefully. In this way I discovered that Cardinal had done something truly unheard-of in bringing me to eat with them. He was going to 'introduce me to Phoenix' after dinner. Apparently this was usually done in an office, not the dining hall, and boys of my slight stature were not taken in on a regular basis. I also learned that being flown was to be tested or promoted, sparrows were students superior to fledglings but inferior to full hawks, and kills was to have a superior claim or higher rank. Cardinal saw me listening and knew what I was learning. As the chatter of 200+ pre and adolescent boys quieted and the lights over the platform at the end glowed into existence, a man walked out on to it.
He wasn't a tall man, and he didn't look particularly strong. His thinning copper hair spread over his head like a halo and his gray blue eyes were starting to fade with age. But he had a smile for everyone in the room, and they all respected him above all others, you could almost feel the admiration oozing from them. He held up a hand and started to speak.
"Good evening to you all." This was answered with murmured 'good evenings' from all around the room. He smiled again.
"I have a few announcements to make. Due to scheduling overlaps, the gravity game scheduled for tomorrow evening will be re-scheduled to Friday, and the chess tournament is being held in the second lounge at 8:00 tonight. Furthermore." here he paused and glanced at the Raptor table.
"Furthermore, I believe Cardinal has an announcement of his own. Cardinal?" Cardinal stood up and started towards the platform, beckoning me with him. I followed, not showing any of my nervousness. If I didn't live up to this man's expectations, I'd be back to vowels and addition, as well as my own memories. We reached the stage, and Cardinal leapt over the side, bending down to help me up. I glared at him and jumped up, pushing off the edge and landing easily next to him. The man, Phoenix, raised an eyebrow but Cardinal just smiled at me once more. He looked out at his comrades, then back to Phoenix, and to me.
"I would like to introduce this boy before you. He has no parents, nor does he have a name. He was running faster than the wind when I caught him, and he's demonstrated that he's a fast flitter. He's probably memorized half the faces here, and he'd probably be able to hack into any of your files." He grinned out at the hawks, the grin turning into a slight smirk. 'You better watch your back' was the message that smirk gave. He turned back to Phoenix.
"That's all I know about him, besides a hunch that he'll be one of the best we've got." Phoenix nodded to him, and Cardinal left me alone. The leader of all these boys smiled down at me, and began his interrogation.
"How old are you?"
"Eight years six months and three days."
"What schooling have you had?"
"I'm not sure exactly. I can speak and write both Japanese and English, and I know a lot of math. I can crack any computer file you got and I know war history like I lived through it." He looked surprised.
"You know, most eight-year-olds wouldn't speak the way you do." I shrugged. I was tired of acting like something I wasn't.
"I never claimed to be normal."
"True. Do you have any athletic or military training of any kind?" He was not expecting a positive answer. I stared at him, wondering once again what to say. How could I tell him that the purpose of my life as military training? After a moment he sighed and turned away slightly.
"I didn't think so."
"More than you'll ever know." I whispered. He turned back to me.
"What?"
"I've had more military and athletic training than you'll ever know. I've acted as a distance assassin for the past two years. I've never killed face to face, but I know I've killed many people from a distance." Dead silence reigned in the hall. I think hearing such words from the mouth of a child not even ten was the most shocking thing any of them had ever witnessed. Cardinal looked stunned. Phoenix though, he just looked sad; as if he knew that I was already in pain, and he didn't want to put me through more, but he would. He would put me though that pain and more because he used what was given to him, and he needed me.
"Do you know what we do here?" I shook my head. I was beginning to have an idea, but I couldn't know for sure. He sighed, and looked away from me for a moment to stare out at the many young boys before us.
"They are all orphans. I took them in, and taught them many things. Anything you want to learn, I can teach you. But there's a price. If you want to truly be a part of us, if you want to ever get beyond the first classes, you'll have to work very hard. And it's very likely that you will have to kill again. Most of the boys you see before you are spies; the best, the best are assassins. And if what I can see in your answers and reflected in your eyes is true, you will be among them. But you'll have to work hard if you want to stay, do you understand?" He took me by the shoulders.
