Alright, here goes, you know I've done something wrong when I put an author's note at the -beginning- of a piece. *sigh* give me a break, I figured that nobody would read it if it weren't formatted, and though I am terribly bad at it, I decided to give my best and try to format it myself. A friend of mine formatted chapter 1 already, but it didn't show up right. sorry guys. Expect me to try to format the first chapters myself as well. It's all going to be updated *smile*. alright, on to the story. Enjoy.
Kitten
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Duo walked a little behind from the noble, Milliardo (having by sheer coincidence picked up his name), and eagerly surveyed the area around him. The boat had landed, and the soldiers seemed overly eager to be ahore, or at least, home again, he supposed. He hadn't caused THAT much trouble on the boat, at least, none that wasn't deserved. After all, you couldn't always trust the kharmic backlash to come soon enough for the proper learning effect that was supposed to happen. It was his duty as a representative of misfortune to grease the divine cogs of order; he merely assisted the great cosmic functions. Briefly, he smiled as he pondered Madame Yourna's deep regret of ever lending him to work at the monastary of the East.
He did however, estimate that the guard's yearning was for home, rather than departure from his company. A home is no place to be away from. Somewhere, deep in the part of his heart that was still a child, Duo knew he hoped that his estimates were true.
He gazed at the tapering forest and wide-spreading plains before him, and wondered where he could be going in such a desolate place. Surely there wasn't anything to eat out here! He hadn't seen more than a hare or falcon in more than a hundred yards. Certainly, he had been, as a very young child, in the towns on the edge of the forest, that lived away from the shelter the trees provided, but not even they would live this far. His attention roamed nontheless. He couldn't suppress his implacable curiosity. When he could hold the questions in no longer, he caught up with Milliardo.
"What's this place anyway? Where are we going now?"
"We're going straight to the castle. You're...Your delivery is awaited."
Milliardo shifted, loosing his demeanor for a single moment and casting him a sidelong glance, but Duo hardly noticed what Milliardo said past the 'straight to the castle' bit. Milliardo had said as much before. He peered around curiously. The place was entrancing. The forest had been cut away in great swaths to form a road, and a pleasant surrounding grass area. He'd never seen something like that before, and tell tale tree stumps still fixed in the ground told him that the change to grass had been fairly recent. He couldn't imagine living in such open spaces all the time, but then, he had never traveled far from the orphanage and it's protective forests.
He occupied himself by walking backwards for a while to survey the surroundings even better; Milliardo had long ago given up keeping him in line. The noble took his energy to be a good sign, and one among few. Duo jogged backwards until the stoic nobleman entered his view of the path behind him. Milliardo barely cast him a glance. Duo didn't let it bother him.
"So, what's going to be happening at this castle? And where is it anyway? What's it look like?"
Keeping his face clear, Milliardo elegantly raised a gloved hand and pointed, seeming to enjoy the gesture. Duo turned, and almost stumbled. He felt his braid thump him reassuringly in the back like a kindly guardian as he faltered to a halt. The unimpressed noble and guards continued to walk forward as Duo stared.
The castle was...huge.
Its great white walls rose into the sky like great markers of humanity. He kept his gaze on the walls and walked forward, catching up to the noble.
"The castle," Milliardo began, before Duo could form any other questions, "is a structure built long before the time of King Treize. It has since been expanded."
Duo didn't have to wonder who had expanded it. He wasn't used to being impressed, but he wasn't sure exactly that's what was happening to him. Somehow, he felt uneasy, deep in his stomach; farther than that. It was an uneasiness deep in his soul. He shut his jaw and kept walking, facing more forward. Milliardo was only barely pleased by the more subdued tone in the youth. His high spirit and open-mouthed nature would not help him with King Treize. Milliardo felt himself sigh and slump inwardly, though he knew it would press anyone's powers of observation to notice it in his actual posture. He was glad this trip was over. This was dirty business, and he wished no part of it. He wished deeply that Treize would reconsider his actions. Of course, in order to reconsider, one would have to consider them in the first place. Milliardo quieted himself; such thoughts were not his own and would get him nowhere. He pushed any further thoughts of Treize from his mind, but found his burden remained. If he did not think of Treize, then all that left to possess his mind was the boy, Duo, and his memories. Even Treize was a better alternative than those.
