Fire Dragon: Hey, whassup people! I have good news and bad news for you. The
good news is that I uploaded and that want to
thank you for the beautiful reviews that you sent me, so I just wanted to
respond to some.
Tina Duncan, thanks for your faithful reviews ^-^ be assure that you are on my x-mast list. Comet, thanks, I try my best! , Fiery sorry, but I already planed how this is gonna go so I won't make the girls like that...maybe later on another story.
Now, for the bad news. My computer kinda crashed last month.
Thankfully, I had everything on a zip and on my laptop so I didn't pull all of
my hair...so it will take me some time to put everything as it was. Oh well,
I'll try to work my muse on overtime to try to finish this chapter and start
the next one as fast as I can. Now enjoy!
Disclaimer: Fire Dragon looks at the readers and then takes a drink of her
never-ending glass of soda. "Ok, I can't believe that I'm doing this
anymore...does anyone read these anyway? Let me see..." Shuffles
some papers and the mail, "Nope...electricity bills...telephone bills...my
monthly manga magazine...nope, my ownership of Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon that
I bought in e-bay hasn't come yet. Oh well." Throws
all bills on the garbage can and sips of her coca cola again.
Ch 11 now complete!!!
by Fire Dragon and Water Dragon Fire Shrine
Stretching himself, Duo cracked his eyes to see the soft light that entered the cave. Looking around, he noticed that Mamoru, Heero, Trowa and Wufei where already outside the cave while Makoto was pulling some cooking pans out from the packs. On the other side of the cave, Ami and Quatre looked at the map, trying to determine a shorter way to get to the Fire Shrine. The only ones still sleeping were Usagi, Minako, and himself while Lluvia was out of sight, however, she came walking slowly, carrying a bucket of water towards the former. Giving him a sign to stay quiet, she came closer to Minako and Usagi. Pulling the bucket up, she threw the cold water into both sleeping forms when- the water came bouncing back to her.
"Hey!!!" Lluvia shivered glaring daggers at Quatre as Usagi and Minako woke up with a start.
"It's not polite to wake up somebody so rudely." Quatre shook his head, letting his hand drop besides him while Ami, Makoto and Duo snickered.
"You're no fun!" She pouted already drying herself with a towel that Duo had thrown at her.
"Good morning!" Usagi and Minako chirped, still chuckling at the still drenched girl.
"Hey girls!" Mamoru entered holding some firewood and then stared at the sulking Lluvia.
"Morning!" They all waved to him while Usagi gave a peck on the cheek.
"I see you have been busy." Trowa looked at what Makoto was already cooking.
"My specialty." Makoto smiled.
"We've got it!" Ami and Quatre turned to them smiling.
"You got what?" Heero entered with Wufei.
"We found a way to get to the Fire Shrine at least four days faster than if we took the road in the map." Ami said.
"We only have to go thru a forest to cut the time in half." Quatre nodded.
"Are you two crazy?!" Everyone turned to see Lluvia. "Nobody enters that forest, it's haunted and there's a lot of monsters in there. No one on their right mind would go in there." She shook her head.
"Nah, it can't be that bad." Duo smirked.
"It's up to you." Lluvia shrugged. "But don't come crying to me when the monsters come and get you." She giggled before going outside.
"Can she be more annoying?" Wufei looked at where she left.
"I have the impression that she can." Quatre shook his head sadly.
"Well, let's get a move on people! We have to get to that forest today!" Duo smirked, walking to where Makoto was preparing breakfast.
"We better keep an eye on that girl." Heero said seating on a rock, waiting for his plate as Duo gave it to him.
~~$@
About midmorning, everybody was already outside the cavern with their own horse and the packhorses ready to go. However, now the group had one more problem on their hands.
"Maybe we can spread the provisions to all our horses so she can ride one." Rei suggested.
"Do you think we can do that?" Usagi asked.
"I don't know, the horses say that they will get tired faster if they have to carry any more weight." Trowa shook his head. "And that will slow us some more than we already are." He patted his horse's mane.
"So, what do we do with the onna then?" Wufei snorted, but from behind him, Nataku jumped into the air and screeched.
"What did she said Trowa?" Minako said as all of them turned to see him, however, he just turned to see Lluvia.
"You can?" He asked wide-eyed.
"Yeah, but is no fun!" Lluvia wined receiving another screech from Nataku. "It's easy for you to say!" Lluvia yelled at the dragoling.
"Huh?" Duo, Minako and Usagi blinked several times.
"She can transform and fly." Trowa said.
"Really? Cool!" Duo smiled.
"Well, kind of." She said receiving a chirp from Nataku. "Ok, ok, fine I will!" She said closing her eyes. Seconds later, a small ball of blue light hovered over them.
"Amazing." Ami breathed while pocking a finger into it, receiving a giggle from response.
"We should go now before it gets too late." The ball of light said and flew next to Nataku.
"You heard her, let's go." Heero mounted his horse and waited for the rest to do the same.
~~$@
"I still don't know what the big deal about this forest is." Heero snorted.
"I know, Lluvia seemed to make such a big fuss about it." Makoto nodded, although Heero didn't see her, and instead he kept his eyes glued to the road ahead.
"Maybe it has to do with the weird looking trees." Usagi shuddered; she could swear that those trees looked like they were watching them.
"This place gives me the creeps." Duo said making his horse walk closer to Heero's.
"I don't know what are you so afraid of!" Wufei said curtly before Nataku jumped from his shoulder and flew away.
"But even she is uneasy." Trowa frowned looking at Wufei who snorted again.
"Let's keep moving, the faster we move, the faster we get out of here." Quatre said, but before they could start again, a man with a crossbow stood in front of them.
"If you want to remain alive, I advise you to dismount your horses!" The man yelled, pointing his crossbow at Usagi's head. Reluctantly, all did as the man had said and dismounted. "Good, now, I want one of you to bring me a horse and your pack horse!" He moved towards them, his eyes darted paranoid around. However, before he could get to the horse, he found himself on the ground looking at a pair of dark brown, almost black pair of eyes and a body on top of him, preventing him from getting up. A sharp dagger pointed at his throat.
All thirteen of them (counting Nataku and the blue orb that was Lluvia) blinked as, from thin air appeared a woman clad on form-fitting leather pants and a tunic held by a red leather strap that held at least twelve different kinds of daggers. Her hair was the same color as her eyes and was kept bound on a high ponytail swaying behind her like a tail as she flipped the robber onto his stomach and began to tie him up.
"Ummm…Hello?" Quatre tilted his head blinking at the strange woman as she paid no heed to them, only concentrating on the man beneath her. (FD: Not like that you hentai!!! Get your head out of the gutter!!! @-@) Finally after she was sure that he was tied up, she raised her head and smiled at them.