"Do you understand what I'm saying boy?" I nodded and whispered quietly,
"I understand." I had to get the training somewhere. I may have been made as a weapon for war, but I knew enough to recognize that I couldn't survive long in the world without the schooling this man could give me. And besides, I would rather become an assassin for him than try to search someone out or go off on my own. I remembered what Odin told me, about living your life so that you'll have no regrets; and I knew that if I let this opportunity slip by I'd regret it for a long time in the future.
"Will you join us? You must join us willingly, we can't force you." Did he think I was stupid? He was going to let me into his base and then just let me walk free? I'd be silenced before I'd gone ten feet.
"Hai." He smiled at me, the corners of his eyes wrinkling in his genuine happiness. I'm pretty sure it was because he now knew he wouldn't have to kill me.
"Cardinal, would you show this young one to the other fledglings' rooms? He needs to know something of the general building layout before he tries to find his way around tomorrow." Cardinal stood up and approached the platform once more, his grin a little more hesitant than before.
"Sure thing Phoenix. Come on boyo." I leapt off the stage and followed him out of the room, acutely conscious of the eyes that followed me.
Cardinal led me around to various parts of the building, but I was too tired to really absorb it all. The only bit of information I could retain until the next morning was where my first 'class' was. Apparently all the fledglings met in a group at seven in the morning to receive the day's schedule and any announcement, including my addition to their number. The last few hours had been more excitement than I was used to, and that run across the colony was beginning to catch up with me. By the time we reached the dormitories, I was only half conscious and stumbling every few steps. Cardinal laughed when he noticed my condition.
"You must be exhausted boyo, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep that up." Then, to my complete surprise, he picked me up and carried me to an empty bed. Luckily it was a lower bunk, I wasn't sure I could climb up a ladder, and I didn't want to see what Cardinal would do then; probably try to throw me. He set me on the mattress, pulled of my shoes and tucked me in. I was too tired to notice then but when I came to myself in the morning it astonished me that he could be an assassin and still be so kind to a lost boy.
"Get some sleep boyo, you'll need your strength tomorrow." He smiled once more as I closed my heavy eyelids and slipped into oblivion.
I can't be sure how long I slept, but it couldn't have been more than a few hours before I woke to the sound of someone screaming. As I opened my eyes I noticed that the lights were on. But I was no longer in the bed. Instead I was on an operating table, the bright lights shining down on me. A face loomed over me and I recognized it as the scientist who had told me about colors. He was grinning that toothy smile of his, the kind that seems out of place and fake.
"You're certainly doing well for yourself mutant." I tried to move, to punch that grin off his face. I was strapped down. He grinned at my futile efforts.
"Learn how to really kill soldier, kill and enjoy it. That is the only destiny you can follow." I tried to deny it, to insist that I could be something else; killing wasn't the be all and end all of my life. But I couldn't. Part of me believed it, and that part had been nurtured by those years of training until it was almost automatic. Always, the fact that my mission was to end the war as a killer was at the back of my mind, influencing every decision I made. I couldn't get rid of it. For the rest of the night I struggled with the scientist, with my own soul and mind, trying to destroy that compulsion. An eternity later, I became aware of other voices, younger, higher voices.
"Who is he?"
"How should I know, where do you think they got him?"
"He doesn't look like an orphan, not with those clothes."
"You never know, I wonder who brought him in."
"Who knows? I think he looks like a wimp. They shouldn't have let him in at all."
"Shhh. He's waking up."
I opened my eyes, for real this time. Standing at the edge of my bed was a crowd of boys ages 7 to 12. One, a stocky child with dark hair and amber eyes spoke first.
"What's yer name?" I sighed and shook my head. Why couldn't they just leave me alone?
"What's that mean kid?" I shrugged.
"Listen kid, just tell us yer name alright? Is that so hard?" The youth was starting to lose his temper. I didn't care, after the night I'd had I wasn't ready to speak to anyone, especially not overbearing nosy children like this one. I shrugged again. He lost his temper and lashed out, giving me a bloody lip.
