Chapter 4
Dorothy found herself lying on her side in some trees. She was alone as her eyes adjusted to the scene before her. Her wrists ached and her head had a throbbing that refused to leave her. Slowly, her vision cleared and everything became one once again. After finally being able to see, she turned and realized that the cause of her aching wrists, were that they were tightly bound with cords of wet fabric. Her eyes wrenched around to see her situation. Someone, a young man, was sitting under a nearby tree. He held a knife. He was whittling a piece of wood into a small figure. It was had not taken a shape as of yet. Dorothy's attention was quickly distracted by a movement along side the other trees. A young woman stepped out; she glanced at Dorothy, who had returned to her 'unconscious' state.
"Quatre…" The angel's name was Quatre… wait if he was her angel, why was she tied up? Fool… Death Soul Clan! Of course she's tied up!
"The battle is over, we managed to save just enough." Enough? What did she mean?
"So, we're going to carry out the threat?" whispered Quatre.
"I guess. That's what we came here for."
"Natria, do you think we'll have to carry out the threat?"
"If they know what's good for them." A small snapping of a twig brought the two Death Soul members to leap up and ready their knives. A rustling followed and someone else entered the shelter of the trees. Dorothy held her breath, but a huge gasp came from someone. They were there next to her in a moment.
"Dorothy!" Gentle hands landed on her shoulders. Relena? The shock of Relena being there made it hard for Dorothy to come out of her shock right then. Relena turned on the others. "What have you done to her?" she yelled furiously. They only stared at her blankly. Dorothy finally shook herself enough to respond.
"Relena?" she croaked. Her friend turned back to her.
"Are you all right? They didn't do anything to you? Did they?"
"I don't know…"
"Come on, we have to find everyone." Relena placed an arm around her friend and tried to help her up. A notched arrow and the sound of the string being pulled back, stopped her. Her cold stare turned up towards sound of the string being pulled back. Her cold stare turned up towards the young woman with brown hair.
"I'm taking her to her family. Let us go." Everyone was very still. Finally, Relena began to half drag her weak friend. Natria's eyes narrowed and she was prepared to shoot, but Heero raised his hand to halt her.
"We will see them again."
Duo looked down from his aunt's dug grave. It was only a shallow one and hadn't been covered yet. His body ached all over by now. With broken bones, he found it difficult to do anything other than breath. Surprisingly, he flung a hand out when Hilde stepped forward and she left him in peace to struggle with the shovel and dry dirt. After a long while, Duo laid his aunt to rest. No tears, no mourning, only acceptance. Being so weak, he couldn't lift the shovel. Finally he sat down and shoved the excess dirt into the hole, forever burying his aunt.
"Ramma…" The wind whispered past his face. Sadness. He turned back toward the young woman.
"Would you just take Lucrezia and leave?" he growled at her harshly. She didn't move. Duo let out a cry of frustration. "What do you want? You obliviously are not planning on killing me." Still, no change. Duo threw an arm up and walked away. His side still ached unbelievably but he continued on in the direction of the remains of the homes. As he made his way towards Relena's house, his eyes caught something. A hand… it was hanging out from the burnt building. Duo stumbled forwards and stared in horror. A rare wedding band was on the ring finger. He placed his hands over a trembling mouth. She was gone… how could it have happened like this? She was one of the kindest people he had ever met. Relena… who was going to tell her. He certainly couldn't. He wasn't going to be the bringer of bad news. His nickname was Shinigami… 'God of Death.' He may be Shinigami, but he was not a deliverer of bad news. Mr. Peacecraft was sitting in the rubble nearby. He looked dejected… almost like a sitting corpse. He had a blond beard and his long white hair was tied back in a ponytail. He was an older and weathered Zechs.
"Mr. Peacecraft!" Duo shot up and ran to the other man's side. The once cheerful man with gleaming blue eyes were now dull and empty with a dream like state. He didn't see Duo, he only saw a young man. The young man who might have been the one to kill his wife. Relena's father felt the insanity take hold and then the fury seized his mind completely. Shooting up, Mr. Peacecraft yanked out a knife and went for the young man's throat. Through his fury, he couldn't see the young man in shock and horror. Before the knife could draw the blood Mr. Peacecraft craved, someone knocked Duo out of the way.
