DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN G GUNDAM!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter I: Memories
A slight wind washed through the trees as Domon looked out at his opponent, a heavily built man from Neo-Ireland with long red hair tied back behind his head. His pale green eyes glared like ice back at Domon, cutting daggers into his soul, for he had, countless times, seemed to understand some of Domon's deepest fears. He seemed like the new Schwartz Brü der on several occasions, and he was, like the old one, apparently a very powerful warrior, and a worthy opponent. The battle that was now looming, lost in the shadows of the surrounding forest and whispered of in the slight rustling of the trees.
"Are you ready Domon?" the man asked.
"If you are, Gareth," Domon responded. When they had first met, while Domon was castigating himself for running away, though he didn't quite know what from, Domon had had the urge to challenge Gareth, for he had seen his incredible strength and skill with a sword. Now, this battle was finally to come about, and Domon could scarcely keep his mind from wandering back to their first meeting. It seemed like yesterday when Gareth had first come to him during his rampage.
He remembered the day very clearly, a swift wind racing through the forest, pushing angrily against the trees, who merely bent over, relenting to the fury. The sky above was black, as if in enmity against the world, sending down the powerful wind, the biting rain, and the explosions of lightning and thunder. Domon ran over the soaked and muddy ground, blinded by the rain and the dark and stumbling over the sticky, uneven mire and protruding roots, the sticks and limbs clawing at him. Inside he still burned with the fiery miasma of anger, a red blaze that clouded his thoughts. And this anger was not aimed towards anyone else; it was an enmity towards his own being. An uncontrollable desire to destroy himself. Why he had come here, he didn't know, nor could he be absolutely certain where 'here' was.
He looked around, and remembered Rain, the pain of being separated from her ate him up inside; there seemed a hole in the pit of his stomach--almost the same tingling sensation one gets when they fall in some roller coasters--except this had begun to spread over his whole body. How could he have run from her!? Why had he run!? What the hell had he done!? In a rage he punched at a nearby tree, his fist slamming through the thick bark and taking a chunk out of the tree trunk in a small explosion of splinters. He looked down at his hand, the blood pouring from the torn away skin, and it stung especially where his salty tears mingled with the ripped flesh. It soon became impossible for him to see through the welling of tears that filled his eyes, and the excruciating pain that overcame him, massively outweighing the pain of his mangled hand, became almost unbearable. Exhausted from running, and drained from sadness and anger, Domon fell to the ground and leaned back against the tree, the dark miasma of unconsciousness overcoming him quickly.
It was as the pure light of morning began to wash the dark, damp forest clean that Domon first met Gareth, for it was when the light hit him that he awoke inside a small cabin made of wood that seemed to emit a faint, woody smell because of the rain. Upon looking around, Domon found himself in a warm, soft bed, his hand bandaged with a white fabric. He tried to sit up, but found that his body was loath to comply, pain shooting through his muscles. It was now that he was realizing how hard he had pushed his body.
"Now don't try to sit up," a huge man said, coming over to him. From this angle he looked like a man who would dwarf even the largest man he had ever seen, and he was, in fact, the largest man Domon had ever met. "You pushed your body far past the breaking point, and you did quite a number on your hand there. What were you doing out there?"
"I… I don't want to talk about it," Domon responded, turning away from the man.
"You know, I saved your life… you could at least tell me your name."
"Domon… Domon Kashu."
"The Domon Kashu… the winner of the Gundam fights?"
"Yes."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Gareth O'Leary. The name really gives away where I'm from doesn't it."
"I don't care."
"Now that's no way to treat the man who saved your life. Who knows where you'd be if I left you out in the rain?"
"Well… thank you."
"See, now that's better. And why won't you tell me what you were doing out there in the first place."
"Nothing!"
"You're hear to train aren't you?" Gareth asked, giving Domon a way out of this line of questioning.
"Yes…" he lied.
"Alright, as soon as your body recovers, maybe I can help you train."
But even then he knew. Domon had learned that Gareth often knew more than he let on, and always knew more than you expected. There was something about him… and he would show it not long after Domon recovered. Domon didn't know why he had stayed after his recovery, it seemed to him too late to try and go back to Rain… but to stay with Gareth… Perhaps he was merely looking for a way to resolve his problems--and perhaps part of him knew that Gareth could help.
His recovery was merely a blur of pain, though soon afterwards, when he began to train with Gareth, Gareth saw something inside of him and he remembered one time that Gareth stopped him from his training and took him aside to try and help him, though he was still less than open with Gareth.
"Your pushing yourself too hard Domon," Gareth had said.
"What do you care!? I can train however I want!" Domon replied in anger.
"I sense and enmity within you. You can't go on like this."
"Just leave me alone."
"Your angry with the world… aren't you? Just tell me why."
"I'm not! Why do you have to keep bothering me? I don't need your help. I'm fine alone. I don't need anyone's help!"
"No one can survive on their own Domon! Everyone needs help sometimes, and that time for you is now. Let me help you."
"I don't need your help!!"
"What is this about. I sense the anger within you. You hate everyone, don't you… and everything. If you continue to go on like this, this path will only lead to your destruction!"
"Fine!! I don't care!"
"You want to destroy yourself, don't you? You did something… what?"
"What are you, a psychiatrist? Why can't you leave me alone?"
"Because you need help."
"I don't need help from anyone…"
Domon was now part of a bet between him and Gareth. In an attempt to get Gareth to leave him alone about what was bothering him, he had challenged him to a battle. If he won, Gareth would have to stop asking Domon about his problems, but if he lost, he would have to tell Gareth about his problems. And that was where they were now--Domon and Gareth about to face off.