"Who do you think you are kid? While you're here you'll answer your superiors! And since you're the newest, that's everyone, especially me. I've been here the longest. Now what is your name?" I stared at him blankly. He was proud of being there the longest? That meant he'd been passed over several times. I wasn't going to give respect to anyone who didn't deserve it. I met his amber eyes coldly, knowing that if he chose to hit me I wouldn't be able to fight back. None of my training had been in hand-to-hand combat, and he probably had at least a year of it. My defiance gave him the excuse he wanted and he gave me a black and a couple other bruises before someone pulled him off me. Slowly I uncurled my self and struggled out of my tangled bedclothes.
"Are you all right kid?" I looked up into the face of the youth who, I later learned, was responsible for making sure the fledglings got up on time. I was just glad he'd gotten the bully off me. He gasped when he saw my face, eyes softening in pity, the most prominent emotion in my life. I wiped the blood off my lip and looked at it, staining my fingers red. It was fitting, I thought in a hazy sort of way, It was fitting to have others see the blood that covered my hands already, even it they didn't quite realize what it meant yet. I smiled and rubbed the blood into my hands, wiping my lip again as the cut continued to bleed. Soon my hands were tinted a rusty hue.
"Kid?" I looked back up at the youth. He was starting to get scared, probably thinking I was insane. I decided to explain to him.
"It's fitting." He blinked.
"What's fitting?"
"That others should see the blood on my hands." That confused him even more.
"Are you alright kid?"
"I'm fine, but I had a very strange dream."
"What was it about?"
"They told me to kill again."
Notes: Ano.sorry this took so long. I started writing it Friday night, and my Internet wasn't working, and then I had Sweetheart last night..so here it is. I looked back at my notes at the beginning. Wow. That's a lot! But I felt this urge to explain my inspiration. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and I don't know when the next one will be up. Not today, I don't have the time to write, and not Monday..definitely by next Saturday, or I will have to seriously harm myself. I just have so much stuff to do, and it doesn't help that my mind continues to insist on thinking about after Endless Waltz instead of the past..on the bright side, I now have a much larger tolerance for shonen ai, and could actually write it, possibly well! Anybody out there at all interested in a little shonen ai in this story? Please tell me...and I'm still waiting for opinions on the Relena thing. Do you want them to meet? Please Review, the button's right there, and it doesn't take long at all...
Anyway, that's all after Endless Waltz, as is my other fic about the G- boys' kids and Relena pounding Heero into the dust. So it really doesn't matter right now, unless people decide they really want to read that (no I have not posted it). This bit takes place in the 'unknown time' before doctor J. And I really do want to know if anyone out there thinks that Heero and Relena should meet before the series..cause there's material and it'd be easy to do. Anyway.please r&r.
Disclaimer: Triton-dono does not own Gundam Wing, or any of the bird names mentioned in this chapter. Though why you would ever think she would I don't know..
P.S. I'm pretty sure all the characters except Heero are original creations of my own (I might mention a few other people. I'll put an asterisk by their names). If you want to use them, or any of the ideas in this fic, please e-mail me with a request. I do read a lot of fanfiction and if I find a story that is quite obviously using a character or idea of mine (not general, but specific ideas, like the mutant and camera stuff, including my jargon.) then I will send the author 1. A nice e-mail, and 2., if it's hugely plagiarism, a rather.er.pointed e-mail. Thanks to all of you who bother to review for me!! (And the rest of you too..but it's so easy to push the button at the bottom, it takes, at the most, five minutes.please)[Bold typing is my own thoughts in the story]
Chapter 6- Hawks on Red Wings
About thirty years ago the colonies started having problems with gangs. These problems were never made public on earth, or even worried about much by many people. Most of the gangs were fairly harmless, and the people who joined them could be called delinquent teenagers, or, in the case of older members, eccentric. But on Colony L3, the citizens did worry, because the most prominent gang at their colony wasn't made up of teenagers and adults. Its members consisted of young children who had, before the war, been stolen off the streets and trained to be gods-only-know-what by the twisted man behind it all. But then it was just a myth, not something too many people took seriously. Once the war started, the number of orphans caused the gang to expand dramatically, and revealed some of their purpose. The face that the gang showed to the public was of a group of highly trained assassins and spies.
They called themselves the Bloody Hawks, and the things they did were highly classified by L3. Both citizens and leaders knew that the military would only make the situation worse, so they kept the gang's entire existence a secret. Anyone who has ever spent time on L3, or grown up in the colonies, has some idea of what they are.