"You idiot! Wouldn't you know better than to approach a grieving man?" grumbled Hilde as she kept her eyes on the raving man. At the moment, the man was hunched over, breathing heavily. When Duo did not answer, Hilde glanced back in concern.
"Are you all right," she asked gruffly. Duo nodded as his pain began to recede. Hilde faced the crazed man. "You come closer old man, you'll be making friends with the dead."
"Father!" It was a cry of shock. Relena came running forward, bearing Dorothy to sit next to Duo. The man's daughter ran to his side, but before he could reach him Hilde stopped her by grabbing her arm as she went by.
"Let me go!" Relena struggled. "Father!"
"Your father has gone crazy. He won't know you."
"Yes he will! I'm his daughter!"
"He's grieving your mother…"
"M… my mother?" The glazed look of shock and then pure desperation. Relena looked around quickly. "Where is she? What do you mean by grieving?" The look in Duo's eyes answered her and with a cry of filled sorrow, Relena shot forward to hold her father. He only stood very still. His blank eyes seemed to flash with something. Slowly, His arms began to come up.
"Relena! Look out!" yelled Dorothy, but Relena did not move. As Mr. Peacecraft's arms came up they only encircled his sobbing daughter. His head bowed and his eyes closed. When they opened they were no longer clouded, but clear and filled with tears.
"Relena…" he whispered. She only cried harder. "It's going to be all right. I'm back." Finally, Relena pulled away with tears in her eyes.
"Mother… she's dead."
"I know, honey… It's going to be all right." The others only stared on in acknowledgement, but with their looks of grief. Dorothy looked up when some movement caught her eye. Her eyes widened in joy.
"Cathy! Wufei!" The two with a stranger stopped in front of them.
"Cathy's parents died and she wishes to see them," stated Wufei sadly.
"Mrs. Peacecraft died as well," whispered Duo to Wufei. His friend's eyes saddened more as the news was told to him. His face turned to stare at the grieving father and daughter.
"What of Milliardo?"
"We haven't see him and Lucrezia since the beginning of the attack. Maybe he went and dropped her somewhere," he said sarcastically. Trowa shot forward as well as Hilde.
"What do you mean by that?" yelled Hilde.
"I'm saying maybe he dumped her out in the desert!" Duo shouted back, but quickly calmed down and clutched his side.
"Or… maybe, he protected her from the attackers," came a deep voice from behind. Everyone turned to find Milliardo.
"Zechs!" cried Relena. She pulled away from her father's arms and ran to embrace her brother. Zechs returned it with a wince of pain, but Relena did not notice it.
"Where were you?" asked Relena at last. She looked up into her brother's eyes.
"We hid in the bushes for a while. We saved as many people as we could, but it was difficult." His sister nodded in understanding.
"How are mother and father?" asked Zechs. No one would meet Zechs' eyes. He immediately went on alert. His eyes scanned everyone's' eyes.
"What happened?" Zechs gripped Relena's shoulders and shook lightly. "What has happened?" he repeated. She only looked away. Zech looked up and desperately sought out an answer. He spotted his father and proceeded over to him.
"Father, what has happened? Where is mother? Has she fallen ill?" Silence. "Tell me!"
"She's gone, Zechs," stated Duo sadly. Zechs turned on him.
"Gone? What do you mean? When will she be back?"
"She's not…" Duo trailed off. Silence reigned.
"No…" Zechs stalked forward and grabbed Duo's sore shoulders. "Where is she?" he yelled. Duo only remained silent. Zechs' hands tightened in anger and Duo's pain began to show. Hilde rushed forward and glared up at Zechs.
"The man has fractured ribs and pulled muscles, would you let go of him?" she stated vehemently. Zechs looked down on Duo's pained face with new eyes. He quickly backed off and stared around the saddened faces. Finally he looked down in defeat. She was gone. For some strange reason he thought she would always be around, but it wasn't to be.
Slowly, Zechs looked up to everyone standing there and his eyes caught the young man and woman of the Dead Soul tribe. His eyes flared.
