Ok people, I've got an announcement to make:
---I kinda made a mistake on ch 13. Many people thought that Usagi gave the Imperial Silver Crystal, however the 'round object' was actually the locket. Remember that the last transformation of the locket was round with a red circle over a crescent moon. It was totally my mistake and more so because I forgot to put this on earlier chapters. Gomen nasai.
---The characters are going to be a little OCC, but remember that that is because they have been here for at least 6 to 9 months. Plenty of time for them to become adjusted or change their characters for the new situations in which they are in.
Disclaimer: FD "o.0? Do I still have to write these bothersome things? -.-! well, I guess I don't own Gundam Wing nor Sailor Moon"
Dragon Quest Ch 15
The Silence Forrest
"You know, this doesn't look so bad after all." Minako laughed nervously as they approached the Silence Forrest.
"Yeah, but, didn't you find it weird that the people of the town seemed…friendly? Don't get me wrong, but you would have expected this dark…mysterious place, instead of this normal looking town." Quatre tilted his head.
"Don't judge a book for it's cover." Talon murmured.
"What?" Rei asked.
"Umm…nothing."
"Hey, what do you think that is?" Duo pointed towards a distant point where several shadows moved right by the edge of the forrest.
"Well, there is only one way to find out." Mamoru hurried his horse, the others following right behind him.
"Stay close." Trowa looked at Quatre, receiving a shy nod in return.
At first the shadows seemed to move with great, exaggerated gestures while some hovered over a big boulder.
"What the hell is that?!" Makoto frowned as they got closer ad the shapes
began to take form.
"Look there!" Usagi yelled, stopping while pointing at the boulder.
"Youmas?!?!" Ami blinked, "How can there be youmas here?!" She exclaimed.
"Those are not youmas." Heero snorted, "They are people wearing masks." He said.
Looking closer, the senshi noticed as the 'monsters' did indeed had human legs and bodies while large masks with animal shapes covered their faces.
"They have a hostage." Wufei pointed at the boulder where a girl was bounded to the stone and another smaller mask covered her face.
"Shouldn't we help her?" Makoto turned towards them.
"If we must." Ishtar readied her sword.
"Alright then." Talon grinned.
"Ami, make a diversion while Duo and I rescue the hostage. Quatre, I'll need some help with those two." Heero pointed at the two shapes guarding the stone while the other group of about eleven seemed to be readying some kind of altar.
"You got it." Ami said while Quatre nodded.
"Well, let's go kick some butt!" Makoto smirked.
A blue aura was the only signal that Ami was using her power before a light mist covered the ground, thickening until they could barely see.
At the first cry of alert, Heero and Duo speeded towards the boulder, jumping from their horses at the last moment. The two guards struggled as an invisible force kept them from moving.
"My turn." Minako smiled as her chain encircled them and threw them against the boulder, rendering them unconscious.
"Onnas?" Wufei blinked as their masks fell to the ground.
"No time to be sexist!" Rei growled as she readied her bow of fire and Nataku cried from the sky.
"We're almost there!" Duo cut the restrains from the girl's wrist.
"Thank you!" The girl stood up as soon as Heero had cut the restrains on her legs. "I don't know how to repay you, you saved my life!!!" She said, taking the mask off her head.
With a start, Heero blinked looking as right in front of him stood whom could have been Relena's twin sister, the only difference between the two was that the girl's face wore the look that only hardships could give. Her face had defined lines, from frowning or laughing he could not say, plus her eyes seemed dull in contrast of Relena's sparkling blue orbs.
"C'mon, let's get a move o- (blink), Relena?" Duo blinked several times before he shook his head. *Of course not, what would the princess be doing in a place like this?…unless…* His blood ran cold.
"Run you guys!" Makoto yelled while she hit a masked woman on the face.
"Why are they taking so long?!" Ishtar growled while knocking the spear from another's hands.
"You guys, help!" Usagi yelled while she dodged a sword and another three amazons neared her.
