Chapter 2 Child of Darkness

Quatre finished tucking Duo in for the night. He was still a little unsteady, but with Trowa's help they had managed to get him to a bedroom without too much trouble. He blew out the candle on the nightstand and stood to leave.

"No!"

"Duo, I really need to go to bed now."

"But—"

"But what, Du-chan." Duo seemed to respond better to that nickname than anything else.

"I'mfrdofthdrk."

"What did you say?"

"I'mafraidofthedark."

"I'm sorry, Duo, but I still didn't catch it." Duo took a deep breath to say it again when Trowa spoke up.

"He said, he's afraid of the dark."

"Oh." Quatre bit his lip. As the youngest of 30 he hadn't had to help anyone with a fear of the dark, he didn't know what to do. So he did what he always did in times of desperation, he asked Duo.

"What does your mother do when you have to go to bed?"

"She makes a light in the ceiling that stays on till I fall asleep."

"Like this." Trowa flipped a switch on the far wall.

"No, but that'll work. Goodnight, Mr.'s Trowa and Quatre, sirs."

"Goodnight, Duo"

Trowa and Quatre walked down the stone corridor toward their rooms.

"I'm worried about him, he honestly believes he's six years old."

"Don't. He'll remember us in time. It's the two you sent out into the forest in the middle of the night with ghosts and who knows what else that I'm worried about."

"Well, I had to get Duo to calmly wait here for his memory to return. Plus Heero needed something to do. Duo's the only true friend he's ever had, it would hurt him too much to be constantly reminded that he doesn't remember him."

"So why send Wufei?"

"Mainly, so he could watch out for Heero."

"And?"

"I also wanted him as far away from Duo as possible."

"Why?"

"Because a six year old child shouldn't be exposed to that much griping and Chinese profanity, and I couldn't stand to hear him whine about how weak he is now."

"It'll be alright, and who knows they might just find a cottage with an middle aged woman named Qahlen who's still mourning her long lost son."

"Do you really think so?"

"Stranger things have happened." And with that they separated to adjourn to their own beds in hopes of a quiet night's sleep.

/~\~/~\~/~\

Heero stopped and adjusted his pack. He looked back across the marsh where he could just barely see the castle they had left three hours ago. 'Don't worry, Duo, I'll find her.'

"Mhmhm!"

"Hn." Wufei was standing two feet away glaring like the end of the world. With the hints of a mischievous grin on his stoic face, Heero reached over and ripped the duct tape from his Chinese companion's mouth.

"Kisama, I'll run you through when we get back, then I'll throw your dyeing body out the tower window, and I'll lau—"Wufei went back to glaring as the duct tape was once again hindering his speech.

"Hn." It was amazing how smug that one syllable could sound.

/~\~/~\~/~\

Quatre woke to the sound of footsteps in the hall. Hesitantly, he got out of bed and lit a candle. With that in hand he went out into the night to investigate.

/~\~/~\~/~\

Trowa had been following Duo through the labyrinth of halls for fifteen minutes, and he heard Quatre not too far behind him, he just wished he would put out that damned candle before Duo noticed. He wanted to know what he was up to, and where he thought he was going.

Their braided friend led them through libraries and dining halls, ballrooms and billiards rooms and down halls lined with paintings of aristocrats and dusty cobweb covered suits of armor. Finally, he stopped in a room they'd found earlier, the kitchen. Trowa sighed, they'd been creeping along for almost an hour, and all he wanted was a midnight snack. Duo had put his candle on the counter and was just opening the icebox they were using, when he finally realized he'd been followed.

"Uhm, hi." He looked ashamed at being caught and drooped his head in dismay. "I'm sorry, I was just hungry, I'll go back to bed now." Quatre caught up with them just in time to witness Duo's confession and watch him walk back toward his room gloomily shuffling his feet.

