Crossed Paths: Chapter 3, New Discoveries and a Boy
They soon were all asleep. All but two. "When are we going to make the magic happen?" asked Loki. "Soon. Very soon," answered Duo.
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The warm wind of the night had extinguished the fire that had once been going. All eyes were closed, but then two pairs opened. "C'mon, Loki. It's time," whispered Duo. The jaguar, which became a black chipmunk, nodded. "Is everything you turn into black?"
"No. It helps me blend in the night. I also like the color. C'mon before someone wakes up," she answered.
Being the God of Death, Duo was stealthy. He moved around the sleeping pilots to Lyra. Loki followed his every move. Duo knelt down next to Lyra and looked at her. She was perfectly asleep with Pantalaimon tucked in her shirt pocket; transformed as a mouse. "Know let's see what that thing-a-ma-bob was that you were holding," he thought to himself.
He opened up the rug sack and pulled out the alethiometer covered in black velvet. Then he quietly wandered away until he was a good distance away from the sleepers. It would have been a successful plan if Khaz's wolf ears hadn't of picked up his sound. She opened her eyes and crept to Lyra.
"Loki! Hurry Up!" cried Duo, but quietly. Duo sat down on a stump at looked closely at the golden object with Loki on his lap. "I wonder if Lyra's awake, I hope she doesn't catch me."
Then without warning the alethiometer spoke:
She is standing right behind you.
"Oh God!" yelled Duo as he tossed it away.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY ALETHIOMETER!" came a yell from behind him. It was Lyra.
"JESUS! THAT'S FREAKY!"
Lyra came over and picked up the golden compass. "What were you doing with this?!" she scolded.
"That... that.. that thing just talked to me," stuttered Duo.
She rolled her eyes. "No, you idiot. It doesn't talk, it.... wait a minute! You can read this!"
"Keep that thing away from me!" said Duo as he crawled away. Loki was right behind him. "Answer me Duo! Can you read this!?!?"
"What's going on here?" came a voice from behind the bushes. It was Quatre and the others.
"Yeah, we heard yelling. What's up?" said Trowa.
"Duo got up in the middle of the night and stole my alethiometer."
"Your what-o-meter?" asked Shi.
Lyra sighed. "My alethiometer. He jacked it from me while I was sleeping! Does he always do this?"
"Yeah. Duo, how incredibly rude of you! Apologize and give it to her right now!" argued Quatre.
"No, no it's ok. I'm kinda glad that he took it. If he hadn't then I wouldn't of known that he could use it," replied Lyra as she thought about what just happened.
Wufei looked at her. "Well then how do you use it, onna?"
"Listen my name isn't Onna, it's Lyra. (sighing) Look, the way you use the alethiometer is by reading..."
"Pardon me, but you wondered why Duo was able to do it? He isn't that dumb, you know," interrupted Quatre.
"Thank you, Quatre," said Duo. Once again, Lyra sighed. She was slightly aggravated. "No, it's a different kind of reading. This reading has to do with pictures. It has taken me quite a while to master this, so I am really surprised that he can read it. Like your, doctor you called him, said. You need to concentrated really hard to see what the pictures mean and learn to make them into words."
Heero growled. "Well, if Duo can do it than so can I!" He snatched the alethiometer and pushed Duo aside. "Hey!"
Heero stared at the golden object. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Just ask a question, I guess," answered Duo.
Heero shrugged. Uhhhh.. will we ever get out of this place? He thought.
(Silence........ more silence...... even more...)
"Talk you stupid thing!" he yelled before he threw it. Luckily Trowa caught it just in time before it hit the ground. "DON"T YOU DARE THROW MY ALETHIOMETER AGAIN!" screamed Lyra as Trowa handed it to her.
"I got it!" yelled Wufei, which made everyone jump. "I know why Duo can read that thing! He's got nothing flowing through his head which makes it easy for him to concentrate because nothings blocking it. His head is just plain hollow."
Heero and Khaz chuckled. Duo just smiled widely. "Ya know," started Duo," I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. But when I find out, I'll let you know, Wu-man."
"This is too much excitement for one night. So let's all go back to bed and we'll pack up and go in the morning," said Quatre through a yawn.
Everybody thought it was a reasonable idea so they did as they were told because he was right in a way. Too much excitement for that night. But not as much excitement as they will have tomorrow...
The morning light has just come into view. And the fog that has once been was gone. Nothing could ruin this morning. Well, only if you weren't the Gundam Pilots. "Guys! Wake up!" yelled Quatre while vigorously shaking everyone. Shi helped along by pecking and screeching at random faces. "You said that we would get up in the morning! Does it look like morning to you? It's 3:00pm!"
SMACK! "Owww! Quatre why'd ya hit me?" complained Duo while rubbing his sore cheek (on his face, of course ^-^).
"Well it was either that or this ice-cold bucket of water," he replied while showing him the water.
Duo smiled. "Am I the first one you woke up?"
