Title: Elemental Guardians
Author: AznSage
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4
Archived: FF.net. If you wanna archive, ask and it's always a yes.
Rating: PG-13
Part I
"And so, we send you, Prince Heero, out on your coming-of-age journey. Find the power you seek and return home safely. Fare thee well prince."
"Don't worry, I'll come back in one piece." A boy adorning red silk embroidered with gold mounted his horse quickly and began to ride off. He had a long sword tied loosely to his left waistband and several other pouches attached to his waist. Almost immediately, the distance between himself and the town was of a considerable amount.
In the crowd of many cheering peasants, one old man stood out. "Godspeed, prince. For if you knew the truth, you may not accept it." The old wizard walked back to his lab purposefully, wondering how to deal with revealing to his young protege that he was an elemental guardian.
"Goodbye everyone! It was great to know you all! Good luck with your lives!" Duo Maxwell waved goodbye to the people at the church and orphanage where he stayed while he was younger. But he was fifteen now, it was time to leave and find meaning for his existence in the world.
"Goodbye Duo! And don't forget to come visit sometime!"
"I won't forget!" The long haired boy yelled back from the deck of the ship. It was leaving harbor and it was taking Duo on a new adventure, a quest of meaning. A quest leading to his ultimate fate.
"Come on Trowa! Your act with the lions is up next!" Catherine eagerly pulled Trowa towards the curtain to prepare for his upcoming act. The silent boy padded on the soft earth to the center of the stage, with a mask covering half his face. He bowed and commenced his act of acrobatics with his partner, the lion.
Fear didn't even reach the one eye that was only partially seen by the audience because of his unusual bang. Gracefully landing on one finger on the lion's back, Trowa did a few more flips and jumps to finish off his performance. Then he bowed to the deluge of applause and led the lion offstage with him.
Proceeding to feed the lion, Trowa laid down on the soft grass to stare at the stars and sighed. It's so routine here. It just doesn't feel...right. I just know there is something calling upon my soul beyond just this. I can feel it. And I have dreamt about it. A blond boy... He sighed again. "Lion-san, what do you think?"
The lion growled low as it continued to chew its meat. Trowa smirked.
"Ah, such wise words from such a wise creature." The tall boy sat up from his former position and patted the lion once before walking away. "I guess this is goodbye then. Don't tell Catherine okay?"
The lion looked at him bewildered. Though not quite fully understanding what his owner was telling him, he nodded ever so slightly. And that was the last he saw of his uni-banged master, a determined boy riding away on a steed, eyes ablaze with searching for the destiny that laid in front of him.
He stared out to nothing in particular, eyes searching and distant. He's coming, I can feel it... The little blond closed his eyes and felt a light zephyr blow by him, playing in his hair and then leaving as soon as it came. He sighed and leaned against the stone that was the castle roof even more so than before.
"Prince Quatre! There you are! We have been looking all over for you!"
Quatre blinked out of his daydream, slightly annoyed that he was interrupted. But someone as gentle as he could never be annoyed that easily, no matter how important his previous task was. "What is it?"
"Your half-brother, the crown prince Heero, has just been sent off on his coming-of-age journey. It is time for yours." Quatre nodded dutifully, following the servant that had been sent to fetch him.
Afterwards, outside the gates of the town, he mounted on his horse skillfully, with many watching him. He smiled to them, being the socialable person that he was. Then someone unfamiliar walked up to him.
"My dear prince, you must follow you half-brother."
Quatre was puzzled. He had never met this strange old man before. "Who are you?"
"The time for you to know who I am is not now. You must follow the same trail that he takes. It's destiny." He smiled and handed Quatre a small pouch. "Open it when you have caught up to him."
Still slightly confused, the prince agreed and secured the pouch on his waistband. He rode off, after his half-brother, who was no doubt pushing his horse to the extent and would be impossible to catch up to by now. Oh well Quatre, guess you just have to try the best you can. You know how Heero gets when he' s got something to do. Always serious.
But he stilled followed the old man's advice and went in that direction.
"Wufei! Wufei! Wufei where are you?"
One onyx colored eye opened slightly to see who it was. 'Ch. It's only her. He closed his eye again and continued meditating in the trees.
Wufei had never been one to be sociable and he liked being alone most of the time. The only other person he could even stand being around, even a little, was his wife, Meiran. He would never admit it but he felt good when he knew she was around to take care of him. He had lost his parents when he was younger and had never felt anything other than contempt from those of his tribe. He was different, they predicted it from birth that he was different. There was power within him that was unknown to them and, being the humans that they were, they feared what they did not know about.
"Come on Wufei! I want to leave _now_!" He growled low in his voice. After all, he could only take that high pitched screeching up to a certain point.
"What do you want you weak onna?! I was trying to meditate!" He jumped down from the branch that he was sitting on and tried to conjure up his most angry voice, which was quite impossible at the moment.
"We're leaving, remember? We have to get to the circus in Soro! They have the best acts and the most adorable animals! I mean, you _are_ taking me, right?" She gave him the best puppy dog eyes look that she could and blinked her lashes a few times. How could Wufei refuse?
"No." Succinct. And yet a refusal nonetheless.
"Why you little--!" Meiran jumped on Wufei and tackled him with unexpected force. She tugged him by his right ear and started to drag him off.
"ONNA!! You will pay for this disgraceful act!"