"Why hello there!" She smirked before turning around and whistling to something on the woods. Seconds later, a brown horse came trotting and nuzzled his nose on her tunic. Patting his head, the woman tied the man's wrists to a rope and then tied it to the horse's saddle. "You are truly lucky that I was around here you know. This is a well known criminal, wanted on several districts with a price over his head." She smirked while the man snorted.
"Thank you then." Usagi bowed.
"Nah, don't bow! Fifteen gold coins will be enough to pay the debt." She smiled.
"WHATt!?!?! INJUSTICE!!! If you hadn't been here, we could have finished him off without your help!" Wufei yelled hotly.
"My, my what a temper." The woman giggled, brushing Wufei's comments aside. "You know what, forget it. His bounty will be more than enough." She pulled on the man's ropes.
"Err…wait! Could you tell us what way can take us out of this forest?" Duo smiled scratching his head. (FD: picture him on a Goku's pose™ ^-^)
"Well…I guess I could take you out of the forest… for a price that is." She turned to see the sputtering Wufei who was about two shades of red over what she thought was healthy for any human. "But I'll have to charge you extra for the rambling man." She nodded to where Wufei was.
"I don't think that'll be a problem." Trowa said looking at Wufei who shut up but kept sending dirty glances at the woman.
"Wonderful, I'm Ishtar by the way," She smiled. "And I'm a bounty hunter." She said before mounting her horse and nudged it into a canter, pulling the man behind her.
~~~$@
"So, you're going to Zenna." Ishtar said just as she mounted her horse after leaving her 'charge' on what it seemed a dungeon kind of prison. Her pouch of money more full than when she had entered. "I can show you there." She smiled at them.
"Yeah, right, I guess you can add an extra charge for that too." Wufei mumbled under his breath.
"Anyway, it's really close by, I myself was thinking on going there too." She smiled at Mamoru and Usagi.
"Sure why not." Mamoru said receiving a glare from Heero. "She knows this terrain better than us." Mamoru hissed between his teeth so just Heero could hear. Giving a small nod, but still glaring, Heero moved his horse and stopped next to where Duo, Quatre and Minako where. Strangely, Heero had been jumpy every time that Minako approached Duo, and the way that both teenagers giggled and looked his way while whispering during this entire trip. Nothing good could come up with those two, not counting that the girl was standing way too close to Duo for his taste. –Wait a minute here!!!- Since when had he been so…jealous…No no no no no!!! He couldn't think on that again!
'Focus Yuy! You have to focus only on your mission not on that braided baka' The voice of the perfect soldier snapped as he turned to see Duo again. Nah, who was he kidding, watching as Duo and Minako giggled again made him feel a pang of jealousy sting his heart as a cold dagger. Giving a small sigh, he shook his head and continued brooding next to his horse glaring at the two Wind's chosen.
Usagi detached herself from Mamoru's arm, leaving him, Trowa and Quatre negotiating the last price for Ishtar's help while Wufei just kept cursing under his breath. Passing by Rei and Makoto, she got a glance at Heero who was sulking/glaring daggers at something.
"Hey Heero, what are you watching or rather glaring at?" Usagi asked him looking at the direction of his glare, smirking devilishly at what the brown haired youth was looking at. "They make a great pair don't they?" She smiled as she felt him stiffen besides her. "I wonder if he has a love interest already though." She playfully bit her lip as if she was thinking hard on something. "I guess that he can stay with us when all this is finished. I mean, if he doesn't have anybody to go back to he might as well go with us." She finished looking at him. Suddenly, she just couldn't see him, but inside him, a dark blue, almost black aura that surrounded him flared bright red. However, before she could blink again, his Aura went blue again and she heard Heero snort.
"What he does is totally up to him." Heero shrugged and moved as far away as he could from her, trying to avoid her eyes.
Again, Usagi blinked and turned to see a commotion over where Mamoru was. Walking towards them, Usagi could see Quatre clenching his chest, his face pale and sweaty, looking wildly around while Trowa held him.
"What happened? Is Quatre ok?" She asked Trowa.
"I don't know." Trowa said shortly, cradling Quatre in his arms while the young blond tried to calm himself.
Once again, Usagi could see both boys' auras. Trowa's was a mixture of green and gold, giving strong vibes of worry and…love towards the blond on his arms. Quatre's however, was harder to describe, pain would have been the best word to do it. Angry red 'zaps' ran thru his aura while Quatre tried to get comfort from the boy hugging him, his aura too was filled with love for the other boy, but the pain that he was feeling was not his own, Usagi could see that. Looking again to the red 'zaps' Usagi remembered Heero's previous 'explosion' in which she knew that he had been holding back his emotions. Before she knew what she was doing, Usagi walked to Quatre and pressed her hand to his forehead. Instantly, Quatre felt all the pain subside until just a dull ache resided.
Usagi took a deep breath before leaning on Mamoru for support, giving him a grateful look and marveling at her new powers.
"Could somebody explain to me what did just happen?" Minako watched as Usagi stood up.
"I'm so stupid!" Usagi whispered, receiving weird looks. "I didn't think…I have to make it right again." Usagi shook her head and looked at Quatre. "I'm sorry, it was my fault." She said seriously. "But I'll make sure to correct my mistake." She sighed and bowed to Quatre before turning around, looking for Heero.
"Well, that was weird." Rei blinked.
"The onna's gone completely nuts." Wufei snorted.
"I don't think so." Quatre shook his head. "What ever she did or said to him sent waves of anger and…something else." He grabbed his chest.
"Well, she was talking to Heero, but I don't know what she could have said to make him angry." Makoto shrugged.
"Anyway, I have to finish talking to Ishtar about the town. We'll continue this later." Mamoru walked where Ishtar waited for him.
~~$@
After Ishtar had dropped them off on the town's Inn, and after that she had disappeared without a trace, and surprisingly, without claiming her money. Heero had pointedly avoided all of them, not even waiting for the others to enter the Inn.
"How can I help ye, yer Lordship?" The Innkeeper asked him, taking a glance behind him as the others came in.
"Six rooms." Heero said monotonously.
"Err…I'm sure your Lordship knows that this' a honest establishment." The middle age man looked warily at the six boys and six girls (since Lluvia was with them as well)
For the first time in his life, Heero was in a loss for words. Blinking in confusion, he turned to look at the others, receiving only more confused looks in return. Suddenly, Duo, Mamoru, and Quatre's eyes widened as all the girls blushed and Lluvia laughed out loud. Again, Heero blinked as Duo leaned closer and whispered something on his ear. The girls watched as Heero blinked once again and tilted his head to one side in the most cutely of ways.
"I don't get it." Heero stated, still glaring at Duo.
Giving a sigh, Duo patted Heero on the back. "I'll tell you some day." He smiled, turning around just to see Lluvia laughing as Trowa handed Wufei a handkerchief since the black haired boy kept trying to hold his bleeding nose with one of his hands, Trowa's face however, hadn't changed the slightest.