"Yes..."
The smile on his face grew even bigger. He reached out and grabbed the bucket. "Let me help you wake the others."
The clueless blonde smiled. "Thanks, Duo!"
The braided pilot walked up to Heero, Loki close on his heels. " Duo. Don't do anything you would want to regret," warned Quatre while trying to wake Wufei. "I won't lose a wink of sleep," he grinned while he raised the bucket. "Loki! When I say run, run!"
Loki nodded, and the bucket was released. "RUN, LOKI!" yelled Duo who was being chased by a soaked and angry Heero.
A/N: Well, maybe angry isn't the best word to describe Heero right now. But because I write nice, clean stories, I have to leave out what Heero is going to do when he catches Duo
(hint: Heero + a 9mm gun + many sayings of "Omae o kasaru")
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"Oww. Oww," whined Duo as he walked up to Quatre with Heero right behind him. "Wow Duo, what happened?" asked Quatre when he saw Duo limping.
"Think you can dump cold water on me do you?" yelled Heero while drying himself off. Duo moaned. "I told you not to do anything you would regret Duo," said Quatre as he helped Duo sit down.
"It was too good to resist," He said through a lopsided smile.
"Is this how you start every mornings in your world?" asked Lyra who seemed to be amused watching Heero and Duo.
"No. That's just Duo's daily chores," responded Heero while he was giving Duo the most disturbing death glare he could conjure up.
"I am going down to the stream to catch some fish. Anyone want to help?" asked Quatre as he unpacked his fishing rod.
"Sure. I'll help, but why are you going to use that stick like thing? Just roll up your sleeves & pants and get into the water," Lyra said. She had a very confusing look on her face.
"Finally! I have seen a weak onna do some labor that a real man would do," Wufei interjected and did the same as Lyra. "Winner over there always does things the easy way," he explained to her.
"Well, excuse me for not wanting to get wet!" scoffed the blonde and he marched off to the stream.
"That's just because he can't swim," mumbled Duo through silent laughter.
When Wufei and Lyra reached up to Quatre, they found him trying to put a worm on the hook. "Oh! This is so disgusting! Eeeewwww! The poor little worm."
Lyra walked up behind him, saw what he was trying to do, and smiled. "That's it?! That's what you're trying to do? Give me that!" She grabbed the worm and the hook. Then she stuck them together, while ignoring the remarks coming from Quatre.
Wufei looked surprised. "First time I've ever seen an onna not scream at the sight of someone poke a pathetic animal like that with a hook. I'm impressed, woman."
She sighed. "Will you ever call me by my real name?"
"Don't think so." She sighed.
"Ahhhhh! Guys help me!" screamed Quatre. "Wufei, Lyra, I caught a fish and he's really strong! One of you come here and help pull it in," said Quatre through gritted teeth.
Lyra stood, but Wufei got up before her and said, "No, no. I'll go. Depending on Winner's strength it's probably a minnow. Start catching fish on that side of the river."
She followed his orders and jumped into the water. "Let's see.... There's one!" She was as still as a rock with her hand in the water with some moss in it. "C'mere little fishy, c'mere...," she whispered to herself. She held her breath and... "GOTCHA!"
Lyra waded to the shore and put the fish in the basket. "Woman! Look what Winner over here caught!" Wufei held up a boot that looked like it could fit a man's foot. She figured it wasn't in the water a long time because the color was intact, and it hasn't been faded. When she closed the lid, she walked up to him and examined the shoe.
"We must be near a village or something," Shi said to Quatre, but Wufei overheard.
"Alright then! They might direct us to our godforsaken destination and be on our way home!" He smiled.
"Ohh. And I really wanted to catch a fish," complained Quatre who frowned. "Maybe I should stick to buying it at the market," he said with a little reassurance to himself.
"Look," started Lyra. "This river runs down hill. So that boot must of come from up there," she said while pointing up the hill, "and wherever boots are, people are."
"Oh look, it's a rocket scientist," mocked Nataku after Lyra's speech about Newton's Law of Gravity and the saying 'What goes up, must come down.'
When they returned to the campsite everyone looked at them with hungry faces. "Tell me you caught a bunch of fish or else," Heero growled while giving his Death Glare.
"We only caught one fish, but we found a boot that must lead to a village or town," explained Pantalaimon, transformed as an elk.
"You better be right," mumbled Heero as he clutched his stomach to keep it from growling any louder.
They walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and guess what? They walked some more! "Jesus. When is this hill going to end?" moaned Lyra.
"It... looked... so... pathetic... from.... down.... there," added Wufei while occasionally gasping for air.
"Oh No!" wailed Quatre. "I see the light! The light, oh, the dreaded white light."
"Don't be scared Quatre. The light is good. Follow the light, follow...," answered the dragon, who was annoyed with the blonde's complaining.
"Yeah," agreed Loki. Talena and Khaz laughed.