"Here we go," mumbled Trowa as the oncoming storm flew in.
"You are to blame for this! If it were not for your tribe we would not be suffering right now!" Zechs stepped forward and tackled Trowa. Cathy let out a cry of shock. The sounds of punches being thrown filled the air. Suddenly, a small click of metal against metal stopped everyone cold. All eyes turned to the young man holding a ready gun. Heero nodded to Trowa, who was lying on his back with a drip of blood running from the corner of his mouth. The brown haired young man got up slowly and stood next to his friend. Heero held all the others at gunpoint. Hilde slowly took Lucrezia's arm and led her as well. As they made their way towards Heero, Hilde glanced at the gun.
"Where did you get that?" she asked.
"My dad." Suddenly, from afar, the leader's voice drifted over to them.
"Stop! You cannot take her! She is a prisoner." Wufei grumbled an expletive. The leader came running with the rest of the village. The leader acted as if Heero wasn't holding a gun. He was right up in his face yelling at the top of his lungs.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"We've only come to retrieve our tribesman. We will leave with your agreement of our safety."
"I will do no such thing! That barbarian is a prisoner and she won't leave!"
"You have no choice. If you will not let Lucrezia go willingly, then we will have to take her by force. Starting with you." Heero pointed the gun at the leader, who froze in horror. Mr. Peacecraft stepped forward.
"Please, take her and leave. We don't wish for anymore bloodshed." Heero began to turn away, taking Mr. Peacecraft's request, but the leader's raving continued.
"Serio! You are not in charge! I still run this tribe and I have said she is not leaving!"
"Do you value a prisoner more than your life?" growled Wufei. The leader turned on him.
"Stop!" screamed Relena. Everyone turned to her in shock. The grieving girl glared over at the raging leader.
"You have already caused enough destruction!" she yelled with anger. The leader's eyes narrowed.
"You dare to accuse me of that? I was planning on sending you to Second Tokyo, but I know of an easier way of doing so. Your family has always been a thorn in my side." He turned to Heero.
"You will have my promise of your safety, if you take that wretch." Gasps of shock were heard even from Hilde and Natria.
"What kind of man abandons his own tribesmen?" whispered Lucrezia. Tenseness filled the air until finally, Heero answered.
"Fine." He began to walk away. As they did, Trowa and Quatre stepped forward to drag Relena along. She struggled but after the attack, she was so exhausted. Zechs and Mr. Peacecraft shot forward but immediately stopped as Heero repointed his gun at them.
"We're leaving." The leader smiled and turned back towards the villagers.
"All of the orphans will be sent to Second Tokyo! Duo! Cathy and Joshua!" Trowa stopped in mid-stride and turned back around as Cathy was being roughly dragged away and the baby was being pried from her arms. She kicked and fought fiercely. Looking at the other villagers, he only saw mindless, empty people, doing as told. Duo's small cry of pain caught Hilde's attention.
"Hey!" she cried as she ran towards Duo. Some villagers immediately stopped her. "He's hurt!" Heero turned to see the commotion. Shaking his head, he turned back to the crowd.
"We want the orphans," he spat out. They were far from orphans. They were all about 17 or 18 years old. His father was not going to like this. Heero figured he would pay for it later, but seeing that they were all going to be distracted if left from this late occurrence. The leader glared at Heero.
"Those orphans are apart of this tribe! They will bring in earnings for us." Heero raised the gun once again.
"We're taking them." He pointed the gun at the men pulling away Cathy and Duo. They were immediately released. Cathy snatched away her wailing brother from the man who had taken him away earlier. Cathy and Duo made their way towards the Dead Soul tribesmen.
"Stop!" raved the old leader. "I will not allow this!" The ringing of a gun filled the air and everyone stared on as a small cut opened up along the temple of the old man. A small trickle of blood seeped out and a gasp filled the crowd. The leader remained in shock for long moments, opening and closing his mouth in dismay. By the time the shock had worn off, Heero and the others were gone, dragging Relena along behind. Wufei's hands were clutched with anger. Their leader was to blame and as well as those barbarians! He was going to get his friends back.