Night was beginning to fall fast. Heero quickly rode into town. It was a little port town, one that took in ships all the time, bringing in the most fascinating of people and beastmen from all over the world. Deciding on staying at the only inn in town instead of continuing to travel, Heero brought his horse to the stable and began to absent-midendly walk along the broadwalk after checking into the inn. The sea was beautiful, lit up by a light purple tone of its depths and the silver of the moon.
The prince sighed deeply. He had been sent out on this journey for reasons that were unknown to him. What was one supposed to do for a coming-of-age ceremony if there were no beasts to slay, no enemies to conquer, or no barbarians to subdue? The land of Soro had enjoyed peace for the past decade, under the rule of five strange old men that no one had seen before. And Heero was not about to have anything to do but wander around Soro. Just great.
Heero took off his red garmet and fluffed it so that it began a pillow-like object. He set it to the ground and began to take in his surroundings. As the prince began to lie down and relax on the sand, a velvety voice caught up to him. "Um…excuse me, but I'm new around here and I've seem to have gotten lost."
Heero spun around at the intruder and looked at him from head to toe. The boy had a small pack on his back and was adorned in all black, with only a small gold cross protruding from his garb. A long braid of the softest chestnut brown snaked around behind him, moving gently in the wind. And those eyes…the same color as the light that came from the sea.
The boy cleared his throat to regain Heero's attention. Of course, secretly, he too was admiring the view and didn't mind the amount of time that the prince's preoccupation had brought him. "I can't seem to find the hotel. It's too dark and I really can't see anything. Plus, I'm new in town so that doesn't help." The boy let out a rich laughter that immediately made Heero smile.
"Here, I'll show you. I'm checked in there as well." He casually got up and picked up his shirt. "By the way, where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm new in Soro. Came from the kingdom of Elleswood. Duo Maxwell, pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand out in a friendly gesture and was taken aback by the strong grip of the seemingly small boy beside him.
"Heero. Heero Yuy." He smiled slightly at Duo, not really able to help himself.
"Wait…where have I heard that name before? Hm…Oh! I got it! You're Heero as in Prince Heero right?" His newfound companion grumbled low and nodded. "Wai~! That's so cool! Man, I haven't even been in this kingdom for an hour and I already know royalty!" Duo grinned brilliantly, his moment only to be spoiled by his stomach's complaints. "Er…heheh…shall we?" He gestured towards the road.
"Actually, it's this way." Heero said as stoically as he could, trying desperately to contain his laughter at this strange boy who had immediately caught his attention.
Duo blushed. "Er…I knew that. Just testing you that's all." He then proceeded to follow Heero towards the closest restaurant, braid bouncing happily behind him.
"Oh shit."
"What's wrong, Duo?"
"I think I got robbed." Duo began sifting through his large, swollen pants pockets, then continued to look in his bag. "Oh crap! I _did_ get robbed! God dammit! I knew that ship was full of goddamn crooks!" He pouted in the cutest way, very annoyed at the turn of events.
"That's okay. You can stay in my room."
Duo lit up immediately. "Really? Thanks!"
"It's nothing really. I mean, you just came to my kingdom, I wouldn't want you getting a bad impression immediately. Come on, my room's the big one on the second floor." He quickly pushed past the innkeeper and walked to his room. There was nothing special, just your typical hotel room. Only, there was one king sized bed.
"I'll sleep on the floor. I'm pretty sure that you can just take a buncha the blankets and then make a mattress outta it. I mean, look at how many you got!"
"No. I'll sleep on the floor. You're my guest. No buts." He moved quickly and efficiently and set up the bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've been riding a horse all day and would like to soak and relax in the tub out back for a while. See you later."
"Mind if I join you?"
Trowa had quickly worked his way through the Forest of Glyphs, being that he had grown up in the area, he knew all the secrets behind the symbols of the forest. However, by the time he had reached the other end, his stomach was complaining to him in the most annoying way. He had to make a fire soon so that he could even see where food was available. But Lady Luck had her way.
"Move and I'll slit your throat." Trowa, who was unarmed at the time could only quietly obey. "Gimme all your money."
"But, sir, I only have 200 gold on me."
The thief calculated in his mind. "What kinda idiot carries only 200 gold on them on a journey? Hahahaha!" His condescending laughter rang through the forest. Mistakenly, his knife cut a little into the smooth nape of Trowa's neck.
"Ah!" Trowa yelled a little loudly in pain.
"Guess I'll just have to sell you on the black market. You know, guy like you can go for about 3000 gold if sold to right person."
"I think that's far enough." The thief could feel two sharp daggers cutting into his wrists, the blood spurting out in every direction.
The hooded figure that had saved Trowa quickly caught the tall boy and proceeded to kill the thief with one slash on the throat. "May the gods have mercy on you." He prayed silently for his fallen enemy.
"Thanks for saving me. But…who are you?"
His savior flipped the hood of the garment over, only to reveal bright aquamarine eyes and a sea of beautiful blond hair. "My name is Quatre. Nice to meet you. Are you okay?"
The uni-banged boy was staring in wonder. This is the boy, the boy that I keep seeing in my dreams… "Yes, I'm fine, but I am a little hungry."
Quatre smiled back. Thanks to his empathic abilities, he could tell that this boy was the one he had been waiting for. The one. "My campsite is over there. When I heard your footsteps, I put out the fire, afraid that it was an enemy. Come, join me…" The blond looked at him confusedly, then the taller boy caught on.
"Trowa, Trowa Barton."
"Aa, what a fine name. Come, join me by the fire, Trowa. There's something I want to ask you."
End Part I
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