"I think, my good man, that you have misinterpreted our intensions." Mamoru assured the Innkeeper. "We are escorting the ladies to their destinations, you see. Their fathers entrusted us to take them to their relatives' house for festivities, and we just need a place to rest since we can't have them sleep in the forrest now can we." Mamoru put a hand over the man's shoulder.
"Of course, I see." The Innkeeper smiled sheepishly at him. "Six room then, Travis!!! Show them to their rooms!!!" He yelled as Mamoru put three gold coins on his hand, making his eyes bulge.
"We'll need grains for our horses and a groom too." Trowa said to him.
"Right, right, we'll put them on the stables, and they'll have a stall and grain for the night." The Innkeeper said before pocketing the coins into his apron.
~~$@~~~$@
Once again, Heero found himself on a room, alone, with the object of his obsession/hate. Something that he would have gladly tried to avoid, however, the Faiths seemed to disagree with him. (FD "Oh yeah, make him suffer! ^-^ WD *Looking innocently* "Who, me?" FD "-.-;;; Fine, I'll do it myself!") On the bed besides him, Duo had taken his shirt off and was once again roaming over the packs for clean clothes.
"So, Heero, you coming?" Duo threw a towel at him.
"Huh?" Heero blinked as he cached the towel by sheer reflection.
"You coming to the baths?" Duo repeated.
"Yeah, sure." Heero shrugged.
*Smooth, really smooth you dimwit! * An internal voice mocked him. *Now he'll think you're an idiot, not to mention that you're drooling over his shirtless, muscular, lean, tanned body.*
Heero pictured the little voice drooling on an imaginary room with a large widescreen TV as pictures of Duo from several angles grazed every space of the screen. Snorting, Heero clenched the towel and nodded. How bad could it be anyway? (FD "With me as the author, he doesn't stand a chance *insert maniacal and insane laugh here*") There would be a lot of people in the baths since it was a public bath…right?...Right?!?
The voice never answered him back.
~~~$@~~~$@
Heero stared, no wait, he glared at the very big, very empty room that was the baths. The room seemed to mock him with every echo that his boots made on the cold floor, intensifying it a tenfold. To the naked eye, Heero was as composed as ever, aloof almost, to the situation; however, the mind of the 01 pilot was like a string about to snap in any minute now. Taking another not so calming breath, the Wing pilot tried to sort his thoughts…or could have if not the sound of clothes being thrown to the ground hadn't snapped out of his musings. Taking quick, short breaths, he turned just in time to see Duo submerge his head into the pond. His only thoughts at that moment was that of fleeing as fast as his feet could carry him, which was very damn fast, however, the baths only had one exit, which was at the other end of the room.
~~10 minutes earlier~~
*Well, here goes nothing* Duo thought as he threw a towel towards Heero, who caught it almost mechanically.
"So, Heero, you coming?" Duo mentally crossed his fingers, but after the chocolate haired boy failed to respond his hopes went from slim to none. The braided boy could practically see all his (and the girls) plans go down the drain. However, he almost leaped from joy when Heero snorted to himself and nodded.
~~At the baths~~
After seeing Heero glare at the room for a good three minutes, Duo sighed, trying hard not to show his own discomfort.
*I still don't know how Usagi convinced me of doing this* Duo shook his head, thinking of how Usagi had begged him to try it, and how she kept muttering that she had to set things right, whatever that meant. Finally, gathering all the courage he could, Duo began to take his clothes off until he was only clad on his boxers, which he was not taking off. (FD "C'mon people, this is a PG 13)
"Where's everybody?" Heero asked, snapping Duo out of his musings.
"Quatre and Trowa are in their room, and the girls took Mamoru and Wufei shopping." Duo silently snickered at the last part. He couldn't believe that Minako, Makoto, Rei, Ami, and Lluvia had actually dragged Wufei out while Usagi had only battled her eyelashes to convince Mamoru to go with them.
*I wonder if Heero would do anything if I did that…yeah, probably punch the daylights out of me…but his expression would be priceless!* He snickered again while Heero snorted from the marble steps.
Shaking his head, Heero began pulling his shirt over his head, I mean, what could happen, right? Duo didn't like him that way. (FD "Ah, what a naïve men ^-^")
*But you wish he did.* The mocking voice appeared once more.
*I thought I had gotten rid of you!* Heero mentally sneered at it.
*Oh, not by a long shot buster, now get inside before Duo thinks you're brain dead!!!* The voice snapped. True to its word, Heero blinked to see Duo looking at him funny. Trying to fight down a scowl, Heero climbed onto the hot spring, letting the hot water wash his over tensed muscles, making him let a sight of pleasure.
"You know, Ishtar said that the Fire realm's famous for its hot springs. Something about the volcano warming the water." Duo said while taking the end of his braid and snapping the rubber band off, praying to Shinigami that this worked.
Heero watched entranced as the braid began disappearing, leaving the long wavy chestnut hair fall heavily into the water, making it darker. That immediately made Heero recall the illusion on the trial. Shaking his head to dispel the bad memory, the cobalt eyed boy reached to catch a lock of hair that floated near him. Heero stroked the silky strand of hair and didn't let it go until he felt something being shoved to his hand. Blinking, he looked to what Duo had given him staring blankly to a white bottle.
"C'mon, don't just stand there and help me with my hair." Duo laughed and turned around. Again, Heero looked at the bottle, and by turning it around he was able to see the bold letters that announced 'shampoo' on it.
"Where did you get this?" Heero asked as he opened the bottle and squished some of the contents on his hands, rubbing them and applying the white foam on Duo's head.
"The girls gave it to me. They had it on those 'space pockets' of theirs."
Heero narrowed his eyes, unsubconciously tightening his grip on Duo's scalp.
"Hey, hey, careful there! My hair's delicate!" Duo reached up to stop Heero's hand. "Here, do it like this." Duo started to make small movements with Heero's hand under his. "There, just like that." Duo smiled, his hand still lingering over Heero's, who didn't say anything and since Duo had his back to him, he couldn't see the other's boy expression. Giving a small sigh, Duo let his hand drop and returned to his previous conversation.
"I still have no idea how they do that, I mean, you should see all the stuff they have in there, God, you could probably fit a horse in there and you'll still have space for the saddle and packs!" Duo laughed.
"I wonder what else they have in there." Heero frowned.
"You shouldn't be so suspicious of everybody, geeze, you're such a tight a-" Before he knew it, Duo was submerged into the water, making him instantly come out spluttering water and glaring daggers at Heero. However, to Duo's complete astonishment Heero smiled…yup, the jerk was actually laughing at him!!! The nerve, the humiliation, the…did he mention how cute Heero looked when he smiled? Shaking his head, Duo smiled back at him, a devious look on his face.
