Astra: Hello!
Shizuko: Look, a new chapter!
Astra: Be happy!
Shizuko: And look…we have chapter titles now!
Chapter Sixteen
The good side was that Duo's little…attempt…at escape didn't kill anyone. The bad news was that it knocked them out for a good few hours and still kept that relatively mellowed out for a while. This apparently was too peaceful for Duo, because Quatre had been napping on the couch for only a few minutes when a sudden series of crashes and shattering sounds rudely woke him. He opened his eyes to see Duo standing in the middle of a now completely chaotic room. The Flyer's hair was more unruly than usual and his eyes had a wild glint to them. "Duo?? What's the matter?"
Duo slapped at the air. "Evil…"
Quatre sat bolt upright in a panic. "What? Is there some sort of curse in here?"
"Yeah. An accursed mosquito. The thing's drivin' me nuts!" He lashed out again.
"Oh. Um…I don't think Mariemaia will appreciate what you've done to her room."
"I don't appreciate her putting us into a room with a stinkin' biting mosquito! Die, you irritating, buzzing…" He looked around. "Now where'd it go?"
"There it is!" yelled Quatre jumping up and running after it. He was just in time to see it escape through a crack between the heavy door and the rock wall. "Well, it's gone now."
"Gone, eh?" asked Duo, running up to the door. "Come back here, you little coward! Come and face me like…like a bug!"
Quatre sighed and sat down on the floor shaking his head. "I think we're starting to lose it, Duo. I take it you don't deal with confined spaces too well."
"Of course I do," retorted Duo. "I'm gonna go eat some more now."
*
Rhea and her sisters stopped at a fork in the path. "I have no idea where he could be," she admitted.
"Let's stop here and make camp for the night, then. Maybe we can think of something in the morning."
"Okay."
*
Rhea awoke just before dawn to a droning in her right ear. She was about to slap at the source of the sound, but she realized that whatever it was happened to be trying to tell her something. Concentrating for a moment, she finally turned into a mosquito to hear the news.
*
"Everybody up! Let's move it!" The Winner sisters blinked and sat up, rubbing their eyes and yawning as Rhea yelled and banged on a tree with a stick to get things going.
"Already?" asked one of the girls.
"You bet. I just found out where Quatre is."
Immediately, everyone was wide-awake. "You did? But how? Where is he? Is he all right?"
Rhea raised her hands for quiet. "As it turns out, he and Flyer Duo, if you remember him, are locked away for the moment. I believe Duo tried to kill one of my mosquito friends, who in turn came to complain to me. Useful little thing, she gave me some good directions. We should make it there by sundown today."
*
Midii blinked. Her mind slowly began to clear. She blinked again. She was lying on the floor of the pens. She sighed.
What happened…?
A huge dragon's head appeared in her line of vision.
Oh dear…close my eyes…play dead…I'm not here! See?
The dragon made a slight snuffling noise. Suddenly she felt something tickling the back of her mind.
Laughter?
I really AM insane…The dragon nudged her leg gently. Her mind was flooded with emotions of comfort and safety.
She slowly opened her eyes and pushed her self up. She was looking straight into the eyes of the dragon. She lifted her hand the stroke it's—no—his nose. He nuzzled her hand.
"Hello," she whispered. "I'm Midii," she said and then paused, "…but you already knew that."
She could sense his affirmation. She closed her eyes.
"Ryiu. Your name's Ryiu."
*
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Ice and snow…"
Catherine watched as Hilde began muttering the charm underneath her breath.
I hope this works as easily as it's supposed to…
A small mist was gathering in Hilde's hands. It grew until it enveloped Hilde's arms up to her elbows. Hilde slowly took in a breath and blew it out into the hall. She opened her eyes.
"Let's hope this works!"
Catherine nodded as she watched the mist fill the room.
"Hold your breath!"
*
Heero slid his blade across a small whetstone, sharpening the steel with the best precision possible.
I wonder where she is?
Relena's disappearance kept running through his mind.
Where is she?
What happened to her?
How could I have saved her?
How could I have failed?
What did I fail at?
Why do I care?He took a breath. In a few minutes he would either be running or fighting…and an adrenaline rush can rid one of all their worries…
*
"Freeze!"
The guard stopped mid-turn as Hilde's spell took effect.
"YESSS!" Hilde jumped up and down. "It worked! It worked! Cool! Awesome!! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Who's good?! Ohhhhh YEAH!!!!!!!!!"
Catherine looked unimpressed. "Um…we still have to get the key."
Hilde stopped abruptly. "Oh, right." She bounced over to the door and reached through the small barred window. "I'll get it! I'll—unghh…rrg!!!"
"What seems to be the problem?"
"Can't…reach…augh!!"
"Let me try."
"No! I can do it!"
Two minutes later, Hilde was still trying. "Um, Hilde," said Catherine, "we really need to get out of here."
"Fine! Let's see you do it!"
"Okay!"
Catherine walked over, reached her hand through the bars, and lightly picked up the keys. Then she unlocked the door and let it swing open, bumping gently against the immobilized guard.
Hilde watched, mouth agape. "Not…fair…"
Catherine shrugged. "Long arms come in handy…"
"Hmph."
"Short arms don't."
"Ahhhhhh!"
Catherine sped out the door, Hilde chasing after. Three minutes later Catherine and Hilde were standing out of the fort, other escapees surrounding them. Hilde caught up.
"Ahhhh!"
"Hey…it made you HURRY UP!"
"Hmph."
"Now…RUN!"
*
"Hey!! You guys!!! They're coming and you're all just SITTING HERE??? I tell you, men…"
At that comment, Wufei, who had sat calmly ignoring Dorothy's screeching, jumped up at the last comment. "Discriminating by gender, huh?? Hypocrite."
Dorothy yanked out her wooden spoon in answer.
Wufei snorted and turned away. "All right, people. Let's move."
Everyone immediately obeyed.
*
Astra: OOOO…looky! We let Wufei WIN!
Shizuko: How original! Hope you liked it!
Astra: Sorry it was short…I'm going to try and write some more!
Both: See you next chapter!