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Astra: *wavewave*  Well…we've noticed that reviews don't seem to be working (At least not for us!) So…hope you still like it!   

Chapter Eight

            Commander Une sat at her desk, listening to the report and frowning.  "So they demolished the kitchens??"

            "Yes, ma'am."

            She thought as hard as she could, trying to make sense of it all.  "It…just doesn't work," she said.  "Why would they want to destroy the kitchens of all places?"

            "Mayhap it was a mistake, Commander."

            She shook her head.  "We are dealing with trained Riders and Flyers.  They are not inexperienced.  There has to be a plan somewhere—only I can't see it.  This is most unexpected."

            The soldier sat patiently, waiting for orders.

            Lady Une shook her head.  "I don't know.  Perhaps it will come to me later.  Post an extra guard around the hole in the wall and await further orders."

            The soldier saluted and left.

            After he did, Une smiled to herself.  If it was and accident, wouldn't it be grand to see the faces of the rouges who had set off the explosion?  

*

            Back at the camp, Wufei was ranting his throat out at Heero.  "…how could you make such a horrendous mistake??!  The kitchens!!  How can you mix that up with the prison??!!  How could you be so careless???"

            "Hn."

            "IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF????"

            "Well, I never did work at the prison or the kitchens while I stayed there.  I was always with the animals.  Besides, the wall all looks the same at that end of the base."

            "WELL THEN, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO BEFORE???"

            "You never asked."

            Wufei couldn't argue with that, so he threw his hands up into the air and stomped off.  As soon as he was out of sight of the camp, he sat down on a rock and bowed his head.  "I'm sorry, Meiran," he murmured.  "I tried.  We'll still defeat whoever's down there, though.  I know I'm strong enough."

*

            Midii sat down next to the stream her dwarf-dragon, Astin, was drinking from. 

            "How ya doing, buddy?"

            The dragon turned his head to look at her.  His eyes were black and so was his hide, except for the starburst on his nose.  That was why she named him Astin, it meant star like.  After a moments gaze he went back to drinking. 

            "Huh.  You must be tired.  You didn't try to bite me or anything…"

*

            Quatre flopped down on his bed with ten minutes until lights-out.  His hand wandered to his bag, and he dug through it, seeing if there was anything interesting.  A pale purple glow caught his eyes.  Oh no…I did it again.  He pulled out the little ball, still glowing.  It recorded any voices or noises when activated.  He had left it on again.  I wonder how much is on here.  He made it start playing from the beginning.  Duo's voice came through clearly. 

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

            Quatre fast forwarded it a bit, and then grinned.  He had the entire rant on here.  He put the recording sphere into his bag again without erasing Duo's voice.  The temptation was too great, even for sweet, innocent Quatre.  Blackmail could come in handy someday, if they should ever run into Hilde again…

*

            After giving the animals a very short break, Relena and Trowa had gotten back on the trail again.  They had rode another day when Yoshi stumbled.  Chenoa was flying low too.  "We've been working them too hard," said Relena, stopping.

Trowa looked worried for the first time.  "I know."

"What are we going to do?"

            "Rest awhile and keep going, I guess."

            Relena looked horrified.  "You'll kill them!"

            Trowa could feel the intense struggle within him, burning like a Fire Parasite gnawing at his insides.  He leaned his head on Yoshi's, feeling his rough mane.  "I…I'll sacrifice them if I have to."

            "Trowa??"

            "Duty comes before everything else.  We are bound to the other Riders and Flyers."

            Relena bit her lip.  "You're right."

            Trowa closed his eyes and put a hand on the horse's nose.  "I'm so sorry, Yoshi," he murmured.  "I wish…I wish it could be different…"

*

Heero leaned back against the tree he was standing by.  Hn…this is almost getting fun.  Whoever was in charged had set up a guard near his window making efforts as well as sending out numerous search parties.  While Heero and Wufei couldn't do anything major, minor harassment seemed to be the order of the day. 

He had been waiting for a search party to come along for a while.  A few moments ago, a snapping twig had announced the arrival of his nearest victims. 

Just where I want them.

KERSPLAT!  

Heero's "victims" fell into a cleverly disguised pit. 

I love this job. 

*

Trowa and Relena had left their mounts behind once they got very close to Crest Falls.  They wanted as little noise as possible, stealth was more important than speed now that they were here.  Relena was walking slightly behind Trowa when he stopped suddenly.  He pointed just in front of them.  Though most people couldn't see it, there was a pit there covered with leaves and branches.  Riders and Flyers were trained to spot where those sorts of things were. 

Of course, Relena and Trowa were so busy spotting the pit in font of them; they didn't see the one behind them. 

KERSPLAT!

Relena and Trowa fell straight down into a pit about three men high.  Standing up, Relena looked at Trowa, mumbling, "Lovely."

*

"So what's for dinner?"

"What do you think?"

Heero shrugged as he pulled out a ration bar.  It didn't hurt to ask. 

"Did you catch anything?"

"Yeah, I think I got a scout party near that cave we found."

"Good.  When you're done eating, we can go take care of them."

Heero nodded.  No sense rushing.

*

Relena was annoyed.  Relena was cold.  Relena was tired.  And Relena was WET!

"Arg!  I want out!  I don't care if I'm an enemy prisoner!  OUT!  It's been raining for an HOUR!!!"

Trowa glanced at Relena said, "Calm down." Then went back to staring outside of their new home. 

Relena groaned.  Couldn't he just get…unreasonably emotional once in a while?!

Then she saw Trowa jump up, listening.   

"Someone's coming."   

Relena followed Trowa's example and stood up.  They waited a moment and then saw their captors' faces for the first time. 

"Heero Yuy!"

"Wufei?"

Heero and Wufei looked at each other.

"Oops."

*

Relena was giving Heero and Wufei a piece of her mind.  She had been giving it to them for the past few hours. 

"You COULD have MARKED it!" Relena fumed, "There was a REASON we took all of those classes!" 

Heero, Wufei, and Trowa looked at each other.  Trowa had forgiven the other two a few minutes into it.  Why was Relena so adamant about this?

"And WHY couldn't you have checked it EARLIER??  I mean, what if we were enemy and had had a chance to call for HELP???  You could have been in REALLY BIG TROUBLE."

"We aren't now?" asked Wufei softly.  Relena didn't hear.

"AND…"

*

Midii rode as quickly as possible until she found the base.  It swarmed with dragons, but seemed intact for the most part.  Leaving her mount in the underbrush, she crept towards an unguarded section of wall.  Sabotage and espionage had always been specialties for her.  There was a small gate, much like the one Trowa had dragged her and Relena through.  She shook her head.  She still couldn't believe it; that had been Relena Peacecraft.  The gate was unlocked with no soldiers in sight, so she entered easily.  She figured she might need a place to hide later, so she tried the first door she came to.  It was locked, but she picked it in a matter of seconds.  At first, she thought it was a closet it was so dark.  Then she realized it was too big for that, and…she wasn't alone.

Astra: heh

Shizuko: We did it again…

Astra: Cliffhanger

Shizuko: heh