Disclaimer: We no own GW. *sniff* (Shizuko: But Quatre is mine! So any other Quatre-lovers can back off right now! Astra: Ignore her. K, continue with the normal disclaimer...) And that's about it. No suing, please? We promise to put them back where we found them!
Also: I re-uploaded this chapter...fixed a few mistakes…nothing interesting…
Riders and Flyers
By Astra and Shizuko
Chapter One
"Rider Yuy? You have an assignment."
Heero Yuy looked up from cleaning his dagger.
"Yes, Commander?"
"You are to deliver this message," the commander pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Heero, "to the Southern Range. Take Flyer Maxwell with you."
Heero saluted smartly saying, "Yes, ma'am!"
Sliding his dagger back into its sheath on his belt, he turned and walked outside of the Rider headquarters. Outside, a soft snow was falling. He strode towards the stables a few yards away; Riders were never far from their mounts.
As he entered he heard a familiar whinny. He gave a soft smile as the saw his mount and his companion, Wing. Named for the wing-like birthmark on her nose, Heero's mare was almost pitch black. Most of the Rider horses were; they hid in the shadows better that way.
Heero saddled Wing and led her outside the stable. Once there, he followed a path to the Flyer barracks, the noisiest barracks in the compound. After all, Maxwell lived there, didn't he? As he rode up the white-blanketed trail, a large explosion made the ground tremble. The door of the Flyer barracks opened and black smoke came pouring out. Duo Maxwell stumbled out, choking and coughing, his lengthy braid still smoldering. Heero rolled his eyes. "Again?"
"Hey (cough) I want to be able (gag) to do more than (choke) the elementary magic (gasp) we learned in school." He broke off into a fit of coughing, with little clouds of inky smoke flying from his mouth every time he exhaled.
"Well, then take another class or something. It's not supposed to be experimented with."
"Are you telling me to give up my hobby?"
"Hobby?? You nearly blow up the barracks every day."
"Hey, I happen to like the black color all over everything." He coughed a few more times. The smoke was thinning to a grayish sort of color.
"Hn. Go get your mount. We're going to the Southern Range."
"All the way over there? Isn't that dangerous?"
"That is technically what you're here for. Are you backing down?"
"What?? Of course not! I can take anything on…just not thunder…"
"Then hurry up!"
"Okay, okay. Sheesh, lighten up will ya?" Duo stomped off, still trailing thin wisps of smoke.
As Duo got his mount, Heero adjusted the messenger bag around his shoulder so that it landed more comfortably on his side and gave him a wider range of movement. After doing so, he double-checked to make sure the message was in the bag. It was, of course.
Just as he was about to go look to see where Duo got to, a buffet of wind pushed him over.
"Duo! You dimwit! You know you're not supposed fly so close to someone you're not attacking!"
In response Duo grinned and directed his mount back towards the ground so he was hovering next to Heero. Heero's expression didn't change as he looked at Duo's mount, a dwarf-dragon. Dwarf-dragons were big enough to carry a fairly light man into flight, but couldn't breathe fire like the big dragons. They did have claws more apt for tearing though, so Flyers were paired with Riders to deliver messages and what not.
Duo's mount was named Vlieger, supposedly meaning "dragon" in some other tongue. He was a peculiar shade of blue-gray, which helped make him less visible in the sky—much the same reason the Riders' horses were black. Duo had trained him with an unusual custom attack. He called it Deathscythe after the sweeping movement the sharpened claws made when raking through muscle and sinew. Fortunately, they only had to use it on rare occasions. Heero really didn't care what sort of moves Vlieger had learned. Duo would never order them used on one of his oldest friends. They started off, bickering as usual, until Duo flew up too high to hear whatever insults Heero might shout in his direction.
It didn't last for long, though. A glowing blue orb of magic appeared by Heero as he rode. Duo's face grinned from within it. Heero sighed despondently. Bother these magical means of communication. "Go 'way," he groaned.
Duo smirked. "Hey, y'know how some of those really powerful wizards can shoot fire? D'ya think I—"
"NO."