"Usa!" Makoto yelled, gathering her power. Thunder cracked on the sky, small bits of rock flew where the thunder had hit the round while another struck the tip of one of the Amazon's spear, making a small crater where the body fell lifelessly to the ground.
"Kami-sama, I-I killed her!" Makoto fell on her knees, staring at the still smoking corpse.
"You did what you had to child, the important thing is that your friend is well." Makoto stared at Janus' green eyes, feeling awkward that the usually cold man was trying to comfort her. "If you hadn't, your friend would be the one laying there." He pointed to where Mamoru and Trowa had finished killing the other three.
"They have reinforcements!" Wufei yelled while Nataku circled the forrest and several masked woman burst out.
"Damn! Run girl, ru-" Duo blinked as the girl was already half way towards where the horses were. "Well, (blink) she wasn't like Relena after all." He blinked again before dodging a sword that sliced some strands of hair.
"We got to get out of here!" Quatre hissed.
"Run towards the horses!" Trowa said knocking an arrow to the bowstring.
"We don't have time!" Ami looked towards where Lluvia tried to hold the horses at bay. "We'll have to make a run for the forest or they'll kill us." She turned as Heero and Duo joined the fight. "Or we will be forced to kill them." She whispered more to herself than to the others, however, many of them nodded.
"Nataku," Wufei stretched his hand. "Tell Lluvia to run away, we'll catch up with her." He said, letting Nataku fly towards where Lluvia was.
"We'll try to loose them in the forest then." Mamoru handed Usagi to Minako while Usagi wobbled on her feet and beads of sweat trickled down her face.
"Usa? Usa, what's wrong?" Minako asked worriedly while patting Usagi's pale face.
"Hate." Usagi weaseled out.
"What?" Talon frowned.
"They emit hate like a beacon." Now all eyes turned to Quatre who was clutching his chest before all started running towards the forest.
"Well, I'm sure they're pretty mad about us rescuing their human sacrifice." Rei kept running.
"It goes beyond that." Quatre dodged a spear while Trowa shot another arrow to their pursuers.
"I could feel it…even from the hill." Usagi tried to talk while running.
"That's why you pointed towards this direction." Ishtar looked at her before sending a worried glance towards Janus, as the old Dragon tried to keep up.
"Is better if we entered the forest now." Heero stopped in front of two trees that made a little opening.
"Let's go then." Ami entered.
One by one, each youth entered the dark forest. Staring at the large amount of…darkness that surrounded them, they blinked, as with just one step inside the forest, everything seemed to die. No birds chirped, no squirrels frolicked, and no sun came thru.
"Man this is creepy." Duo shuddered.
"There is no time to waste." Mamoru walked in, blinked, and frowned. "They will be here any second now."
"I'll lead the way." Heero said, looking at them before walking deeper into the forest, letting the small rays of light show him the way.
"Is so peaceful here." Ami breathed in.
"It feels like home." Usagi smiled. "You know, the Moon castle." She whispered.
"Why does it feel different?" Quatre tilted his head.
"Because this is a sacred forrest." Everybody turned to see Janus. "The last sacred forrest." He growled.
"Sacred?" Wufei asked.
"There used to be great animals inside the sacred forests." Ishtar said.
"And what happened to them?" Trowa frowned.
"People started killing them." Janus spat. "People from the Fire domain came to the Earth realm to kill the Chimeras."
"Because the Earth people came to kill the Phoenixes." Ishtar snapped back. "And any way, the Water people hunted Unicorns from the Wind realm." She said.
Talon's knuckles turned white from how hard he was holding the hilt of his sword. "Yeah, and the Wind people killed the Winged Serpents from the Water realm, while everybody hunted the Griffons of the Light realm and the Pegasus from the Chaos realm." Talon shook his head.
"But, why would anybody kill such animals?" Minako asked.
"Nobody knows how it started." Ishtar said, "but now all but a few of them exist to this day." She said sadly.