Duo kept his hands behind his back, the way Madame Yourna had taught he and the other kids at the house a long time ago. He could feel his braid swish gently in and out of his grasp like a steady pendulum, snapping his fingers closed just moments to late to catch it for fun. He tilted his chin up so that it looked as if he were staring into the sky, but he kept his eyes on the noble, Milliardo. He was no great psychic, and as it was he knew he didn't care much about the noble, but it dug at him to see a man so sad hide it behind a masked face.
_______
Heero watched sadly as Lady Po put the last small bag on the horses for their trip. Lady Noin, disdaining customary court apparel, stood in her soldier's tails before him, along with a few servants and his old nurse. She smiled at him, and he wished for once he could afford to smile back, but Lady Po turned her attention back to him.
"Come now, Heero, we must go."
He nodded and received a hug from his old nurse. She cried, certain that he was finally getting the break into the court that he deserved, and continued to make noise until he managed to make a reassuring sound to her. He was attached to her, for certain, she had cared for him as a child, but he couldn't stand the display. Noin moved up quickly and smiled at him, her military posture betraying no want to hinder him.
"Well, Yuy, looks like you're moving on."
Heero nodded. Everyone acted like he was going away forever. It made him uneasy. It was just a visit; he was certain he'd be back. Noin's face turned serious and she glanced past him towards the path away from their manor, her voice slightly quieter.
"We need you here, Yuy, especially if I can't get my guards to pay enough attention."
By guards she meant captains, Heero reminded himself. Noin needed no guards, though she had some anyway. Lady Po had ordered it...
"Come back, Yuy, I don't want you away from this castle for long."
Heero nodded, and Noin bowed to him ever so briefly. He could see Lady Po's look of distaste as she turned him towards the horses. He mounted his horse easily, without Po's help, but with her intense supervision, and brought it around, getting the feel for it. Noin looked solemn, and the nurse waved a hankey at him. He raised his hand in a half-hearted farewell, frustrated by his inability to think of what to do.
Lady Po nodded to him, "Come now, Master Yuy, we must go."
He nodded to her, and with a final glance a the assembly and the manor, turned his horse and galloped after her. He thought over his nervousness for a moment. Perhaps it wasn't the way everyone was acting that made him nervous. Perhaps it was the way everyone was so sure he would not return.
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"We're on the road again, mi Aeternus, can't you see?"
The sad, small, heap of ratty brown robes that covered the sad, small, blonde-haired boy shifted just slightly, as if looking up at the sky, but nothing would penetrate those shoddy mud colored coverings, and the blonde boy's companion knew it.
"You should see the road around us, it is beautiful."
The brown rags shook again and the green-eyed boy shook his head in regret. He looked up at the sky.
"Day passes quickly, but so do we, we'll have traveled far by night time. Perhaps we'll find a place to stop between the next town, and I will find some work."
The brown rags lifted, and for a moment, sad blue eyes covered by a light shock of gold hair poked into the light. The face was almost too much to bear, so the green-eyed boy did not turn around entirely.
"I know you do not like it, but what are we supposed to do until we reach the castle. It will be over soon enough. The players are moving their pieces onto the board, and much sooner than we expected. We will, perhaps be late to the match, but we will be there."
The blue eye blinked once, showing eternal sadness, and retreated back into the dark cover. A heavy cough racked the small body, and the green eyed boy was at his side in an instant. He supported the small bundle with his arm and his face showed his great concern.
"We will be there soon. The bishop is pushing the pawn into play, and all progress toward the King. It will happen, and we will be there, I promise, I swore it, to you."
The coughing stopped, and the green-eyed boy moved away again. He paused a moment, staring down the road, with those eyes the last inn owner had so thought as 'far-seeing', and the early lines the worry and suffering had wrought into his face became clearer in the noon sunlight. The brown covered boy kept his coughing too low to be heard and moved up closer to the green-eyed boy. A quick tug on the green-eyed boy's sleeve was all that was needed.
He broke from his gazing and looked at the smaller figure, "come."