Dorothy found herself lying on her side in some trees. She was alone as her eyes adjusted to the scene before her. Her wrists ached and her head had a throbbing that refused to leave her. Slowly, her vision cleared and everything became one once again. After finally being able to see, she turned and realized that the cause of her aching wrists, were that they were tightly bound with cords of wet fabric. Her eyes wrenched around to see her situation. Someone, a young man, was sitting under a nearby tree. He held a knife. He was whittling a piece of wood into a small figure. It was had not taken a shape as of yet. Dorothy's attention was quickly distracted by a movement along side the other trees. A young woman stepped out; she glanced at Dorothy, who had returned to her 'unconscious' state.
"Quatre…" The angel's name was Quatre… wait if he was her angel, why was she tied up? Fool… Death Soul Clan! Of course she's tied up!
"The battle is over, we managed to save just enough." Enough? What did she mean?
"So, we're going to carry out the threat?" whispered Quatre.
"I guess. That's what we came here for."
"Natria, do you think we'll have to carry out the threat?"
"If they know what's good for them." A small snapping of a twig brought the two Death Soul members to leap up and ready their knives. A rustling followed and someone else entered the shelter of the trees. Dorothy held her breath, but a huge gasp came from someone. They were there next to her in a moment.
"Dorothy!" Gentle hands landed on her shoulders. Relena? The shock of Relena being there made it hard for Dorothy to come out of her shock right then. Relena turned on the others. "What have you done to her?" she yelled furiously. They only stared at her blankly. Dorothy finally shook herself enough to respond.
"Relena?" she croaked. Her friend turned back to her.
"Are you all right? They didn't do anything to you? Did they?"
"I don't know…"
"Come on, we have to find everyone." Relena placed an arm around her friend and tried to help her up. A notched arrow and the sound of the string being pulled back, stopped her. Her cold stare turned up towards sound of the string being pulled back. Her cold stare turned up towards the young woman with brown hair.
"I'm taking her to her family. Let us go." Everyone was very still. Finally, Relena began to half drag her weak friend. Natria's eyes narrowed and she was prepared to shoot, but Heero raised his hand to halt her.
"We will see them again."
Duo looked down from his aunt's dug grave. It was only a shallow one and hadn't been covered yet. His body ached all over by now. With broken bones, he found it difficult to do anything other than breath. Surprisingly, he flung a hand out when Hilde stepped forward and she left him in peace to struggle with the shovel and dry dirt. After a long while, Duo laid his aunt to rest. No tears, no mourning, only acceptance. Being so weak, he couldn't lift the shovel. Finally he sat down and shoved the excess dirt into the hole, forever burying his aunt.
"Ramma…" The wind whispered past his face. Sadness. He turned back toward the young woman.
"Would you just take Lucrezia and leave?" he growled at her harshly. She didn't move. Duo let out a cry of frustration. "What do you want? You obliviously are not planning on killing me." Still, no change. Duo threw an arm up and walked away. His side still ached unbelievably but he continued on in the direction of the remains of the homes. As he made his way towards Relena's house, his eyes caught something. A hand… it was hanging out from the burnt building. Duo stumbled forwards and stared in horror. A rare wedding band was on the ring finger. He placed his hands over a trembling mouth. She was gone… how could it have happened like this? She was one of the kindest people he had ever met. Relena… who was going to tell her. He certainly couldn't. He wasn't going to be the bringer of bad news. His nickname was Shinigami… 'God of Death.' He may be Shinigami, but he was not a deliverer of bad news. Mr. Peacecraft was sitting in the rubble nearby. He looked dejected… almost like a sitting corpse. He had a blond beard and his long white hair was tied back in a ponytail. He was an older and weathered Zechs.
"Mr. Peacecraft!" Duo shot up and ran to the other man's side. The once cheerful man with gleaming blue eyes were now dull and empty with a dream like state. He didn't see Duo, he only saw a young man. The young man who might have been the one to kill his wife. Relena's father felt the insanity take hold and then the fury seized his mind completely. Shooting up, Mr. Peacecraft yanked out a knife and went for the young man's throat. Through his fury, he couldn't see the young man in shock and horror. Before the knife could draw the blood Mr. Peacecraft craved, someone knocked Duo out of the way.