Even though the Bloody Hawks had long ago gained enough members to support their activities, they were constantly on the look out for promising young boys (no girls) that showed particular talents to help enhance the skill level of all members. At the time I had entered a public school dedicated to the pacifist leader Heero Yuy (funny how that keeps coming up isn't it?). Because of my age (and size), I was placed in the second grade, with children just learning to read, and struggling. I don't really remember when it was that I first started reading. I just know that I had full command of English and Japanese as well as several code languages by the time I met Odin. Needless to say, the classes were laughably easy for me. The simple math and grammar they were learning bored me stiff.
It took them a week to catch up with me. I was walking through a park near Odin's apartment, on my way 'home' after another boring day. I was frustrated with the need to do something, anything. Out of sheer exasperation I started running, not caring where I went as long as I was far away from anything that could remind me of the past. All I remember of that run is glimpses of startled faces as I flashed by, large buildings, open fields, the flash or bight light and color. At some point, someone grabbed my elbow. I stopped and looked up at them, hoping that I could get free and keep running without problems. The young man who held my arm was about twice my size with blazing red hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a red jacket with black trim, made mostly of leather, with black jeans and light boots. There was a steel pin in the shape of a hawk, and another of flames on his jacket, along with some others I couldn't recognize immediately. I could tell by his expression that I wouldn't be going anywhere if he didn't want me to. "Nani?" (what) He watched me curiously, as if I was a problem he needed to solve.
"Why are you running?" I shrugged. His eyes narrowed.
"What's your name, where're your parents?" I stared at him a moment, unsure of how to answer. What was it about those questions? Was there some law in humans' minds that didn't allow them to speak without those questions? Was no one allowed to remain anonymous? All the same, it couldn't hurt to tell him the truth, and I was burning to tell someone. I was tired of being lost. Someone had to know who I was.
"I haven't got any parents. Or a name." That made him look closer.
"Who are you staying with boyo?"
"No one." He seemed surprised, and a little sad. But there was an expectant gleam in his eyes when he next spoke.
"I know a place where you can stay. Do you want to come?" I thought about it. There was always Odin's apartment to go back to; but I couldn't deal with that yet.
"What sort of place?" He laughed.
"Cautious sort aren't you. It's a place where you can learn anything you want, and we've got food and beds." Learn anything I wanted? Food? The two things I needed most in the world just then, bored and hungry as I was. (Odin did not have much food stocked in his home.) The youth asked again.
"How 'bout it. You wanna come?"
"Hai." I managed a small smile, and he laughed again.
"Come on then boyo, dinner's at six sharp, we wouldn't want to be late." We started off, sometimes jogging, sometimes walking, until we reached what looked like a school campus. My companion typed something into the panel next to the door, causing the door to open by sliding sideways, not inward as I had thought it would. The world I entered then was unlike any I had ever seen before.
Behind the door was a long corridor with many doorways off it at irregular intervals. We bypassed all of these, took one of many cross-corridors and followed it to its end. There was another set of doors, but these were of cherry wood and had steel designs in the form of a phoenix, rising from copper flames. Beyond that doorway was what I would later learn to call the mess hall. It was a large, high-ceilinged room with about twenty or thirty large round tables and a sort of stage at the far end. The boys who were already sitting, or traveling in that direction, seemed to have specific seats, factions that kept them separate from each other.
"Why are the tables in groups? Everyone seems to belong at a certain place." The redheaded youth at my side grinned.
"Observant aren't you. The tables represent our flocks; everyone belongs to a flock, which is run by the Captain. I'm the Captain of the Raptors." I cocked my head to one side.
"Are they all birds?"
"Of course they're birds." I didn't understand what he meant.
"Which flock will I be in?"
"Well that depends on what you study, how good you are, and who chooses you. You'll start out with the other fledglings. Every four months or so we have a flight. The most promising sparrows are chosen by the Captains to join flocks. Since I brought you in, I get kills to you when it's your turn to be flown." I blinked at him. What? He noticed my confusion.