"So, you want to play dirty huh!" Duo smirked as he raised his hand and plashed Heero as fast as he could. Again, Duo's efforts were rewarded with pearls of laughter from the cobalt eyed boy behind his watery assault. "You know," Stopping Duo smiled sloppily while trying to get his bangs out of his way. "You should laugh more often, it's good for you." Duo looked down at the water trying to avoid Heero's eyes. Heero stared at the long haired boy in front of him.
"I-" But before he could say anything the door of the baths burst open, revealing a very pissed Wufei with towels on hand, muttering, or more like ranting under his breath.
"Wuffers? What are you doing here? I thought the girls took you shopping." Duo blinked at the new arrival.
Heero could see Wufei visibly shudder while glaring daggers at Duo.
"The baka onnas took me from stand to stand of useless things!" Wufei bellowed.
"You're exaggerating." All three turned to see Mamoru entering the baths.
"Exaggerating? EXAGGERATING?!?! They took us to half the stores in the marketplace!!!" Wufei yanked his shirt, throwing the dirty garment to a side.
"Precisely." Mamoru continued calmly. "You should see them at a mall on a shopping spree. Then you'll tell me who's exaggerating." Mamoru lay his shirt near his towel while Wufei stripped his pants not minding one bit that the others where there and slowly submerging into the pool.
"Believe me, you don't want to be there when all the girls decide to go shopping on a full scale mall." Mamoru chuckled while putting his pants aside and slipping into the water.
"You seem very comfortable doing this." Duo said taking his hands off his covered eyes.
"…In Asia it's very common to use public baths." Wufei said nonchalantly.
"I don't know…this seem so…unnatural." Duo shuddered and kept trying to get all the shampoo of his hair.
"Nah, it's just guys taking a bath." Mamoru shrugged.
(FD: guys…taking a bath?...*drools* …*keeps drooling* WD: 0.0 what are you looking a- O.0…^-^ *drools*…*keeps on drooling* FD: Yum…*-* eye candy!!! ^-^ *snaps out of it* err…sorry, moving on. –scene changes- WD: Hey, I was watching that!!! FD: sorry, but I have to keep the story going. Gomen, we'll have more bishis bathing in later chapters…I hope. And before you say anything, I know it was kinda senseless, but oh well ^-^ I had to end it before it got too intense *-* )
~~$@~~~$@
Early the next morning, the Dragon Knights, dragonling and Dragon Spirit mounted their horses and rode looking for the Fire Shrine.
"So, how are we supposed to get the Dragon Tear of Fire?" Minako asked.
"Well, Trowa and I questioned some people." Quatre said from his horse.
"And for what we have gathered, the Fire shrine is heavily guarded at all times." Trowa said looking at the group.
"It seems that we'll have a tougher time with this one." Makoto sighed.
"Right, and not only is guarded but the Shrine itself is far away from here and almost impenetrable." Usagi looked at them.
Wufei raised an eyebrow "And how do you know that?" He snorted.
"We did more than shopping yesterday you know." Ami responded making Wufei blink.
"Anyway, you're gonna need more than luck to get that Dragon Tear." Lluvia said while Nataku chirped and nodded from her perch over Wufei's shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Mamoru frowned to the Dragon Spirit.
"Let's just say that the Fire Dragon is very eccentric. All the Fire followers are religious freaks." Lluvia shrugged but continued as she saw their blank stares. "They're priests and priestesses who could slice you to pieces in a blink of an eye over nothing." She said disinterested, snapping her fingers just to emphasize her point.
"We'll better make a plan." Quatre said. "But first we need to see the shrine." He turned and moved ahead.
After half an hour or more of riding the group turned to the sky as Nataku flew pass them and returned, landing on Wufei's shoulder chirping wildly.
"We're here." Trowa looked from Nataku to a large volcano ahead of them.
"Why would somebody make a shrine so far away from the town?" Duo frowned.
"I told you, they're freaks." Lluvia snorted, receiving a glare from Wufei and a shake from her head from Rei.
Dismounting near a cliff, all of them crawled to a large rock trying to be unseeing.
All the warriors stared at the temple in awe. It was the most beautiful and scary thing they had seen in their lives. The building seemed to be alive…literally. The temple lay at the bottom of the immense volcano. It just wasn't constructed there, but it was a continuation of the volcano. Lava flowed steadily like blood in the ingrain of the rocks making sounds that they could swear sounded like heart beats. At the top of the shrine laid the gigantic head of a dragon who's eyes glowed red because of the lava. It looked ready to jump at them.
"Wow" Duo marveled in the magnificent monument.
"I second that." Minako continued watching open-mouthed.
"Who are those?" Usagi pointed to a military group that were practicing in different arts of fighting and weaponry in a square below the entrance of the shrine.
"Those my child" said Lluvia in a condescending tone of voice, making it sound even more ridiculous as she looked the same age as Usagi. "Are the priests and priestesses of the Fire Dragon." She finished with a smirk.
"What?!?!" Everybody bellowed at the top of their lungs.
"Would all of you shut up!" Hissed Lluvia to the stunned teenagers. "I don't care much about you, but I don't want to have an encounter with those fanatics in my current situation." She said forcefully.
"Those are priests?" Quatre asked astonished.
"They look more like warriors to me than religious men and women." Trowa frowned.
"Don't be too quick to judge, they are very religious, it is just that they pray three times a day and train four times." She chided him.
"All right people!" Quatre picked up a stick and began drawing a sketch in the soft sand. "This is the size of the shrine. By the looks of it, there is only one entrance unless there is one on the back of the volcano, but I doubt it. And even if there is one it would take too long to go around and use that back door."
Everybody gathered around the long sketch Quatre was drawing.
"If there is only one entrance, we should get rid of the guards." Wufei said solemnly.
"Too risky." Said Heero "There are 137 priests, 100 outside and 37 inside. That is…12.5 soldiers for each of us." He finished matter of factly.
"I love the .5 part." Duo smiled.
Everybody looked at Heero wide-eyed.
"And how, pray tell, is that you know that?" Rei looked at him.
Heero looked at her squarely in the eye. "There are 150 places for their weapons, 37 are in place and 123 are empty."
"Ha!" Exclaimed Minako from behind Rei. "So there are…" She counted her fingers, "50 warriors inside not 37!" She finished triumphaly.
"And you are happy because…?" Ami let it hang in the air.
"That just means that there are more enemies to deal with." Mamoru added tiredly.
"No, there are only 37 inside." Heero straitened up, challenging everybody to contradict him.
Duo looked at the temple below and back to Heero. "Why are you so sure Heero?"
