Astra: New chapter!  Aren't you happy? 

Chapter Three

Hilde was about ready to scream.  Her arm felt like it was on fire, and her ears—well, they were about all talked off.  "Are you absolutely sure there was no sort of evidence around Southern Range?  Nothing that might indicate what happened?"

"No, Maxwell."

Duo swooped down next to her, pretending not to see the venomous look she shot him at the sudden gust of wind.  "Hey, sorry.  I don't mean to annoy you—"

She snorted.

"—but I really wanna help figure out what happened."

Hilde gripped the reins until her knuckles turned white.  The landscape was rippling and moving.  Not again…  Duo noticed she had gone very pale. 

"Hilde?"  He dismounted and leapt forward just in time to catch her.  "No, Hilde!  Don't black out again now!  We're only a few hours away from Crest Falls!"  He pulled up her sleeve to check the wound.  No doubt about it, infection had set in.  Angry red streaks extended up her ashen skin from beneath the bandages.  "Oh great…Hilde!  Wake up!"

Her eyes were unfocused and half closed, and she was breathing heavily.  Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, darting about.  "Do…d'ya hear it?"  Her speech no longer came clearly.

"Hear what?"

She shuddered in his arms.  "No…no…not again…"

"What's going on Hilde?!?"

"They're co…coming…"

"Wha—??"

"Coming…for the rest…of me…" Her hand flew to her arm, covering her wound.

"Hilde?!"

"For…more…blood…" Her eyes scanned the horizon, unseeing.  She tensed, and then went limp in his arms.

"Hilde!  This is not the time!!  Wake up!!!!

*

            Commander Chang rubbed his temples for a moment, pondering what to do. 

            "Sir?"

            "Yes, Rider Yuy?"

            "I know some shortcuts back…"

            The commander looked up and asked, "How long?" 

            "Day and half, max." 

            Commander Chang nodded swiftly, "We'll have to split up.  Rider Barton, you take Flyer Relena, continue the way we were going.  I'll take Rider Yuy; I want to deal with this commander myself."

            Rider Barton nodded but didn't say anything, once again.  Relena remounted and they were off.  Heero watched them for a moment and then brought himself back to reality, wondering why he had.  Commander Chang's voice cut into his thoughts, "Now, where is this shortcut, Rider Yuy?"

            "This way, Commander Chang."

            Commander Chang looked at Heero for a moment, "Call me Wufei, I have a feeling we'll be stuck with each other for a while."

            "You can call me Heero."   

*

            As they rode off, Relena could feel someone watching her.  As she looked back, she just caught Heero turning away.  Why was he watching me?

            Before she could delve further into her thoughts, a communications orb appeared beside her.  Rider Barton's face appeared, "We're going to take a shortcut I know of.  Follow me."

            Before Relena could answer, the orb was gone.  Must not be much of a talker.  She squinted her eyes for a moment as they turned into the setting sun.  She sighed.  This had been a very long two days.  And she had a dreadful feeling the upcoming days wouldn't be any shorter.      

*

Duo finally gave up yelling at Hilde's unresponding form and settled for holding her as he rode Crystal.  Vlieger flew low overhead, now free to battle if they were attacked.  The sun had already dipped under the horizon when they arrived, but they were safe.  "Hallucinations," Duo murmured in relief.  A couple of his friends met him and took Hilde to the hospital ward.  She was awake by now.  As she left he gave her a parting remark, "Now don't threaten the meds with a knife.  They might not be as understanding as I am."  Her only response was to stick her tongue out at him.  He smirked and went to see his commander.

Commander Une (though the men had jokingly given her the title "Lady" behind her back) had never actually been part of a team herself.  She was, however, excellent at giving orders, organizing things, and solving problems.  Those were the traits that had gotten her into such a trusted place of power.  At the moment, though, she was as worried as any normal person.  "The Southern Range, entirely gone??"

Duo nodded.  "Yes, Commander.  There are only two known survivors, one of which is unconscious in the hospital ward at the moment."