Trowa and Quatre, sighed in relief. Halfway back to his room, Trowa heard a scream. He ran toward the heart wrenching sound. He found Quatre floating near the ceiling and Duo yelling at some invisible person to put him down. Finally whatever it was dropped the blond boy. Trowa barely caught him, before he could hit the flagstones. Quatre was terrified and just clung to Trowa's shirt. The taller boy carried his friend all the way back to Duo's room where the three of them sat together and decided they would share a bed, for one night at least. There seemed to be safety in numbers around here. Trowa and Duo decided it would be best for Quatre to sleep in the middle, he was still shaking badly and needed to feel safe more than even the child Duo believed himself to be.

/~\~/~\~/~\

Heero looked up to see the sun setting over the wood before them, and decided to make camp. After the incident at the castle he wasn't want to enter the forest at night. He took his time setting up a fire pit and laying out the bedrolls, before grudgingly going over to release Wufei.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Untaped you? I'm sorry, but it was necessary. I'd prefer it if you were capable of defending yourself should we be attacked."

"By what, Yuy? More ghosts, or are you expecting a troop of fairies to come out and try to lure us into their magic kingdom?"

Heero simply 'Hn.'ed, curled up in his sleeping bag and went to sleep. Wufei grumbled as he searched through his bag for the ration bars he'd packed. He hadn't eaten since they set out, for obvious reasons. When he looked up from his pack, he saw several bright lights flying around the border of the forest. He stared for a moment then blinked several times to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. When the lights remained, Wufei, in all his dignity, dove into his sleeping bag and hid.

/~\~/~\~/~\

By the next morning, the three were a tangle of arms and legs. Trowa found himself in bed with two snugglers. Sometime in the night he and Quatre had switched places and now both of his friends were firmly attached to him. He tried to sit up, but it was hopeless. He knew these guys; they slept like rocks. He was going to have to wait till they woke on their own, and after last night's scare there was no telling how long it would be. A few hours later Duo sat up and yawned. Quatre soon followed suit and they both sat up and looked at Trowa. The simultaneous laughter made him cringe. He'd never really bothered with mirrors in the morning, his hair style was pretty simple. Gel it all straight forward and a little to the side. Now he wished he knew what he looked like before that first comb through after sleep.

/~\~/~\~/~\

"Duo," Quatre opened the door to Duo's room, "I brought you breakfa—"He was gone. Quatre ran down the stairs toward the kitchen. "DUO! DUO!" Trowa woke again to find himself the only one left in bed and Quatre shouting at Duo, which was strange since Duo wasn't even there. Wait, where was Duo? He jumped out of bed and joined Quatre in the shouting as they ran through the house. Finally they went back to the kitchen.

"Mornin' Trowa, Q-man. Where's the milk, I know I brought some—"Quatre ran up and hugged him fiercely.

"Whoa! Q . . . Q-man . . . QUATRE!!"

"Sorry, it's just that you're you again, and you remember us, and . . . you don't remember yesterday at all, do you?"

"No, not really. Did I hit my head or something, 'cause all I remember is the boat."

"You . . . fell. Does the name Qahlen Solos mean anything to you?"

"No, should it?"

"No, it's nothing, never mind."

"'kay, about that milk?"

/~\~/~\~/~\

Heero and Wufei were nearing the edge of the woods; luckily the packed dirt road they had taken through the marsh seemed to continue through the heart of the forest. If anyone still lived among those ancient trees, logic dictated that they would be near the road. Heero hoped logic still had some say on this haunted isle.

/~\~/~\~/~\

"Uhm, Quatre, where're Heero and 'Fei?" Duo asked as he and Trowa sat down to the dinner Quatre had prepared.

"They . . .went for a walk."

"When did they leave?"

"The day before yesterday."

"And you just let them go?! They can't spend all night out there. We don't know what scared the rest of humanity away. They could get hurt out there and we wouldn't even know where to look!"

"Duo, calm down. They'll be back in a few days. They just wanted to find this cottage that used to be on the other side of the woods."

"I can't believe this. I'm goin' out to look for them. I'm out of it for a day and everybody disappears."