They fell back into their pattern of comfortable reticence and proceeded down the road.
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AN:
What say you huddled masses? Let your voice be heard! Speak, spirits! I might even change some things for you :) .
Kitten
Kitten
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Duo walked a little behind from the noble, Milliardo (having by sheer coincidence picked up his name), and eagerly surveyed the area around him. The boat had landed, and the soldiers seemed overly eager to be ahore, or at least, home again, he supposed. He hadn't caused THAT much trouble on the boat, at least, none that wasn't deserved. After all, you couldn't always trust the kharmic backlash to come soon enough for the proper learning effect that was supposed to happen. It was his duty as a representative of misfortune to grease the divine cogs of order; he merely assisted the great cosmic functions. Briefly, he smiled as he pondered Madame Yourna's deep regret of ever lending him to work at the monastary of the East.
He did however, estimate that the guard's yearning was for home, rather than departure from his company. A home is no place to be away from. Somewhere, deep in the part of his heart that was still a child, Duo knew he hoped that his estimates were true.
He gazed at the tapering forest and wide-spreading plains before him, and wondered where he could be going in such a desolate place. Surely there wasn't anything to eat out here! He hadn't seen more than a hare or falcon in more than a hundred yards. Certainly, he had been, as a very young child, in the towns on the edge of the forest, that lived away from the shelter the trees provided, but not even they would live this far. His attention roamed nontheless. He couldn't suppress his implacable curiosity. When he could hold the questions in no longer, he caught up with Milliardo.
"What's this place anyway? Where are we going now?"
"We're going straight to the castle. You're...Your delivery is awaited."
Milliardo shifted, loosing his demeanor for a single moment and casting him a sidelong glance, but Duo hardly noticed what Milliardo said past the 'straight to the castle' bit. Milliardo had said as much before. He peered around curiously. The place was entrancing. The forest had been cut away in great swaths to form a road, and a pleasant surrounding grass area. He'd never seen something like that before, and tell tale tree stumps still fixed in the ground told him that the change to grass had been fairly recent. He couldn't imagine living in such open spaces all the time, but then, he had never traveled far from the orphanage and it's protective forests.
He occupied himself by walking backwards for a while to survey the surroundings even better; Milliardo had long ago given up keeping him in line. The noble took his energy to be a good sign, and one among few. Duo jogged backwards until the stoic nobleman entered his view of the path behind him. Milliardo barely cast him a glance. Duo didn't let it bother him.
"So, what's going to be happening at this castle? And where is it anyway? What's it look like?"
Keeping his face clear, Milliardo elegantly raised a gloved hand and pointed, seeming to enjoy the gesture. Duo turned, and almost stumbled. He felt his braid thump him reassuringly in the back like a kindly guardian as he faltered to a halt. The unimpressed noble and guards continued to walk forward as Duo stared.
The castle was...huge.
Its great white walls rose into the sky like great markers of humanity. He kept his gaze on the walls and walked forward, catching up to the noble.
"The castle," Milliardo began, before Duo could form any other questions, "is a structure built long before the time of King Treize. It has since been expanded."
Duo didn't have to wonder who had expanded it. He wasn't used to being impressed, but he wasn't sure exactly that's what was happening to him. Somehow, he felt uneasy, deep in his stomach; farther than that. It was an uneasiness deep in his soul. He shut his jaw and kept walking, facing more forward. Milliardo was only barely pleased by the more subdued tone in the youth. His high spirit and open-mouthed nature would not help him with King Treize. Milliardo felt himself sigh and slump inwardly, though he knew it would press anyone's powers of observation to notice it in his actual posture. He was glad this trip was over. This was dirty business, and he wished no part of it. He wished deeply that Treize would reconsider his actions. Of course, in order to reconsider, one would have to consider them in the first place. Milliardo quieted himself; such thoughts were not his own and would get him nowhere. He pushed any further thoughts of Treize from his mind, but found his burden remained. If he did not think of Treize, then all that left to possess his mind was the boy, Duo, and his memories. Even Treize was a better alternative than those.