Commander Une studied a map she had pulled from her desk.  "This is unbelievable.  I just don't see…  And now the message won't be able to get through.  I hope it wasn't terribly important—though Rider/Flyer teams are not sent out on a whim."

"We'd better tell whoever sent it what happened."

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"It was classified and marked with the state seal.  It even stood up to a minor truth spell.  I didn't have the rank to open it; I had to assume it was okay.  I don't know who sent it, other than that they were of a higher rank then me.  That or a really good counterfeiter." 

Duo bit his lip, thinking.  "This is bad," he groaned aloud. 

"I know, Flyer Maxwell," Une placed her hand on her head and thought a moment, "Since you seem to know the most about this, I definitely want you there when we send out warnings to the other bases.  Get a few hours of sleep and be ready to leave in the morning.  Rider Winner will accompany you," she paused, and then shook her head, "I was going to send another team with you two, but you'll move faster with only yourselves.  Take the run that follows the river, I'll send other teams in different directions.  You can leave tomorrow morning, as early as possible.  Good luck."

"Thanks, Commander."  Duo saluted and stumbled off to the barracks to get the little rest he could.  He was quite sure he'd be needing it.

*

            Once again, when Duo woke up he was confronted by another pair of eyes, but thankfully, these were neither angry nor was there a knife at his throat.  After a moment though, he realized he was very wet.  Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he realized what had happened, the owner of the eyes had dumped a bucket of water over his head. 

            "You aren't the easiest person to wake up, are you?"

            Duo sat up and groaned.  He looked at the other boy who had now backed off and stood lazily holding the empty bucket.  He had blond hair and blue eyes and was almost exactly as tall as Duo. 

            "You must be Rider Winner," Duo finally said. 

            The other boy gave a slight bow, "Rider Quatre Raberba Winner, at you service.  Come on, its time to ride."

            Duo shrugged and through off the blankets.  He hadn't bothered undressing last night, so he was ready to go.  Sliding on his boots, he ran out the door after Quatre.  The blond was all ready mounted and Vlieger was waiting for Duo, already saddled. 

            "You have everything ready, don't 'cha?"

            "Always good to be prepared."

            Duo looked at the other boy, shrugged and leapt on to Vlieger's back. 

            "Time to fly, buddy," he whispered into Vlieger's ear as he gave the dragon the signal to take off. 

            "Uh…aren't you going to dry off first?"

            Duo swung his head around, wet hair smacking him in the face, "No.  Why would I?"

            "We're in the middle of winter…"

            "And?"

            "Um.  Never mind." 

"Well, are you going to stare at me all day?"

Quatre shook his head and they took off. 

*

"Dun…de…dum…de…dum...de...doo…la…de…da…de…da…"

            Quatre was at his wits end, but he was too nice to tell Duo to just BE QUIET!  This had gone on all day, ENDLESS chattering and noise.  Quatre took a deep breath, counted to ten, make that twenty, and ignored Duo once again.  Don't kill…don't kill…don't kill…don't… 

            "Hey Quatre!  We're about a mile off!"

            Quatre grinned…ah…blissful respite from the useless…

            "Da doot dat dot dot do da!"

            Sigh.

*

            Meanwhile, Hilde felt it was much too quiet.  So she decided to add some of her own sound, "Da…dum…da...de…da…"

            "Will you shut up?!" 

            Hilde glared at the source of the reprimand, a tall, blond, grumpy-looking woman in a medic's uniform. 

            Hilde stared and asked, "What's up with your eyebrows?"

            The woman frowned.  "You should be more courteous!  I hold your very life in my hands!"

"N-n-nani?"

The woman did not respond, but began perusing the extensive shelves on the wall.  Hilde noticed with a shock that they were filled with bottles, each containing a different, nasty-looking potion or slime.  The woman picked one up, checked the label, grinned evilly, and glanced at Hilde.  "Don't worry.  I happen to be in a…forgiving mood at the moment."  She pulled out a spoon from a drawer and poured some peculiar green potion into it.  "Open up!"

Hilde looked at it dubiously.  "What is that?"