"Hey guys," called Talena with a hint of mischief. "I can smell food!"
"Yeah! Me too!" shouted the wolf who got where she was going.
If you thought that it was impossible for people to run faster than cheetahs, then you are seriously mistaken. You probably know which one made it to the top first. "FOOD!!!!" screamed Duo as her rocketed to the top. "Gimme, gimme! Food..."
Not two seconds later was the other guys there. "There's no food here," complained Duo.
"Really? Aw well, at least you guys are at the top now," smiled Talena & Khaz. Pan chuckled at their churlish behavior. (VOCAB WORD!!!!)
After the excitement had passed they turned into awe as they looked at the town. It was deserted. "You have to be kidding me!" yelled Wufei as he threw his hands up in the air.
"Well. It may be empty, but there has to be food in those buildings. Let's have a look," offered Loki.
They walked by every house until they found a clothing store. "We might as well get out of these dirty clothes if we're going to be staying here," pointed out Lyra as she walked into the store.
"Why do women love to shop?" Wufei angrily said.
"Women aren't the only one's who love to shop," objected Quatre while he followed her.
"Hump."
Lyra picked out a nice gray skirt, with a white tang top, and a zipper-up sweater. Duo chose a black shirt with black pants. "It's not my usual outfit, but it will do," he commented.
Heero found a green tank top and tight, well, really tight blue jeans.
A/N" sorry. As hard as I tried. I couldn't get him off the spandex.
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"Heero, that looks like your old outfit," Quatre stated.
"So?"
Wufei found a white t-shirt with comfortable, baggy jeans. Quatre found a light blue, buttoned shirt with a yellow sweater to tie around his shoulders. "Now I feel comfy," he said.
Duo glanced at Lyra. "Why don't you pick a pair of pants? They're easier to walk in then a skirt."
"How would you know?" Wufei replied from across the room.
Duo shook off that comment and waited for Lyra to answer. She looked indignant. "Do you really think that I would wear pants? Only men wear pants!"
"Where we come from, lots of women wear pants."
She looked astonished at the braided pilot. Quatre decided to change the subject. "If we're going to be adventuring for awhile, let's get more clothing than that. Miss Lyra, as much as I hate to admit it, Duo's right. Just pack a couple pants. You can't travel well in dresses."
The others nodded in approval. "Show your manly side," added Loki.
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Fine! But only three pairs. The rest are skirts. I can't believe girls would wear pants! It's unheard of!"
After everyone had gotten at least a couple more outfits, they found camping bags to put them in, and were off! Their quest: to find the glorious food. When they got to the cash register, Quatre slipped some money on the counter. "What are you doing Winner?" asked Wufei.
"Well, when the owners come back, they might want some money for the clothes we got."
Wufei shook his head in amazement. They went store-by-store until they found an open door. The house was old looking and had styles that neither of the "adventurers" had seen before. At last! The almighty kitchen. "Dude! Where's the food?" asked Duo while rummaging through the cabinets. Loki and Talena were helping him.
"Uhhhh, why do you look in the fridge?" said Trowa who looked worriedly at Duo. Duo hit his head. "Stupid me!"
"You can say that again," mumbled Heero under his breath.
"Wow. It's cold in here!" exclaimed Lyra when Trowa opened the fridge. Trowa looked at her too.
"You mean they don't have refrigerators in your world!" He tried to look at her without his mouth hanging open.
"What's this," she asked while holding up a Coke. Duo took one also and pointed at it. This? This is my kind of drink."
He popped it open and drank it all down in one big chug, crushed it when he was done, and gave the loudest & longest burp anyone has ever heard. "Duo! That's disgusting! You.."
Quatre was cut off by an even bigger & louder burp coming from Lyra. "Wow! This stuff is good!" Duo stared at her. "She... she..," he began. "She.. did a bigger burp than me. I didn't think that was possible!"
"Wow, Maxwell. Looks like a girl beat the God of Death. How embarrassing," Wufei said while smiling.
Duo smiled back. "Don't worry Wu-Wu. That just means I'll have to practice ALL night long until I can do one as big as hers." His smile grew larger as he talked.
"Great going, Wufei! Now we have to listen to Duo's disturbing noises at night," yelled Heero.
"Miss Lyra," said Quatre, ignoring the conversation. "You do not have to drink the way that Duo just did. You may go slow and easy. You don't even have to burp. Duo just does that because it's his nature."
"Oh, ok."
While everyone was talking, they didn't notice a stranger come in through the door. Trowa looked up and said, "Uhhh.. guys?"
They turned to the door. Not knowing if he was bad or good, their dæmons went in front of them and were ready if he was going to attack.
"Hi," the stranger started. "My name's Will."
A/N: Uh-Oh! Is this stranger a friend or enemy. Well, those of you who have read these books know the answers to this. So.. you kinda spoiled the surprise by reading the books. SHAME ON YOU!!!
Next Chapter: Bizarre New World
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