"Aw…"
Heero attempted to shove the ball of magic away. His hand merely passed through it.
Duo snickered.
"Duo, you'd better focus. We'll have to stay in that patch of wood tonight." He gestured towards the dark mass of trees up ahead. To his right, the setting sun glowed in a superb mix of oranges, golds, and crimsons. He paid it no attention, though. The winter sunsets always looked like that.
"Why couldn't we have left earlier? We would've been through it already if we had started this morning."
"I know. But I informed you as soon as I got the assignment. It's not my fault that they only told me this afternoon."
"Yeah, yeah. I just don't like the looks of that place."
"Hn."
Night fell quickly. Clouds heavy with more snow obscured the moon and stars. They made it into the shadows just fine, and Vlieger cleared a patch on the ground with a gust from his powerful wings. Heero lit a low fire, and they ate some of the provisions they had packed. The animals found their own food. Riders' and Flyers' mounts were like that: trained to get victuals by themselves in almost any situation.
Duo had just started snoring when Heero kicked him swiftly in the leg. Duo was about to protest, when his friend clamped a hand over his mouth. "Did you hear that?"
"Mmff…"
Heero removed his hand when he was sure Duo wasn't going to yell or anything. "Wha…'eero…"
"Over there. It looks like a fire." Their own blaze had died down to embers and a glimmer of light was now barely visible through the trees.
They sat in silence, tense, watching. "D'ya think it's trouble?" Duo whispered.
Heero stood, making sure his dagger and dirk were in place. "I'll go find out. Stay here."
It was indeed a campfire as he noticed, approaching stealthily. There appeared to be a lone figure lying beside it, not moving. He crept closer, making no noise as he went. Suddenly, something hit him hard from behind. He sprawled onto the frost-covered ground in a rather undignified manner, but without any harm. He regained his balance quickly, though, and grabbed the attacker's wrist as another punch came flying in. The other hand appeared, clutching a dagger, but he blocked its descent with his own weapon. Pressing his blade against the other, he tried to force it back. Both of their hands trembled with the opposing forces, but neither moved. "Who are you?" he demanded through gritted teeth, trying to decide which move would best end the current stalemate.
"I should be asking that question," his opponent shot back.
The voice took him by surprise, and he gave a little ground. It was too high-pitched to be a man's. He turned slightly, moving to see her face in the firelight. Determined blue eyes glared back at his, with soft golden hair framing the perfect face. "You're…a girl…" he whispered in shock.
"So what?" she snapped. "How dare you threaten my friend!" Her gaze flicked to the figure still lying motionless by the fire.
He raised his eyebrows. "I wasn't threatening her. I saw the fire and wanted to make sure we weren't near hostile company."
" 'We?' So you've got backup somewhere back there?"
Heero smacked himself mentally, but nodded. "We won't hurt you if you won't bother us, though."
"All right." He let go of her wrist, and they both put their daggers away.
"Will you be okay tonight?"
For the first time, a tinge of fear crept into her azure eyes. "I will. But I don't know about my friend."
Heero waited for a moment for the girl to say why she "didn't know" about her friend. The girl didn't say anything.
Heero ventured a guess, "Is she injured? Maybe we can help."
The girl nodded, hesitated, and asked, "Who are you to help?"
"I'm part of a Rider/Flyer pair," he said, pulling a chain out of his shirt. On it was a medallion depicting a small scene of a rider on his horse flanked by a dwarf-dragon and his rider. The rim around Heero's was gold to show that he was a Rider, while Duo's would be silver, saying he was a Flyer. Every Rider and Flyer had one of these medals to guarantee that they were in fact who they were. Spells were placed on them to keep the medallions with their owners; no one could steal and carry one. It would disappear into thin air.
The girl brightened, a smile illuminated her face, "Oh glories! This is wonderful! So are we!" The girl pulled out her medallion. Hers was rimmed with silver.
Heero struggled to hide his surprise. A Rider/Flyer pair that was female? You didn't find that everyday…
While he struggled with his surprise the girl continued, "We're carrying a message from the Southern Range. We were attacked by something while crossing the mountain chain. We were lucky to get away with out lives and our mounts, but we lost all of our supplies, including the first aid kit."