"Sorc.  It'll help you heal more quickly."

"Never heard of it."  Still feeling a bit skeptical, Hilde swallowed.  It tasted weird, like something was crawling down her throat with a hundred spindly little legs.  She coughed a few times and finally got it all down.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Hilde glared at the medic.  Before she could say anything, though, the room started darkening and fading.  "Huh??  Hey!  That…wasn't…medicine…"

The other woman smiled and shook her head.  "No.  It was a sedative.  Sleep is good for the wounded—and my ears."  She pulled the blankets up to Hilde's chin.  "Nighty night!  Oh, and by the way, I'm Dorothy…Dorothy Catalonia."

*

Heero groaned as he shook himself awake once again.  He and Wufei had ridden almost to the point of exhaustion, but had to stop for their mounts.  Still miles away from Crest Falls, they would be there in about a half-day.  He hoped Wing and Shenlong, Wufei's Dwarf-dragon, were ready.

Wufei was all ready up.  He glanced at Heero and threw him a ration bar.  Heero caught it, but didn't feel like eating.  He was too tired.  He slipped the bar into his pocket.

"What did you mean by 'I told them this would happen'?" Heero asked. 

Wufei looked up from watering Shenlong.  He glanced at Heero and sighed.  After another moment's pause he said, "There were rumors."

Heero waited for him to continue.  When he didn't, Heero asked, "About what?"

"Signs of magic in the south…dark magic.  We had a meeting of Commanders to discuss preventive measures, but there were floods in the north, storms in the east, and drought in the west.  They decided to ignore the south for the time being against the bitter arguments of myself and a few other commanders—one of my good friends included.  One Sally Po, the Commander of the Southern Range. They should have listened…"

Heero silently noticed the other boy's hands were shaking.  "Is there more?"

"My…my wife was making a run to the Southern Range.  I know she arrived, but I haven't heard from her or Sally since six days ago.  They probably disappeared with everyone and everything else."

"Oh, I'm sorry."  He paused.  Then it hit him.  "Wait.  You were a little young to get married, weren't you?"

Wufei just shrugged.  "It's a long story."

Heero gazed at him expectantly.

Wufei grimaced.  "Fine.  I was born as an heir to a small but noble line.  As a requirement, I had to marry another with proper lineage in order to ensure the continuation of our families.  Usually the marriage takes place around the age of eighteen, but I was married at fourteen.  This was because my family found out about my training and coming career as a Flyer.  They sped up the tradition so that the union would not be called off because her family might think me a disgrace.  Then, a month after the marriage, I found out she was actually a Flyer too.  It's easier if you have someone else to help you cover up, so we worked together.  Unfortunately, when a tornado hit our home area a year later, we had to warn them.  They found out, and we were disinherited.  I was fifteen, became a commander at sixteen, and now I may be a widower at seventeen."

Heero raised an eyebrow.  Well, that was more than I expected.  "Just out of curiosity, why didn't you break off the marriage once your obligations were ended?"

Wufei's cheeks suddenly took on a rosy tinge, but he merely shrugged.  "Too much paperwork."

            As they rode, Wufei reflected on his past, trying to figure out why he hadn't been able to stop blushing moments before. 

Flashback

            "Wufei!  Put down the sword and get into dress now!  The wedding is in an hour!!"

            Young Wufei smacked himself on the forehead.  He had forgotten.  "Oh great.  Why me?"

            As he entered the house, his mother pounced.  "Wufei!!  Don't tell me you've been practicing with that sword all afternoon!  You should have been ready three hours ago!!  Don't you want to make a good impression on your bride!?"

            "Hn."  Wufei stalked off to his room before he made himself vulnerable to any more reprimands.  He would have liked to say he'd rather not even meet his bride at all. 

The field of flowers where the wedding was to be held was beautiful.  Wufei couldn't stand it. 

            "Mother!  Why here?!  This place is…so…so…flowery!!  It's too pretty and—" she pulled a face "—delicate." 