The said youth looked at Duo with an annoyed face. The he turned to the others, who backed one step trying to get away form his intense gaze. "The weapons are in hierarchic order from long range to close range, from blunt to sharp edge." He turned his back to the group, walking to the highest place of the hill, then he crouched and looked sideways before continuing. "It could be possible that there were armed people inside even if it is a religious building, yet," He got up and headed back to the group "the weapons that are missing are long range, sharp edge, probably spears. No really suitable for close spaces. By the way they handle their weapons, they are not for show, so they will go for effectiveness rather than protocol. Those weapons must be for scouts surveying the surrounding area." At this, everybody looked around suspiciously.
"But"
"He's right." Ami said silencing everyone. "And I know that because I checked in my computer." She shrugged.
"Why didn't you say that before?" Asked Usagi confused.
Again, Ami shrugged. "I wanted to hear his explanation." She pointed at Heero who just looked bored and turned his attention to the temple.
"Okay." Said forcefully Quatre to get everybody's attention. "We are dealing with 137 bodies depending in how far those scouts are. If they are between earshot we could be facing the entire 150."
"Frontal confrontation is out of the question then." Trowa contributed. Both Wufei and Rei snorted at the remark. At this, they both turned and glared at each other.
"So," Duo grinned mischievously "stealth."
"It seems to be our only solution." Quatre agreed.
"Ami" Duo turned towards her, eyes alight with excitement "Can you see if there is any kind of air conducts with that computer of yours?"
"Ami nodded and started typing. "Yes!" She exclaimed after a couple of minutes. "Why didn't I think of this before?"
"Because you weren't looking for them." Duo grinned as he looked over her shoulder. "This is the easiest way to infiltrate a place or the sewer system" He made a face "too messy though."
"The air conducts must be big too keep the place cool, so" He looked at the temple then at Ami's computer "We should be able to crawl our way in. So…who wants to go with me?" Duo asked happily.
"No." Mamoru said, stopping everybody in their tracks. He looked at Heero who was still standing away, with his back to them, looking at the temple. Feeling eyes on him, Heero tuned sideways to look back at Mamoru. Something passed between them, and after nodding his consent, Heero tuned his attention back to the temple. Everybody was aware of the exchange and looked at each other.
"We have other plans for you." Said Heero from his standing point.
"We?" Duo raised his eyebrow questioningly.
"Yes." Continued Mamoru, as he moved to stand in front of Duo.
"You will distract the enemy…"
"While a small party goes inside." Heero finished the sentence while turning to see them.
"Wufei and Rei have to be there.." Started Mamoru, and once again Heero finished for him.
"So Minako and Trowa will aid them."
"While I'll be the bait." Duo fumed. He wasn't mad at the fact of being bait, but at the way they didn't consult with him. What was Heero thinking? They were supposed to be a team!
"Why us?" Trowa asked, curiosity and puzzlement getting the best of him.
"If you don't trust…" Began Heero, clearly angry at Trowa's question, but was silenced by Mamoru who raised his hand to stop him.
"Well," He looked back at the sulking Heero, who looked back at him. After a while, Heero just narrowed his eyes and turned around walking back to the top of the hill. Lluvia, like the rest was paying close attention to these little exchanges.
*They are perfect for Chaos* The little girl thought amused, a knowing smirk on her little mouth.
~That is dangerous you know.~ Another consciousness said to her.
*Not really* She answered back *It is not as if they are going to kill the rest, but they are going to create some trouble* She chuckled while the other awareness seemed taken aback.
~I gather that you wish their failure?~
Lluvia considered it for a moment *Not really, I am actually getting very fond of this mismatched group of avatars* She laughed mentally *It is just that this is going to bring some fun to this gods forsaken trip, that's all…by the way, where are you?*
~Around~ It answered back. ~Closer than you think~
Lluvia was brought back from her musings when Ami started talking again.
"Ok, so what have you planned?" Ami looked from Heero to Mamoru and back again.
"First, we'll separate into two groups. The first one will be composed by Rei, Wufei, Trowa, and Minako." Heero looked at them. "The rest will be the second team." He said while walking back to the group.
"But why those two?" Makoto pointed at Minako and Trowa.
"While the first group sneaks to the entrance of the cavern, Duo will lead the guards away from the shrine. Anyway, while Duo's making a distraction, Minako will throw her chain and pull everyone to the entrance. Trowa will help them scout ahead and Wufei and Rei will retrieve the dragon tear." Mamoru concluded.
"But if Duo takes them away from the shrine, the priests will be too suspicious." Rei frowned.
"We'll take the ones that stay." Heero crossed his arms.
"Sounds good to me." Makoto cracked her knuckles.
"Easy for you to say." Usagi groaned.
"That way everything will be done efficiently." Heero gave a sharp nod.
"You make it sound so easy." Duo shook his head.
"If everything goes according to plan it should be." Heero shrugged.
"Ami." Mamoru turned to see the blue haired girl. "I'll need you to give Duo time to disappear without being seen or followed to closely."
"Sure." Ami nodded. "A Shabon Spray coming right up!"
"Ok everybody, lets get going!" Mamoru said.
"I just hope this works." Usagi shook her head.
"I know it will." Quatre comforted her.
~~$@~~$@Start of part 2~~$@~~$@
After everybody stood on their positions, Heero gave Ami the signal to let out her attack. Cries of alarms were heard almost immediately after the fog began descending.
"Well, that's jour cue." Minako smiled as the Venus chains appeared from nowhere…they were just there, without warning! The now two chains enlaced themselves on Minako's arms and moved on their own accord, up and down, like a pair of snakes at Minako's command (If you have ever seen Saint Seiya just picture Andromeda's chains).
"I know who has been practicing her new powers." Rei smirked.
"Well, I had to do something while riding all the way out here." Minako smiled as she directed the chain to one of the 'fangs' of the dragon.
"Let's go." Trowa got a hold of the chain and began pulling himself up.
"After you." Wufei handed the chain to Rei.
"Well, at least he got some manners." Rei whispered to Minako as Wufei climbed after her.
"Going up." Minako lifted her hands making the chains pull her up.
"Cheater." Rei glared at Minako as the blonde's feet touched the ground.
"You're just jealous." Minako stuck her tongue at Rei.
"C'mon, let's make this as quickly as possible." Wufei gave one last look at the battlefield where some cries could now be heard, and ducked into the mouth of the cavern.
Shrugging, both girls entered the cavern to discover two things: first, the cavern was way smaller than they had previously imagined. Second, Trowa was gone. Cursing under her breath, Rei looked where Wufei stood waiting for them.
"Now what? Where are we going from here?" Minako asked.
"We wait for Trowa to return. He'll give us a status report on what's ahead." Wufei crossed his arms over his chest.
"And how long will that take?" Minako tilted her head to one side.
"Two minutes and twenty five seconds and counting." Trowa appeared from behind her.
"Geez, don't do that!" Minako yelled while trying to calm her raising heart.