"You idiot! Wouldn't you know better than to approach a grieving man?" grumbled Hilde as she kept her eyes on the raving man. At the moment, the man was hunched over, breathing heavily. When Duo did not answer, Hilde glanced back in concern.
"Are you all right," she asked gruffly. Duo nodded as his pain began to recede. Hilde faced the crazed man. "You come closer old man, you'll be making friends with the dead."
"Father!" It was a cry of shock. Relena came running forward, bearing Dorothy to sit next to Duo. The man's daughter ran to his side, but before he could reach him Hilde stopped her by grabbing her arm as she went by.
"Let me go!" Relena struggled. "Father!"
"Your father has gone crazy. He won't know you."
"Yes he will! I'm his daughter!"
"He's grieving your mother…"
"M… my mother?" The glazed look of shock and then pure desperation. Relena looked around quickly. "Where is she? What do you mean by grieving?" The look in Duo's eyes answered her and with a cry of filled sorrow, Relena shot forward to hold her father. He only stood very still. His blank eyes seemed to flash with something. Slowly, His arms began to come up.
"Relena! Look out!" yelled Dorothy, but Relena did not move. As Mr. Peacecraft's arms came up they only encircled his sobbing daughter. His head bowed and his eyes closed. When they opened they were no longer clouded, but clear and filled with tears.
"Relena…" he whispered. She only cried harder. "It's going to be all right. I'm back." Finally, Relena pulled away with tears in her eyes.
"Mother… she's dead."
"I know, honey… It's going to be all right." The others only stared on in acknowledgement, but with their looks of grief. Dorothy looked up when some movement caught her eye. Her eyes widened in joy.
"Cathy! Wufei!" The two with a stranger stopped in front of them.
"Cathy's parents died and she wishes to see them," stated Wufei sadly.
"Mrs. Peacecraft died as well," whispered Duo to Wufei. His friend's eyes saddened more as the news was told to him. His face turned to stare at the grieving father and daughter.
"What of Milliardo?"
"We haven't see him and Lucrezia since the beginning of the attack. Maybe he went and dropped her somewhere," he said sarcastically. Trowa shot forward as well as Hilde.
"What do you mean by that?" yelled Hilde.
"I'm saying maybe he dumped her out in the desert!" Duo shouted back, but quickly calmed down and clutched his side.
"Or… maybe, he protected her from the attackers," came a deep voice from behind. Everyone turned to find Milliardo.
"Zechs!" cried Relena. She pulled away from her father's arms and ran to embrace her brother. Zechs returned it with a wince of pain, but Relena did not notice it.
"Where were you?" asked Relena at last. She looked up into her brother's eyes.
"We hid in the bushes for a while. We saved as many people as we could, but it was difficult." His sister nodded in understanding.
"How are mother and father?" asked Zechs. No one would meet Zechs' eyes. He immediately went on alert. His eyes scanned everyone's' eyes.
"What happened?" Zechs gripped Relena's shoulders and shook lightly. "What has happened?" he repeated. She only looked away. Zech looked up and desperately sought out an answer. He spotted his father and proceeded over to him.
"Father, what has happened? Where is mother? Has she fallen ill?" Silence. "Tell me!"
"She's gone, Zechs," stated Duo sadly. Zechs turned on him.
"Gone? What do you mean? When will she be back?"
"She's not…" Duo trailed off. Silence reigned.
"No…" Zechs stalked forward and grabbed Duo's sore shoulders. "Where is she?" he yelled. Duo only remained silent. Zechs' hands tightened in anger and Duo's pain began to show. Hilde rushed forward and glared up at Zechs.
"The man has fractured ribs and pulled muscles, would you let go of him?" she stated vehemently. Zechs looked down on Duo's pained face with new eyes. He quickly backed off and stared around the saddened faces. Finally he looked down in defeat. She was gone. For some strange reason he thought she would always be around, but it wasn't to be.
Slowly, Zechs looked up to everyone standing there and his eyes caught the young man and woman of the Dead Soul tribe. His eyes flared.