Duo kept his hands behind his back, the way Madame Yourna had taught he and the other kids at the house a long time ago. He could feel his braid swish gently in and out of his grasp like a steady pendulum, snapping his fingers closed just moments to late to catch it for fun. He tilted his chin up so that it looked as if he were staring into the sky, but he kept his eyes on the noble, Milliardo. He was no great psychic, and as it was he knew he didn't care much about the noble, but it dug at him to see a man so sad hide it behind a masked face.
_______
Heero watched sadly as Lady Po put the last small bag on the horses for their trip. Lady Noin, disdaining customary court apparel, stood in her soldier's tails before him, along with a few servants and his old nurse. She smiled at him, and he wished for once he could afford to smile back, but Lady Po turned her attention back to him.
"Come now, Heero, we must go."
He nodded and received a hug from his old nurse. She cried, certain that he was finally getting the break into the court that he deserved, and continued to make noise until he managed to make a reassuring sound to her. He was attached to her, for certain, she had cared for him as a child, but he couldn't stand the display. Noin moved up quickly and smiled at him, her military posture betraying no want to hinder him.
"Well, Yuy, looks like you're moving on."
Heero nodded. Everyone acted like he was going away forever. It made him uneasy. It was just a visit; he was certain he'd be back. Noin's face turned serious and she glanced past him towards the path away from their manor, her voice slightly quieter.
"We need you here, Yuy, especially if I can't get my guards to pay enough attention."
By guards she meant captains, Heero reminded himself. Noin needed no guards, though she had some anyway. Lady Po had ordered it...
"Come back, Yuy, I don't want you away from this castle for long."
Heero nodded, and Noin bowed to him ever so briefly. He could see Lady Po's look of distaste as she turned him towards the horses. He mounted his horse easily, without Po's help, but with her intense supervision, and brought it around, getting the feel for it. Noin looked solemn, and the nurse waved a hankey at him. He raised his hand in a half-hearted farewell, frustrated by his inability to think of what to do.
Lady Po nodded to him, "Come now, Master Yuy, we must go."
He nodded to her, and with a final glance a the assembly and the manor, turned his horse and galloped after her. He thought over his nervousness for a moment. Perhaps it wasn't the way everyone was acting that made him nervous. Perhaps it was the way everyone was so sure he would not return.
________
"We're on the road again, mi Aeternus, can't you see?"
The sad, small, heap of ratty brown robes that covered the sad, small, blonde-haired boy shifted just slightly, as if looking up at the sky, but nothing would penetrate those shoddy mud colored coverings, and the blonde boy's companion knew it.
"You should see the road around us, it is beautiful."
The brown rags shook again and the green-eyed boy shook his head in regret. He looked up at the sky.
"Day passes quickly, but so do we, we'll have traveled far by night time. Perhaps we'll find a place to stop between the next town, and I will find some work."
The brown rags lifted, and for a moment, sad blue eyes covered by a light shock of gold hair poked into the light. The face was almost too much to bear, so the green-eyed boy did not turn around entirely.
"I know you do not like it, but what are we supposed to do until we reach the castle. It will be over soon enough. The players are moving their pieces onto the board, and much sooner than we expected. We will, perhaps be late to the match, but we will be there."
The blue eye blinked once, showing eternal sadness, and retreated back into the dark cover. A heavy cough racked the small body, and the green eyed boy was at his side in an instant. He supported the small bundle with his arm and his face showed his great concern.
"We will be there soon. The bishop is pushing the pawn into play, and all progress toward the King. It will happen, and we will be there, I promise, I swore it, to you."
The coughing stopped, and the green-eyed boy moved away again. He paused a moment, staring down the road, with those eyes the last inn owner had so thought as 'far-seeing', and the early lines the worry and suffering had wrought into his face became clearer in the noon sunlight. The brown covered boy kept his coughing too low to be heard and moved up closer to the green-eyed boy. A quick tug on the green-eyed boy's sleeve was all that was needed.
He broke from his gazing and looked at the smaller figure, "come."
They fell back into their pattern of comfortable reticence and proceeded down the road.
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AN:
What say you huddled masses? Let your voice be heard! Speak, spirits! I might even change some things for you :) .
Kitten