"The coast is clear, we should get moving while the priests are busy with the havoc outside." Trowa looked at them.
"Ok, but what way are we going? There are at least ten detours and we may end up on a maze." Rei said. At that they all looked at Nataku who stood perched on a rock behind Wufei.
"Nataku, do you feel the Dragon Tear?" Wufei asked as the dragonling nodded. "Do you think you can take us there?" He asked and was rewarded with another nod and a chirp from the small reptile.
"Great! This will make it a whole lot easier." Minako cheered.
"C'mon." Trowa followed Nataku down a small cavern.
"Be careful where you step." Wufei frowned as the hall ended on a large cavern. A small island of rock was nested in the middle of a pool of lava that was connected to the mainland by a small stone bridge.
"Why do I feel like I have been here before?" Rei frowned.
"There." Trowa pointed at the small island. "The Dragon Tear rests on that altar."
"Couldn't they have it on a regular altar on a nice room?" Minako whipped the sweat on her face.
"Let's get that thing and get out of here as fast as we can." Wufei said taking a step forward. Nodding, Rei walked behind Wufei until they walked over the river of lava.
"I really don't like this." Rei murmured under her breath. At last both teens stood in front of the Fire Dragon Tear; the small jewel glowed angry red as the two Dragon Knights stretched their hands and got a hold on the glowing orb.
"Got it!" Both said as they retrieved the Dragon Tear from its place. In that precise moment the cavern began to shake; rocks and debris began falling from the ceiling.
"Let's get outta here!" Rei yelled.
"Minako, the entrance!" Trowa yelled as a large rock started falling almost closing the only exit of the cave.
Without even thinking it Minako sent her two chains to prevent the rock to fall.
"C'mon you guys, I won't be able to stop it much longer!" Minako yelled as she tried to force her chains to keep lifting the large boulder.
"Let's go Wufei!" Rei hurried to the bridge.
"Right behind you." Wufei nodded.
"C'mon, c'mon!" Rei frowned and then her eyes widened as she remembered the last time that this exact thing had happened. "Déjà vu." She whispered as she turned around just to see Wufei loose his footing and began falling into the abysm. "NO!!!! Wufei!" She yelled, getting the attention of the other two.
Once again, as if somebody had pressed the rewind button, Rei saw as Wufei's head disappeared from her view. Diving after him for the second time, she was able to grab his arm.
"Got you!" She clenched her teeth while trying to pull him up. However, this time a boulder came down and crashed just two meters from her, making the narrow stone bridge collapse from under her.
"AAAHHHHH!!!!" Both teens yelled as nothing but thin air received them.
"Stop moving! I can't hold you if you keep yelling!"
Rei frowned, wasn't she falling? Then, why was someone telling her to stop? Opening her tightly shut eyes, Rei found herself with one hand gripping Wufei's and the other one on a vice grip on Trowa's hand.
"T-Trowa?" Rei blinked.
"I got you, now help me get you two up." Trowa strained.
"C'mon you guys, hurry it up!" Minako yelled as sweat began dripping from her face.
"I so will not dignify that with an answer!" Rei yelled.
"Damn!" Trowa tried to hold her as her hand slipped from his. "Nataku! Go get help!" Trowa yelled.
Giving a loud chirp, Nataku flew out of the cave and disappeared.
"If I ever get out of here, I swear I will never enter a cave again!" Rei swore.
"I'm with you on that one." Wufei responded trying to look for something to grab on to.
"I'm slipping." Trowa looked down at the two other teens.
For the first time on their lives, Wufei and Trowa saw a look on each other's face that they had never seen before. The look was that of a person who knows that this may be their last moment, the look of despair and fear as the ground under Trowa began to fall apart.
"Damn it!" Wufei cursed while with his free hand he searched into his shirt extracting the Dragon Tear. "Minako! Catch, get the hell out of here and give this to the others!" Wufei yelled.
"No way, I'm not leaving without you!" Minako shook her head.
"C'mon Minako, we're not gonna make it!" Rei yelled.
"Nataku's coming with help!" Minako was on the brick of tears now.
"You have to take it and leave. If not, we will all die!" Trowa looked at her before he lost his footing and began falling forwards.
"No! I will not leave you!!!" Minako yelled as an orange glow surrounded her. "I will take responsibility! I'm sailor Venus, the leader of the sailor scouts and I will not let anyone behind!" Minako shouted as the glow enclosed her, turning her regular clothes into her sailor fuku and another chain sprung from her hands traveling at lighting speed towards them, intertwining them before they could fall anymore. "I got you now!" Minako smiled as the chain pulled them up and dropped them not two feet from Minako. "Now, where the hell was this power when my last boyfriend dumped me?" Minako joked while sagging on her feet.
"Just wait a little longer!" Trowa jumped to his feet.
"Hurry, everybody out of the cave!" Wufei barked while another boulder landed near them.
"Easy for you to say!" Rei rubbed her arms.
"Crawl through the opening." Trowa kneeled pointing at the almost closed exit.
"Go, I'll wait until you're thru!" Minako stressed.
At this, Rei looked at the entrance and then at Minako and nodded sharply. "We'll meet you at the other side." Rei said before crawling out.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Rei waited for Minako to appear.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch!" Minako grinned while crawling out herself.
"We got to get going." Trowa helped Minako to stand up.
"Let's go back." Wufei nodded.
"If we only knew the way back." Rei looked at the several caverns that stood before them.
"Hmm…I might as well charge you for it."
They turned to see who had talked. There, whip in hand, stood Ishtar with Nataku near her feet.
"Ishtar?!?!" All four teens blinked.
"You know, I was walking, minding my own business, when I ran upon this little creature and I said to myself, 'now that might be worth several gold pennies' so I followed her here and look with who I bumped into." She grinned.
"Interesting as the story might seem, we gotta get out of here!" Wufei said as he extended his hand for Nataku to climb on.
"Oh well, this way then. I was getting tired of these old walls anyway." Ishtar shrugged and entered a hallway. After several twists and turns, they finally got to the bridge that separated them from the opening in which they had entered.
"You know your way around here I see." Wufei raised his eyebrow.
"I have raided this place once or twice before." Ishtar shrugged.
Behind them, Rei turned to give the cavern one last look when something caught her attention on the lava under the bridge. Suddenly, the lava's flames leaped and danced in front of her, surrounding her like the sacred fire used to do when she invoked it to give her answers. Trying to get away from the flames, Rei discovered that not only the flames didn't burn her, but that also they moved with her as if they were forming a protective cloak around her.
Blinking several times, Rei frowned and closed her eyes as an idea came to her mind. "The Earth, the Wind, the Sun and the Moon. The Water and the Sacred Fire." She chanted and closed her eyes. Surely, as if she was in front of the Great Sacred Fire on her temple, Rei watched on her mind's eye as figures formed from the flames.