"Here we go," mumbled Trowa as the oncoming storm flew in.
"You are to blame for this! If it were not for your tribe we would not be suffering right now!" Zechs stepped forward and tackled Trowa. Cathy let out a cry of shock. The sounds of punches being thrown filled the air. Suddenly, a small click of metal against metal stopped everyone cold. All eyes turned to the young man holding a ready gun. Heero nodded to Trowa, who was lying on his back with a drip of blood running from the corner of his mouth. The brown haired young man got up slowly and stood next to his friend. Heero held all the others at gunpoint. Hilde slowly took Lucrezia's arm and led her as well. As they made their way towards Heero, Hilde glanced at the gun.
"Where did you get that?" she asked.
"My dad." Suddenly, from afar, the leader's voice drifted over to them.
"Stop! You cannot take her! She is a prisoner." Wufei grumbled an expletive. The leader came running with the rest of the village. The leader acted as if Heero wasn't holding a gun. He was right up in his face yelling at the top of his lungs.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"We've only come to retrieve our tribesman. We will leave with your agreement of our safety."
"I will do no such thing! That barbarian is a prisoner and she won't leave!"
"You have no choice. If you will not let Lucrezia go willingly, then we will have to take her by force. Starting with you." Heero pointed the gun at the leader, who froze in horror. Mr. Peacecraft stepped forward.
"Please, take her and leave. We don't wish for anymore bloodshed." Heero began to turn away, taking Mr. Peacecraft's request, but the leader's raving continued.
"Serio! You are not in charge! I still run this tribe and I have said she is not leaving!"
"Do you value a prisoner more than your life?" growled Wufei. The leader turned on him.
"Stop!" screamed Relena. Everyone turned to her in shock. The grieving girl glared over at the raging leader.
"You have already caused enough destruction!" she yelled with anger. The leader's eyes narrowed.
"You dare to accuse me of that? I was planning on sending you to Second Tokyo, but I know of an easier way of doing so. Your family has always been a thorn in my side." He turned to Heero.
"You will have my promise of your safety, if you take that wretch." Gasps of shock were heard even from Hilde and Natria.
"What kind of man abandons his own tribesmen?" whispered Lucrezia. Tenseness filled the air until finally, Heero answered.
"Fine." He began to walk away. As they did, Trowa and Quatre stepped forward to drag Relena along. She struggled but after the attack, she was so exhausted. Zechs and Mr. Peacecraft shot forward but immediately stopped as Heero repointed his gun at them.
"We're leaving." The leader smiled and turned back towards the villagers.
"All of the orphans will be sent to Second Tokyo! Duo! Cathy and Joshua!" Trowa stopped in mid-stride and turned back around as Cathy was being roughly dragged away and the baby was being pried from her arms. She kicked and fought fiercely. Looking at the other villagers, he only saw mindless, empty people, doing as told. Duo's small cry of pain caught Hilde's attention.
"Hey!" she cried as she ran towards Duo. Some villagers immediately stopped her. "He's hurt!" Heero turned to see the commotion. Shaking his head, he turned back to the crowd.
"We want the orphans," he spat out. They were far from orphans. They were all about 17 or 18 years old. His father was not going to like this. Heero figured he would pay for it later, but seeing that they were all going to be distracted if left from this late occurrence. The leader glared at Heero.
"Those orphans are apart of this tribe! They will bring in earnings for us." Heero raised the gun once again.
"We're taking them." He pointed the gun at the men pulling away Cathy and Duo. They were immediately released. Cathy snatched away her wailing brother from the man who had taken him away earlier. Cathy and Duo made their way towards the Dead Soul tribesmen.
"Stop!" raved the old leader. "I will not allow this!" The ringing of a gun filled the air and everyone stared on as a small cut opened up along the temple of the old man. A small trickle of blood seeped out and a gasp filled the crowd. The leader remained in shock for long moments, opening and closing his mouth in dismay. By the time the shock had worn off, Heero and the others were gone, dragging Relena along behind. Wufei's hands were clutched with anger. Their leader was to blame and as well as those barbarians! He was going to get his friends back.