"Don't worry, you're a fast flitter, you'll pick it up soon enough." Of course this left me only slightly less confused. If he thought I'd understand soon, I'd take his word for it. He led me to a line of other boys, some teenagers, and some 10-13 year olds. No one there was as young as me. Most of the other boys seemed to be wearing the same outfit as he was, but without most of the pins. In fact, as I watched them socialize with each other I realized that the pins were marks of rank; my companion was of much higher rank than most people in the room.
"So who's the fledgling Cardinal?" It was a boy of about twelve years with sandy hair and dark eyes. I realized he was referring to me, and that fledglings must be without rank. The child addressing 'Cardinal' watched me with interest.
"I found him dashing through the territory like he was going to out race the wind. He doesn't have family, or a name." He grinned, glancing down at me. "He doesn't talk much, but he's sharp, noticed the flocks right off, probably figured out rank by now too." I stared at him expressionlessly; knowing that anything I did here for a while would play directly into someone's plans for me. If Cardinal was any example, I'd have to be careful if I wasn't going to reveal my secrets.
"Is your name Cardinal then?"
"Yeah, and this is Cooper, my second in command. You'll be sitting with us today." I glanced over their uniforms, noticing differences and similarities.
"Is that hooked beak the raptor sign?"
"Yes."
"And yours has a gold stripe 'cause you're Captain, and his is silver 'cause he's second." Cooper looked shocked and Cardinal laughed at his friend.
"Told you he was sharp didn't I?"
By this time we were close enough to the kitchen to see the food and Cooper had to get me a tray; I was too short to reach. I glared at him for a moment, trying to communicate that I could have gotten it myself, but the smell of food was too powerful to resist. As I made my way through the line I heard a lot of comments on my size and obvious displacement in my collared shirt and tie coupled with blue jean shorts. The mask wouldn't lift even if I wanted to, and my face remained calm and blank as I piled food on my tray. I hadn't eaten food that good since before we started that last job. When he came out of the salad bar to find me waiting for him Cardinal laughed. He was by far the most cheerful person I'd met in my life.
"You sure you can eat all that boyo?" I just nodded and followed him wordlessly to a table in the middle the room. As he and Cooper talked about work and missions and how the fledglings were doing I ate silently and listened carefully. In this way I discovered that Cardinal had done something truly unheard-of in bringing me to eat with them. He was going to 'introduce me to Phoenix' after dinner. Apparently this was usually done in an office, not the dining hall, and boys of my slight stature were not taken in on a regular basis. I also learned that being flown was to be tested or promoted, sparrows were students superior to fledglings but inferior to full hawks, and kills was to have a superior claim or higher rank. Cardinal saw me listening and knew what I was learning. As the chatter of 200+ pre and adolescent boys quieted and the lights over the platform at the end glowed into existence, a man walked out on to it.
He wasn't a tall man, and he didn't look particularly strong. His thinning copper hair spread over his head like a halo and his gray blue eyes were starting to fade with age. But he had a smile for everyone in the room, and they all respected him above all others, you could almost feel the admiration oozing from them. He held up a hand and started to speak.
"Good evening to you all." This was answered with murmured 'good evenings' from all around the room. He smiled again.
"I have a few announcements to make. Due to scheduling overlaps, the gravity game scheduled for tomorrow evening will be re-scheduled to Friday, and the chess tournament is being held in the second lounge at 8:00 tonight. Furthermore." here he paused and glanced at the Raptor table.
"Furthermore, I believe Cardinal has an announcement of his own. Cardinal?" Cardinal stood up and started towards the platform, beckoning me with him. I followed, not showing any of my nervousness. If I didn't live up to this man's expectations, I'd be back to vowels and addition, as well as my own memories. We reached the stage, and Cardinal leapt over the side, bending down to help me up. I glared at him and jumped up, pushing off the edge and landing easily next to him. The man, Phoenix, raised an eyebrow but Cardinal just smiled at me once more. He looked out at his comrades, then back to Phoenix, and to me.
"I would like to introduce this boy before you. He has no parents, nor does he have a name. He was running faster than the wind when I caught him, and he's demonstrated that he's a fast flitter. He's probably memorized half the faces here, and he'd probably be able to hack into any of your files." He grinned out at the hawks, the grin turning into a slight smirk. 'You better watch your back' was the message that smirk gave. He turned back to Phoenix.