"Alright, Domon… let's go!" Gareth said, charging at Domon with a smile on his face. Reacting first, Domon kicked in a crescent motion at Gareth's head, but he quickly ducked under, delivering a blow to Domon's stomach with all the force of his inertia, sending Domon flying backwards into a nearby tree. Gareth continued to rush forwards, sending a kick to the side of Domon's head, but Domon dodged underneath, launching his heel at Gareth's ankle, which was clad in a thick, black boot, and knocking it out from under him, sending Gareth to the ground as Domon rolled away and leapt to his feet, moving to a fighting stance to prepare for Gareth's next attack. Gareth laughed slightly as he pushed himself to his feet and turned to face Domon.
"…That enmity… the pain in your eyes… I've seen it before…" Gareth said just before he charged Domon again. Domon countered with a flurry of punches, but with nearly superhuman agility, Gareth managed to dodge everyone by only a slight movement, quickly jamming his knee into Domon's stomach and slamming him to the ground with his elbow. Domon spun and fell onto his face, rolling aside just in time to avoid a crushing stomp from Gareth. Now on his back, Domon pushed off the ground from his back, sending both feet into Gareth's face and landing on the ground behind him, doing a summersault into a standing position, from which he turned to face his opponent, who was, somehow, already throwing a punch at him. Domon dodged the punch and punched Gareth a few times in the stomach, but they didn't seem to even phase him. Domon felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as Gareth's foot slammed into it, launching him through the air and into a nearby tree.
"I've seen it in the mirror…" Gareth continued as Domon struggled to his feet, "When my wife died… You've lost the woman you love, haven't you?"
"No…" Domon lied.
"Yes you have… you drove her away, didn't you! That's why you're angry with yourself. You drove her away."
"NO!" Domon yelled, overcome with anger and rushing madly towards Gareth. He unleashed a hail of punches and kicks upon Gareth, who blocked and dodged them all, finishing it up by punching Domon in the face. But Domon only reeled for a moment, coming back with even greater fury. To escape Domon's rage, Gareth leapt away, up onto the limb of a nearby tree, perching on a limb that seemed not strong enough to support him. Glaring at Gareth angrily, Domon leapt upwards in pursuit, and Gareth leapt away onto another nearby limb. Domon and Gareth kept repeating the process until Domon finally gave up and landed at the foot of one tree and unsheathed his katana. This one a sharp, well polished katana that slashed through the tree trunk with ease. Gareth escaped the falling tree by leaping to the next one, one that Domon also cut down. No matter how thick the trunk, Domon seemed to be able to slice it in two with ease.
"Calm down Domon. I understand your desire to destroy everything, the desire to remove everything from the earth… but you can't let it win. You can't succumb to the enmity or it will eat you up inside. It won't free you from pain, it will magnify the pain until it turns you dark in your heart. It will harden your heart against those who still care about you, and, though it will make you believe it won't let you get hurt again, you will be in constant pain."
"That's easy for you to say. Your wife died, but she still loved you, didn't she? You still have people who care about you. I loved Rain so much, and she hates me now! I ran, I didn't want to run… but I did. I left her and I know she'll never take me back. I've just ruined my life, I will NOT be alone in my pain!" With that, Domon cut down Gareth's latest tree, but instead of fleeing, Gareth dropped to the ground before Domon and unsheathed the sword from his back. A long, massive blade called a bastard sword. Both he and Domon went at one another, their blades coming together with a clang, their faces hovering only inches apart, Domon's eyes filled with malice. Domon then quickly ducked backwards and to the side of Gareth's bastard sword, swinging his katana upwards in a graceful arc towards Gareth's head. Though Gareth dodged, Domon brought the sword at him again, the blade glinting as it sliced through the air. Gareth again managed to dodge, slamming his shoulder into Domon to knock him off balance, and slashed at him. But Domon countered, blocking the sword with the flat of his katana.
"I won't lose. I was the gundam fight champion. I'm the strongest fighter in the world."
"Do you think that this is what Rain wants?"
"She's more important to me than life, more important than the world. I won't let the world suffer any less than her."
"And do you think she wants the world to suffer? Do you think that hurting the world will make her feel better… or do you think it will make her feel worse? You know the answer. What you're doing will only hurt Rain further. So stop now, before you make another mistake."
"I…" Domon hesitated, not quite knowing how to react or what to do. "I don't want to hurt Rain… but…" He fell to his knees, his eyes on the ground before him, relenting to Gareth. This was a fight he didn't want to win, and so he returned his katana to his sheath. Gareth did the same with his sword.
"Calm down Domon. You can work through this."
That night, Domon started awake from a horrible dream, though it was lost, even then, in the recesses of his mind. There was, however, an image that lingered, even when the rest of the dream had gone. And this image was that of Rain, crying to herself, questioning herself of what she did wrong. The look of sheer pain on her face, or even her imaginary face, brought Domon to tears, and the rage at himself, for causing such pain in the woman he cared for so much, returned to him. Over the next few weeks, he drowned himself in his training. Walling out all the distractions and memories of Rain by endlessly punishing himself with an endless push on his body. Even when the strain on body and mind became unbearable for him, he pushed on. He ran faster and longer than his legs would allow, lifted things far too heavy, and forced his body and mind to operate for inconceivably long hours without rest. He ignored every one of Gareth's pleas to get him to stop, because he had to push himself beyond his limit, he had to punish himself. And after two or three days, when he finally got a few hours of sleep, he cried himself into the realm of nightmares, and all of hurting Rain. He was, in fact, living his worst nightmare.
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Alright, my first attempt at a G-Gundam fan fiction. It's been a while since I've seen it so please correct any mistakes I may have made. I don't need you to be kind, I just need constructive criticism so I can try to improve in the future. Alright, let's see what you think.