"Duo, you can't go out there, you were injured, you need to stay here and rest. They've been fighting a war most of their lives, they can handle anything they come across."

"You better be right."

"You know I am."

/~\~/~\~/~\

"Argh!"

Heero ducked as the whatever-it-was swung at him with it's clawed fist. It was huge. Wufei was unconscious in the middle of the road where he'd been thrown moments before. Heero pulled his gun and shot where he thought the creature's heart should be, but the bullet ricocheted and grazed his own arm.

"What is this thing made of?" He finally gave up and shot aimlessly at the beast. The creature was about six meters tall, with bulging muscles and fallow skin. It reeked of rotting foliage and dead animalia. Heero fired one last time and hit the creature's one eye. It finally stopped and howled in pain. Clutching its face, the monster turned and ran out into the dense hardwood forest. Heero ran over to his fallen friend.

"Wufei. Wufei!" He sat down beside the crumpled form and found a steady, if weak, pulse. He searched the boy for wounds finding a broken wrist and a large gash across his chest. After retrieving their packs from where they'd been abandoned on the side of the road, Heero bound their wounds, lifted Wufei onto his shoulders, and continued the trek down the forest road. They'd seen the smoke from a chimney half an hour ago, and it had been drawing nearer as they followed the ancient highway. He hoped a friendlier creature than that beast had lit the flame.

/~\~/~\~/~\

"There's someone on the road."

"Don't be ridiculous, Laki."

"But what if it's one of those boys from the castle." She didn't sound happy about the thought of one of them being in her forest.

"Then he'll have saved me a trip." The brunette replied from the couch where she sat pulling on her boots. She then stood and straightened her traveling cloak. "Come on, we'll greet this traveler, but if it turns out to be the bugganes playing tricks again, you'll have to send them back to their village."

"All right, but I really don't think it's anything native."

The two witches walked leisurely out to the road, and stopped dead in their tracks when the travelers came into clear view.

"Their hurt, I can smell the blood."

"Then let's get them inside, Laki, before someone decides to finish them off!"

They ran the rest of the way to the Japanese youth and relieved him of his burden. Together, they carried the other oriental, while he limped alongside them. After they had entered the cottage, and made the other as comfortable as they could, they took the conscious soldier aside to answer a few questions.

"Who are you, and what happened?"

"We were walking, we were attacked."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, but a little more detail would help."

"I don't know what it was. It was approximately four meters tall, pale, one eye, hairless, large claws—"

"What do you think Laki, Troll or Herman?"

"Let me see your leg."

The braided woman looked at her suspiciously, as Heero began unwrapping his bandage. "Why not use the scratch on his arm?"

"Because, unless I'm mistaken, he did that to himself, when he shot at it."

"How did you know a bullet wound from that distance?"

"Young man, don't ask question to which you do not wish the answers." She turned to her friend. "You're right, it's Herman."

"What were the two of you doing out there?"

"We're searching for a Mrs. Solos."

"And just what would you want with her?

"Our friend Duo wanted us to find her."

"Du—"The witch fainted, luckily falling on the couch behind her.

Heero looked up from the young woman on the couch in time to see a
young blond woman enter the room.

"What happened?" The tone in her voice commanded respect, she was of medium build with short hair and deceptively warm brown eyes. Heero opened his mouth to answer her but the raven-haired woman next to him beat him to it.

"He and his companion claim to be friends of Duo."

"I see no companion." She seemed to be a woman of some authority.

"He's in the next room, unconscious. Herman attacked them on the main road."

"I wish that beast weren't so gullible. I've tried over and over to tell him not to listen to the ghos-- Did you say Duo?"

This time Heero won out. "Yes, we're looking for his mother, do you ladies know where I can find Mrs. Qahlen Solos?"

"I would introduce you to her, but she's just fainted."

"Hn?!" He looked down at the woman before him in utter disbelief.

/~\~/~\~/~\