Dozens of men and women stood with weapons that glinted with the sun. Not one seemed out of place nor nervous; instead they looked adepts of using the deadly arms, confident on their own skills. All of them looked ahead at their targets that, it seemed, were trapped near the bottom of a cliff. Concentrating more on the people who had their backs at the wall, Rei could see as Mamoru and Heero added another two bodies at the pile of dead priests at their feet while Makoto, Duo, Ami, Quatre and Usagi worked in a team trying to make the priests back off.
Snapping her eyes open, Rei's eyes adjusted to the sudden lack of light just to find the other's looking at her.
"What did you see?" Minako asked as she recognized the chant of the Shinto priestess.
"The others, they're in trouble. They're cornered with about thirty priests in front of them." Rei looked at them.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some ass!" Ishtar readied her whip.
"Let's go!" Trowa nodded and went' to the entrance with the others right behind him.
~~~$@~~~$@
As the five came out the first thing that they saw was blood. Blood covered everywhere the eye could see as the air reeked of the coppery smell.
"We have to find them!" Minako looked at the bodies that lay not two feet from her.
"C'mon!" Trowa started to run to the side of the cliff.
Following the trail of bodies, the five located where the others who stood fighting against the reminding priests.
"We should try to sneak behind them and attack them from there." Trowa told them.
"I don't think that'll be necessary!" Minako shouted as at least ten priests came towards them with battle cries and their weapons raised.
"Well, these guys don't waste a second." Ishtar smiled while swinging her whip.
"Lets go, we have to find the others!" Rei looked at them as the priests began falling to the ground.
"But where?!?!" Wufei shouted as he slain another priest with his katana.
"There!" Trowa pointed at where a cry was heard and Nataku flew in circles.
"We have to hurry!" Minako panted in exhaustion.
"Your friends have to be really strong or really lucky if they are still alive!" Ishtar yelled as they all ran to the cliff.
As they approached them, the place looked like a war zone. Bodies were scattered everywhere, the sounds of metal against metal echoed all around the ravine while shouts drowned as the swords of the fighting Dragon Knights slit their throats. Minako and Rei stopped dead on their tracks as they saw the guys using their swords for the first time.
Heero and Mamoru were, as on her vision, fighting side by side as their weapons gleamed blood red and the of the guys fought behind them. Quatre stood holding his twin swords with a confidence of a warrior while Duo kept appearing and disappearing everywhere, killing everything that moved. Behind them, Makoto, Ami, and Usagi fought with whatever got past the first two barricades but didn't kill them, instead they tried their best just to knock them out cold. Scanning the battlefield, they saw that that Lluvia was nowhere in sight.
Snapping out of it, Minako and Rei realized that the other three were already going into action.
"'Bout time you showed up!" Duo grinned as he appeared besides Wufei.
"Better late than never." Wufei growled.
"Aww, Wu-man comes to save the day!" Duo smirked as an arrow flew past him just missing him for a few millimeters, making the braided boy to loose all color from his face.
"You should be more careful." Trowa said with his bow pointing to the body of a priest that lay just two steps behind Duo.
"Trowa, Wufei, you made it!" Quatre smiled.
"We all maid it." All turned to see Ishtar with Minako and Rei behind.
"Wait, where's Usagi, Ami and Makoto?" Minako asked.
"They were right behin- Oh Shit!" Duo turned to see as seven priests surrounded the three girls.
Rei's eyes widened as she saw Makoto holding her right arms which had a large wound oozing with blood while Ami lay on Usagi's lap with a large gash on her temple.
"NOOOOOO!!!!" Rei felt as if she was back inside the Fire Shrine with the fire surrounding her. All her body felt covered by the same feeling of power as it did when she transformed. Putting her arms on a familiar pose, Rei's vision narrowed only to those attacking the other senshi. "Fire Dragon's EXPLOTION!!!" Rei yelled as a big ball of fire shot from her hands and instantly incinerated all seven priests. (WD: Damn it! You did it again! FD: (looking innocently) what did I do now? WD: Self insertion! FD: I did? (reads part above) Well, I'll be damned, so I did. WD: -_-! .! FD: ^-^v)
"Wow Rei, that was awesome!" Minako patter her on the shoulder causing her almost to fall.
"Sure, just don't expect me to do it any time soon." Rei panted.
Oblivious to the others behind, Mamoru and Heero found themselves cornered by five priests. The already spent boys heaved in exhaustion, being barely able to hold their swords straight.
"I thought that you said that there would only be 12.5 priests for each one of us!" Mamoru yelled.
"Four of us left, remember?!?!" Heero barked back. *Stupid sword. If I only had my gun with me I would have kill the all five minutes ago!* Heero thought glaring at the word. However, Heero's vision blurred, the once shiny sword dulled. Shaking his head, Heero moved the sword to his other hand as it stabilized again. Frowning, Heero once again shook his head and chuckled as something that Duo said not so long ago came into mind.
"My kingdom for a gun." Heero whispered. Of course, Duo had said 'My kingdom for a chocolate bar' at the time, but that wasn't relevant now. Suddenly, Heero's vision blurred again and something fell into his hand, now both his hands were full, which they were empty not only five seconds ago. Looking down, Heero blinked as there, on his right hand, was his precious gun while he held his sword with his left. Immediately, his eyes glowed with the strange glint of a madman, the one that he always got while rampaging OZ soldiers with Wing. Lifting his gun, he aimed at the closest priest in sight, and then…
-Click, click-...?!?! The gun kept clicking as Heero pressed continuously the trigger. "Damn it! It's out of bullets!" Heero growled as the priest kept coming his way; however, before it could reach him, the priest fell to the floor with an arrow piercing him right in the heart. Looking back, Heero saw Trowa kill another three priests with arrows while strangely, his quiver never seemed to empty. Behind him, the others tried to find a way out of the ravine.
Looking the opportunity of escape, Mamoru watched from the tired teens to the still standing priests. "Retreat!" Mamoru yelled as the priests prepared another charge.
Giving a short nod, the girls began moving towards the exit while the guys covered them until they got to the place where Lluvia waited for them with the horses.
"Are you sure that you can ride?" Usagi asked Makoto and Ami.
"We'll be ok." Makoto said while Ami nodded.
"Let's go!" Ishtar mounted her horse, which had appeared from nowhere, while the boys mounted theirs on a hurry and all galloped as hard as they could.
After a couple of leagues riding for their lives, Trowa slowed into a canter, making the others slow as well.
"We should stop or we'll kill the horses." Trowa said.
"They could still be on our trail." Quatre gasped.
"Yeah, and we still don't know how far ahead we are from them." Ami said.
"The horses will not last long if we keep pushing them this hard." Trowa warned.