            The older woman sighed.  "Meiran, this is a wedding.  It's supposed to be this way.  Now behave.  Don't you want to make a good impression on your husband?"

            Meiran scowled.  "No."

            Her mother rubbed a smudge from her daughter's nose.  "That's nice.  Now run along, it's starting soon."

            "And why do I have to wear a dress??"

            "It makes you look beautiful!"

            "My point exactly."

            "AND it's tradition.  Now get going!"

            Meiran rolled her eyes and stalked off, violently pulling random petals off of her bouquet. 

            The service started, and Meiran was still sulking.  She stood at the end of the aisle, still pulling her bouquet apart.  Unfortunately, she was so busy being angry, that she didn't realize she was supposed to have made her appearance already.  With a shock, she remembered, picked up the cumbersome skirt, and tore down to her place.  Wufei stared.  I'm getting stuck with her for the rest of my life??  Lovely.  He sighed.  I bet I'm gonna live a loooooooooong time. 

            Meanwhile, Meiran had been observing her husband-to-be.  He's…not exactly Prince Charming, is he?  He looks a little slow to me.  This is great, just great.  My life couldn't get any better…

            The service went on.

            And on.

            And on.

            Meiran's scowl had not lightened.  Wufei was zoning out completely.  All the relatives thought it was beautiful.  During the reception, they twittered and chattered over the newlyweds.  The bride and groom were staring at the champagne; desperately wishing they were old enough to have some—no, not some, a lot.

            The so-called honeymoon was on the Western Shore.  On average, the couple saw each other for about two hours in a twenty-four hour day.  Since there was only one bed, they both ended up sleeping on the floor.  But then an accident made things better. 

            Meiran walked into the cottage, tired from a long, lonely walk on the beach.  She was about to sit down when she heard Wufei's voice.  Great.  My husband talks to himself too.  Well, it can't hurt too much to hear what he says, can it?  Slowly, following the voice, she made her way towards the back porch.  Wufei sat there, but not talking to himself.  A blue, glowing orb floated in front of him.  Meiran almost gasped.  Is that one of those Rider/Flyer communicators??  Has he taken mine?  A hot wave of anger washed over her.  How dare he?!  Furious, she flung herself forward and tackled him, attempting to take back the orb.  Wufei, caught off guard, toppled off the porch with a surprised yell.  They grappled silently until eventually Meiran found herself pinned firmly to the ground. 

            "What were you doing?!" demanded Wufei.

            "You stole that from me!  Give it back!!"

            The orb floated up next to Wufei.  "Is this her?"

            Wufei sighed.  "Yessir.  This is my…my wife."  He looked down at her with more than slight distaste.  "She'll make everything a little more complicated."

            Meiran was hardly listening.  Furiously, she still struggled, trying to escape his grasp.  "Get…your…hands…off…me!!"

            He glared down at her.  "Quiet!  I'm in the middle of a conversation."

            Meiran glared right back.  "On my communicator!!  Let…go!!"  Tired of shoving at her husband, she turned her head and bit down firmly on his left index finger. 

            Wufei let her up with a yowl.

            "Chang!!  What are you doing?!" yelled a voice from the orb. 

            "Sorry, sir," said Wufei, sucking on his sore finger.  "My wife just bit me."

            "What??"

            "I don't know.  She's rambling about me stealing something!!"

"You did!!"  Meiran stalked up to him and forcefully shoved Wufei away.  She was about to reach for the orb when she saw the face inside.  Shock was written all over her face as her hand flew to her forehead in salute.  "Commander!!"

The commander glared at Wufei, who scrambled up from the ground.  "Chang, did you know your wife was a Flyer?"

Wufei glanced at Meiran, still ruefully shaking his sore finger.  "No, sir.  Was I supposed to?"

The news sank in suddenly, and the pair glared at each other.  "You're a Flyer??" they asked simultaneously.

The commander nodded approvingly.  "Good.  You're already saying the same things.  Now, on to other business."

End Flashback

Shizuko: We just HAD to do a wedding scene, for kicks!

Astra: *nodnod*  Funfun.