"I'll go get my partner…and out first aid supplies," he said and vanished back into the shadows. I'll interrogate her on what the "something" was later…
Slinking through the trees he soon made it back to camp. Duo looked relieved when he arrived.
"Where've you been? I was about to go after you!"
"There's a Rider/Flyer pair over there with an injured member. They've lost their supplies, I've volunteered ours…"
"What if we need them?"
"We'll deal with that if the time comes."
Duo shrugged, "Well, we might as well join camps. You take the first aid junk, I'll bring the rest."
Heero nodded, grabbed the first aid kit, and headed back to the other pair's camp. Upon arrival, the blond exclaimed, "You're a lifesaver…really!"
Heero shrugged and handed her the kit. She immediately knelt down by her friend. The other girl was deathly pale. When the blond pulled of the makeshift bandage (it looked like someone's shirt) wrapped around the girl's arm, Heero could see a grotesque claw wound. What in the world attacked them?
As the blond began cleaning the wound, her friend groaned. The blond placed a hand on the other girl's forehead and said, "Hush, Hilde, it's okay."
Hilde…so that's the dark haired one's name, now what's the blond's? Well why not ask?
"So, what's your name?"
The blond looked up briefly, blushing, "Did I forget to tell you? How impolite. This is Hilde," she said gesturing to the girl Heero had all ready identified, "and I'm Relena."
"I'm Heero."
"And I'm Duo! Pleased to meet'cha, pretty lady!"
The peanut gallery has arrived.
"You can call him idiot, if you'd rather," Heero mumbled. Relena caught the comment and giggled.
As Duo placed down their bags he said, "What'dya say Heero?"
"Nothing Duo, nothing at all."
Relena wrapped a final bandage around Hilde's arm and sighed saying, "That's all I can do with this. We have to get her help."
Heero frowned. They nearest compound was the one he and Duo had just left.
"Where were you guys going, and what were you carrying?" Duo asked.
Relena's face darkened. "We weren't carrying anything official. We're the only ones left."
Heero started, "The only ones left? But you said you were from Southern Range."
"We were."
Duo gaped and said, "But that's where the largest Rider/Flyer compound is based!"
Relena nodded, tears streaming down her face, "Southern Range was attacked at dawn a few days ago. Hilde and I were out on a run when it happened; when we came back nothing was left. We don't even know what attacked. All that was left was ash. No buildings…no bodies. Nothing."
Heero and Duo sat in silence. The entire Southern Range gone. Finally, Heero spoke, "Whatever it was that attacked, the other compounds have to be warned. Relena, you aren't used to this area, right?"
"I've been based in Southern Range my whole life. I know what this area is supposed to look like, from maps I've studied, but I've never actually traveled this area."
Duo looked at Hilde laying unconscious by the fire and inclined his head in her direction, "Is she Flyer or Rider?"
"Rider," Relena said.
"How about this. I'll take her, what's her name?" Duo began.
"Hilde," Heero and Relena said at the same time. They blushed. Duo's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything about it and continued, "I'll take Hilde back to Crest Falls where me and Heero are from. If we tie her to her mount, he should follow my dragon. I'll drop her off at sickbay and grab another Rider and we'll swing east, warning all the bases on the way, heading towards Rivers…"
Heero caught on, "And I'll take Relena and swing west, eventually meeting you in the North, at Rivers."
"Sounds like a plan," Relena added.
"I'll have to move slowly, with an injured member it'll take two days to cover what it took half a day too with Heero," Duo said.
"We should leave now. Since we don't even know what our enemy is, we don't know how fast it moves," Heero suggested.
"Fine, let's pack and go. And you take he first aid kit Duo," Relena said.
Soon the two pairs were ready. As Heero turned his mount west he yelled back to Duo, "Take Rider Winner with you, he has healing training, you don't know if any other compounds have been attacked!"
Duo saluted in return and swung Vlieger towards Crest Falls.