"Not to mention that now all the realms are about to break into a war with each other." Talon sighed.
"They're nearing." Quatre looked behind him. "And they're still pissed." He hurried his pace.
"How long until they reach us?" Rei asked as a spear landed right next to her head.
"Not much?" Quatre and the rest broke to a run.
"We got to loose them somehow." Wufei hissed.
"Yeah, but you forget that they have been living on these forest all their lives!" Ishtar hissed back.
"They're gonna catch up!" Makoto said.
"We have to find a way to delay them." Ami looked hurriedly around while weaving thru the tall trees.
"There is only one way." Mamoru looked at Heero.
"We'll cover the rear." Heero barked, already falling to the back with Mamoru.
"What the hell do you think your doing?!?!" Usagi yelled.
"What it must be done!" Mamoru looked at her.
"Heero, damn! This is just like inside the freakin' trial!" Duo growled before he lost Heero from sight.
"Mamo-chan come back here! Mamo-chan!!!" Usagi yelled, but it was already to late, Mamoru and Heero had already gone to the end of the line while Rei tried to stop her to go after him.
"Let's go Duo." Wufei shoved Duo forward.
"But, Heero…" Duo glanced towards the back.
"I'm sure Yuy will do just fine." Wufei glanced once before shoving Duo again.
"Don't worry." Quatre looked at Duo and Usagi. "I can feel if anything happens to them." He tried to comfort them.
~~~$@~~~$@
"There is a clearing up ahead!" Trowa pointed.
"Well, this is it, it's either them or us." Ishtar said.
"We can't kill them!" Usagi's eyes widened, "They're human beings!"
"Battle positions!" Heero snapped as he caught up with the rest of the group. Immediately, the Gundam Pilots, plus Mamoru, made a circle, guarding the girls, Talon and Ishtar right behind Mamoru and Heero, and at the center stood the girls and Janus.
In a matter of seconds the amazons surrounded them. They stood ready to leap, while one of them stood in front of them. Her mask was visibly distinct from the others as it formed a horse face with two golden 'wings' on each side.
"Thy actions will be thy death for thou hast interfered with our justice." The woman whom they guessed was the leader said.
"What kind of justice is to kill an innocent woman?" Wufei frowned.
"'Tis not of thy concern what we do or do not." She snapped back.
"Well, we have a different notion of justice." Mamoru gripped his sword harder.
The woman turned to see Mamoru…and stared. Her face was hidden under the thick mask and she seemed to take a step back until she realized what she was doing and squared her shoulders. With a fluid movement, she took the mask off, revealing a woman on her thirties, who was rather handsome than beautiful. Her muscled arms held her spear as if it had always belonged there.
Duo watched the woman, looking her up and down, weighting and calculating a form to defeat her. That was, until his eyes landed on her face; his eyes widened while behind him, he heard Usagi gasp. Blinking, he gave her a second look. Her pale face was framed by curly, midnight black hair, which accentuated her deep, cobalt blue eyes that pierced him with her deep gaze. *It almost looks like Heero's death glare.* He blinked again, in fact, she looked as if she could be Heero's and Mamoru's mother as she looked at them disapprovingly.
Letting his gaze wander for a second, Duo noted something weird, the Amazon who's hair could be seen from behind their masks had either dirty brown hair or midnight black, and those without masks had dark blue eyes or black eyes with a piercing edge as if they could see straight to your thoughts. Finally, he gave himself a mental shake as the woman began talking again.
"Thy swords may appear impressive, but even cubs possess claws." She circled them.
"Believe me, I'm no cub." Mamoru readied his sword on a position that he remembered from the Silver Millennium.
"Is that so?" She grinned, "How about your sword-brother? He seems awkward with his."
"I'm very confident in my own ability." Heero glared a full force Death Glare at the woman, while he snorted indignantly before he realized what he had done.
"Hey, what's up with all the chitchat? I thought we were gonna fight." Duo lifted his own sword, tired of being on the edge without actually doing something.