"That's all I know about him, besides a hunch that he'll be one of the best we've got." Phoenix nodded to him, and Cardinal left me alone. The leader of all these boys smiled down at me, and began his interrogation.
"How old are you?"
"Eight years six months and three days."
"What schooling have you had?"
"I'm not sure exactly. I can speak and write both Japanese and English, and I know a lot of math. I can crack any computer file you got and I know war history like I lived through it." He looked surprised.
"You know, most eight-year-olds wouldn't speak the way you do." I shrugged. I was tired of acting like something I wasn't.
"I never claimed to be normal."
"True. Do you have any athletic or military training of any kind?" He was not expecting a positive answer. I stared at him, wondering once again what to say. How could I tell him that the purpose of my life as military training? After a moment he sighed and turned away slightly.
"I didn't think so."
"More than you'll ever know." I whispered. He turned back to me.
"What?"
"I've had more military and athletic training than you'll ever know. I've acted as a distance assassin for the past two years. I've never killed face to face, but I know I've killed many people from a distance." Dead silence reigned in the hall. I think hearing such words from the mouth of a child not even ten was the most shocking thing any of them had ever witnessed. Cardinal looked stunned. Phoenix though, he just looked sad; as if he knew that I was already in pain, and he didn't want to put me through more, but he would. He would put me though that pain and more because he used what was given to him, and he needed me.
"Do you know what we do here?" I shook my head. I was beginning to have an idea, but I couldn't know for sure. He sighed, and looked away from me for a moment to stare out at the many young boys before us.
"They are all orphans. I took them in, and taught them many things. Anything you want to learn, I can teach you. But there's a price. If you want to truly be a part of us, if you want to ever get beyond the first classes, you'll have to work very hard. And it's very likely that you will have to kill again. Most of the boys you see before you are spies; the best, the best are assassins. And if what I can see in your answers and reflected in your eyes is true, you will be among them. But you'll have to work hard if you want to stay, do you understand?" He took me by the shoulders.
"Do you understand what I'm saying boy?" I nodded and whispered quietly,
"I understand." I had to get the training somewhere. I may have been made as a weapon for war, but I knew enough to recognize that I couldn't survive long in the world without the schooling this man could give me. And besides, I would rather become an assassin for him than try to search someone out or go off on my own. I remembered what Odin told me, about living your life so that you'll have no regrets; and I knew that if I let this opportunity slip by I'd regret it for a long time in the future.
"Will you join us? You must join us willingly, we can't force you." Did he think I was stupid? He was going to let me into his base and then just let me walk free? I'd be silenced before I'd gone ten feet.
"Hai." He smiled at me, the corners of his eyes wrinkling in his genuine happiness. I'm pretty sure it was because he now knew he wouldn't have to kill me.
"Cardinal, would you show this young one to the other fledglings' rooms? He needs to know something of the general building layout before he tries to find his way around tomorrow." Cardinal stood up and approached the platform once more, his grin a little more hesitant than before.
"Sure thing Phoenix. Come on boyo." I leapt off the stage and followed him out of the room, acutely conscious of the eyes that followed me.
Cardinal led me around to various parts of the building, but I was too tired to really absorb it all. The only bit of information I could retain until the next morning was where my first 'class' was. Apparently all the fledglings met in a group at seven in the morning to receive the day's schedule and any announcement, including my addition to their number. The last few hours had been more excitement than I was used to, and that run across the colony was beginning to catch up with me. By the time we reached the dormitories, I was only half conscious and stumbling every few steps. Cardinal laughed when he noticed my condition.
"You must be exhausted boyo, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep that up." Then, to my complete surprise, he picked me up and carried me to an empty bed. Luckily it was a lower bunk, I wasn't sure I could climb up a ladder, and I didn't want to see what Cardinal would do then; probably try to throw me. He set me on the mattress, pulled of my shoes and tucked me in. I was too tired to notice then but when I came to myself in the morning it astonished me that he could be an assassin and still be so kind to a lost boy.
"Get some sleep boyo, you'll need your strength tomorrow." He smiled once more as I closed my heavy eyelids and slipped into oblivion.