"But we shouldn't just stop here. We have to find a place to hide until we know for sure if they are still on our trail." Makoto said.
"They are." Everybody looked curiously at Wufei who was staring out at the sky.
"What did you say Wu-man?" Duo frowned.
"They are still on our trail. They're coming with horses following the horses tracks." Wufei kept staring into the blue.
"What makes you so sure?" Heero moved his horse near Wufei's.
"I see them. They are two miles behind us…twenty, no, twenty five of them. And they don't look like they're gonna stop at anytime." Wufei frowned.
"But how can you see them?" Minako crooked her head to one side.
"Nataku." Wufei breathed before shaking his head and focusing his vision to the present.
"You can see thru Nataku?" Usagi asked perplexed.
"Hai. It seems like I can." Wufei rubbed his eyes.
"Fascinating." Ishtar's eyes widened.
Heero frowned while looking at her. "We'll deal with you later." Heero narrowed his eyes before turning to the others. "We should find a place to hide." He looked around.
"I don't think we'll find anywhere to hide around here." Makoto looked at the barren terrain. "There's not even a bush where to hide under." She shook her head.
"We better do something, and quick!" Wufei looked up suddenly as Nataku flew above his head and then chirped while flying to the direction from where she just had appeared. "They're coming, and fast!" Wufei turned to them, this time before disconnecting his vision from Nataku. The rest of the teens could see as Wufei's eyes, instead of being his normal black orbs of onyx, were a pair of red lizard like slits.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm sure as hell not gonna be able to transport all of you anywhere!" Duo shook his head.
"I know that this is no time to do any experimenting, but…" Mamoru shook his head.
"But what?" Rei looked at him.
"I found out about my power." Mamoru said tentatively.
"And?" Ami inquired.
"I can make myself invisible." Mamoru stated.
"You can?" Duo blinked.
"Yes, I've been practicing it, and I know I can make invisible some things that are near me too." Mamoru sighed.
"We've been practicing it." Usagi said. "I've seen him do it with several things at the time." She nodded.
"Do you think you can do it with all of us?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know. Its way more of what I have ever tried to." He shook his head.
"Well, it's our only hope now." Wufei growled. "It's either that, or to fight again." He looked at the girls' state and then shook his head.
"That is out of the question. We are all too spent to try to fight again." Ishtar shook her head.
"Let's try it then." Heero nodded.
"Give me just a few seconds." Trowa dismounted and took a rag from his pack. Quickly, he erased some of the tracks that the horses had made and then returned. "Ok." He nodded.
"Let me concentrate a moment then." Mamoru closed his eyes. "Try to be as close from each other as you can and try not to make so much noise." He said and then turned to Trowa. "Could you do something about the horses?" Mamoru asked.
"I'll try." Trowa turned to look at the animals as they stared at the tall man's eyes. "I think we'll be ok." Trowa said after a second.
"Ok, let's do this." Mamoru once again closed his eyes and concentrated.
Little by little the group began disappearing from sight. At first they could see as something…like a heat wave started covering them, and then, everything turned into shadows as if they were on a dream and only silhouettes could be made out of the fuzziness around them. They could only fandom when several of the shadows passed right pass them, stopped where the tracks ended and then left after several minutes of long searching, passing them just two feet from where they stood silently. Giving them other several minutes to be sure that they had left completely, Mamoru let the shield fall, almost falling with it.
"Are you ok?" Usagi asked him while supporting him. Taking one deep breath, Mamoru nodded shakily but then lowered his head when he felt nauseous for the strain.
"I'll be ok." He assured her.
"Wow, I can't believe we pulled it off!" Minako cheered.
"Just by this much." Lluvia held her fingers only an inch apart.
"At least we made it." Ishtar admonished her.
"What were you doing here?" Heero frowned while looking at the strange woman.
"Well, I just came to clear some unfinished business with you." Ishtar shrugged. "You seem to forget that you owe me for my service. But I'll tell you what, I know that you stole something really precious from the Fire Shrine." She smirked at their expression.
"And how do you know that?" Heero narrowed his eyes.
"Hell~o, they wouldn't have made that entire ruckus only because you dropped by to have tea with them. So, let me have that little red jewel that you have there and we'll call it even." She pointed at where Rei held the Dragon Tear.
"What?! Do you think we'll give it just because you want it?!?" Duo yelled incredulously.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." Heero unsheathed his sword.
"Heero, wait!" Rei stood defiant at Ishtar. "Here, you can have it." Rei shrugged and then threw the small jewel at the other woman who caught it immediately.
"Are you crazy? How can you do that after all the effort we had to do to get it?!" Minako's eyes bulged out.
"Look at it." Rei smirked while crossing her arms.
At her words, everybody turned to watch as Ishtar held the small jewel which pulsed with a red aura. Giving a small snort, Lluvia rolled her eyes and moved to the horses.
"But, how, when, where…I, and you." Duo looked from Ishtar to Rei and Wufei.
"Please, tell me that you didn't see that coming." Lluvia snorted again. "I mean, you guys are just soooo dense!"
"Of course we knew." Wufei shrugged.
"Oh really? And what gave you that clue?" Ishtar raised her eyebrow.
"The Dragon Tear started pulsing since you came." He shrugged again. " And because Nataku, she was way to friendly with you." Wufei said as Rei nodded.
"Hmph, party poopers." Ishtar pouted while Lluvia laughed.
"See, I told you they were amusing." Lluvia laughed again.
"Anyway, where to now?" Quatre asked.
"As far as we can get from here." Heero answered. "We don't want to be here when the Fire Priest's come back."
"That'll be a good idea. I don't think I'll be able to do this again even if our lives depended on it." Mamoru sighed while trying to stand up on his own.
"Say," Ami turned to see her. "Why do the Fire Dragon Priests train so much?" She asked.
"Technicalities." Ishtar shrugged. "I told them some two thousand years ago to be strong and to fight for justice, and they got literal on me." She shook her head.
"They're just plain weirdoes." Lluvia snickered while receiving daggers from Ishtar.
"C'mon then, let's get going." Trowa moved towards his horse.
"We still have to find a place where to rest." Minako groaned.
"Well," Usagi breathed deeply, "Two down, three to go." She shook
her head while everybody walked towards a mountain range where they hoped to
escape from the wrath of the Fire priests and to find the other three Dragon
Tears left.
Fire Dragon "Damn it, that was the hardest chapter yet *looks up
and reads chapter* That wasn't that bad now was it? .
I swear I had the biggest writers block in the century! Anyway, I hope you
liked it, I just wish I had more time and some help (glares at Water Dragon)
since it seems that my co-writer left me to write a fic of her own. Oh well,
sorry for the delay but I'll try to make this as fast as I can, although I'm
not promising anything like a chapter per week (I'm still trying to work on my
other two stories too) but I'll try. Oh well, until then, Ja ne."