"Are you so eager to die?" She tilted her head.
"Don't get me wrong, is not that." Duo said.
"Why didn't you chase the girl?" They all turned to see Wufei.
"The girl…she will pay her debts to the Mother. You too," She pointed at Mamoru and Heero, "will be shown the Paths." She made a curt signal to the others, making them step closer to Heero and Mamoru. "I will show thee, our justice." She neared them.
"You will not take them away!" Usagi yelled, before Mamoru stopped her.
"If we two go peacefully, will you let them go unharmed?" Mamoru glared at the woman.
"Art thou willing to part with them without a fight then?" She raised her eyebrow. "Unharmed you say…thy suggestion seems fair." She said finally. "Fine, thy companions shall go…unharmed…but thou shall not struggle." She turned towards another Amazon. "Kai, go, prepare the ceremonial ground, we shall teach them our Mother's justice." She commanded while Kai saluted and ran towards the forest.
"I don't like this." Minako whispered. "They'll want to make them human sacrifices!"
"I know, I know, we'll just have to think on a way to help them." Quatre whispered back.
"But first we have to get out of here ourselves before thinking of helping them." Ami whispered.
"We can't let them go!" Usagi all but yelled, hugging Mamoru.
"We'll have to regroup and think this thru." Wufei said, feeling sympathy for the girl. (FD: 0.o sympathy? Wufei? Look, there goes a flying pig !!!)
"Why are you doing this?" Usagi said accusingly. "Why do you have to be a goddamned hero?!?!" She sobbed.
"Don't worry." Mamoru hugged Usagi. "Once you're out of sight Heero and I will try to escape using my ability." Mamoru soothed her.
"You promise?" Usagi looked up to him.
"I swear." Mamoru kissed her before turning.
"We'll be scouting if anything goes wrong." Makoto said. "We'll be right behind you." She said while the others nodded.
"Fine, but if anything goes wrong, leave immediately." Mamoru looked at them sternly.
Meanwhile, behind them, Duo and Heero's conversation was much less moving.
"Goddamn it Heero! You two are gonna get killed!" Duo hissed. "Why do you have to act as a hero? You don't have to do this, we can fight our way out!" His nails were digging into his hand until it almost drew blood.
"It is the only way for all of you to get out of here safe." Heero looked at him.
"Bull! I can transport us all out!" Duo grabbed Heero's collar.
"You know we can't do that. You can't transport this many people out, and if you do you'll fall exhausted for days or worst." Heero's voice became bland. "I will not risk you dying to save us."
"Well, that's what you're doing right now!" Duo growled frustrated.
"I have to do this Duo." Heero looked at Duo's violet eyes.
"Shit Heero, why are you doing this to me?" Duo searched on Heero's face for something, anything to say that he was not trying to suicide again.
"I promise. I'll be back." Heero reached for Duo's braid and gave it a light tug. "Maybe I can wash your hair again."
Duo blinked at Heero, a shocked expression on his face. "If you get out of here alive, I'll give you the goddamned braid." Duo said, letting go of Heero's shirt.
"Deal." He smirked before walking towards Mamoru.
"Let us be on our way then." The leader said.
Giving a last look towards the others, both teens walked with an escort towards the middle of the forest.
~~~$@~~~$@~~~$@
Fire Dragon "Well, that's it. I'm so sorry that I updated so late but I've been working on a new face for my website."
Water Dragon "What is it now? Version 110?"
Fire Dragon –glaring daggers at WD- "It's only Version 4!!! And where the hell have you been?!?!"
Water Dragon "…around." –Tries to hide Weiss Kreus videos and Gravitation manga under her bed.-
Fire Dragon "What is that?" 0.o?
Water Dragon "To scare the boogie man?"
Fire Dragon "Riiiiggggttt. Anyway, I've updated Fallen angel also so you don't have to kill me right away."
Heero "What happened to my monologue?"
Fire Dragon "Well, that's it, gotta run -literaly-, bu buy!"