I can't be sure how long I slept, but it couldn't have been more than a few hours before I woke to the sound of someone screaming. As I opened my eyes I noticed that the lights were on. But I was no longer in the bed. Instead I was on an operating table, the bright lights shining down on me. A face loomed over me and I recognized it as the scientist who had told me about colors. He was grinning that toothy smile of his, the kind that seems out of place and fake.
"You're certainly doing well for yourself mutant." I tried to move, to punch that grin off his face. I was strapped down. He grinned at my futile efforts.
"Learn how to really kill soldier, kill and enjoy it. That is the only destiny you can follow." I tried to deny it, to insist that I could be something else; killing wasn't the be all and end all of my life. But I couldn't. Part of me believed it, and that part had been nurtured by those years of training until it was almost automatic. Always, the fact that my mission was to end the war as a killer was at the back of my mind, influencing every decision I made. I couldn't get rid of it. For the rest of the night I struggled with the scientist, with my own soul and mind, trying to destroy that compulsion. An eternity later, I became aware of other voices, younger, higher voices.
"Who is he?"
"How should I know, where do you think they got him?"
"He doesn't look like an orphan, not with those clothes."
"You never know, I wonder who brought him in."
"Who knows? I think he looks like a wimp. They shouldn't have let him in at all."
"Shhh. He's waking up."
I opened my eyes, for real this time. Standing at the edge of my bed was a crowd of boys ages 7 to 12. One, a stocky child with dark hair and amber eyes spoke first.
"What's yer name?" I sighed and shook my head. Why couldn't they just leave me alone?
"What's that mean kid?" I shrugged.
"Listen kid, just tell us yer name alright? Is that so hard?" The youth was starting to lose his temper. I didn't care, after the night I'd had I wasn't ready to speak to anyone, especially not overbearing nosy children like this one. I shrugged again. He lost his temper and lashed out, giving me a bloody lip.
"Who do you think you are kid? While you're here you'll answer your superiors! And since you're the newest, that's everyone, especially me. I've been here the longest. Now what is your name?" I stared at him blankly. He was proud of being there the longest? That meant he'd been passed over several times. I wasn't going to give respect to anyone who didn't deserve it. I met his amber eyes coldly, knowing that if he chose to hit me I wouldn't be able to fight back. None of my training had been in hand-to-hand combat, and he probably had at least a year of it. My defiance gave him the excuse he wanted and he gave me a black and a couple other bruises before someone pulled him off me. Slowly I uncurled my self and struggled out of my tangled bedclothes.
"Are you all right kid?" I looked up into the face of the youth who, I later learned, was responsible for making sure the fledglings got up on time. I was just glad he'd gotten the bully off me. He gasped when he saw my face, eyes softening in pity, the most prominent emotion in my life. I wiped the blood off my lip and looked at it, staining my fingers red. It was fitting, I thought in a hazy sort of way, It was fitting to have others see the blood that covered my hands already, even it they didn't quite realize what it meant yet. I smiled and rubbed the blood into my hands, wiping my lip again as the cut continued to bleed. Soon my hands were tinted a rusty hue.
"Kid?" I looked back up at the youth. He was starting to get scared, probably thinking I was insane. I decided to explain to him.
"It's fitting." He blinked.
"What's fitting?"
"That others should see the blood on my hands." That confused him even more.
"Are you alright kid?"
"I'm fine, but I had a very strange dream."
"What was it about?"
"They told me to kill again."
Notes: Ano.sorry this took so long. I started writing it Friday night, and my Internet wasn't working, and then I had Sweetheart last night..so here it is. I looked back at my notes at the beginning. Wow. That's a lot! But I felt this urge to explain my inspiration. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and I don't know when the next one will be up. Not today, I don't have the time to write, and not Monday..definitely by next Saturday, or I will have to seriously harm myself. I just have so much stuff to do, and it doesn't help that my mind continues to insist on thinking about after Endless Waltz instead of the past..on the bright side, I now have a much larger tolerance for shonen ai, and could actually write it, possibly well! Anybody out there at all interested in a little shonen ai in this story? Please tell me...and I'm still waiting for opinions on the Relena thing. Do you want them to meet? Please Review, the button's right there, and it doesn't take long at all...