Notes and disclaimer in Prologue
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Sure Thing Chapter SevenHeero hefted Quatre aboard the tiny ship moored to the docks only a short mile from where they had kidnapped the new prince. The young Chinese man watched with feigned boredom as his braided companion fiddled with something on the saddle of the horse he had brought with them.(1)
"What are you doing, Maxwell?" He asked tiredly.
The violet-eyed man flashed him a smile. "Name's Duo, Wufei. And you know exactly what I'm doing. It was in the orders we received, remember? Plant the necessary evidence that princey boy here was kidnapped by scouts from Airtsua(2), you know, the country's sworn enemy and all that."
"Now why would they want that? Unless…" Wufei trailed off, his face darkening.
Duo straightened, and looked at the black haired man, his face unusually grave "Yes, they want to start a war."
"Damn them. Why the hell are we doing this, Maxwell? We need the money, of course, but that's no reason to risk the lives of thousands. I'd rather be a pauper than send men out there to die for a false cause." Wufei growled.
Duo frowned. "I've been a pauper, Wu-man. Not such a great experience." He turned and smacked the rump of the horse, watching it gallop in the general direction of its stables. When he turned back, the smile was once again on his face. "Besides, I'm not called the God of Death for no reason. Just say this is fitting of my title, okay?"
Wufei shrugged and swung himself onto the deck of the ship. "That's a sick reason, Maxwell. And the name's Wufei."
Duo grin split even further as he picked up on his favorite way of taunting the cranky Wufei. "Fine, I hear ya, Wuffie."
"Maxwell."
"What is it, Wu-wu?"
"I'm warning you…"
"Ha, you always warn me, but you never actually do something, Wu-chan."
"That's it, it's you, me and my katana!"
"Ooh, sharp pointy objects. I didn't know you were that kinky, Wu-man."
"If you two wouldn't mind, can we get moving?" Heero's growl interrupted the squabbling. Duo and Wufei looked up at him before nodding and moving around to the various ropes that would start the ship on its course. Once it was underway, Duo snuck up behind Heero where he stood steering the rudder and threw an arm over his shoulders. "What do you want, Duo?"
"Oh, just the pleasant company of my ever taciturn lover." He chirped gleefully, "How come you never talk, Hee-chan?"
"Because you do enough talking for the both of us." Heero said bluntly. Duo planted a kiss on his cheek before hauling himself up the ropes to the crow's nest energetically. Heero shook his head, turning his attention back to the chore of directing the boat.
Quatre felt an intense throbbing in his head, making it a painful task of simply opening his eyes. Once he managed though, he instantly closed them when the glaring sunlight attacked sensitive irises. "Ungh." What happened? Where am I? He lay still for a moment, putting together pieces of the puzzle. The last thing he remembered was riding in the woods and nearly hitting three men in the process. Perhaps it was just a dream. Yes, that must be it. Quatre contented himself with that explanation and tried fading back to sleep, allowing himself to be lulled by the rhythmic rocking of the ship.
Quatre's eyes flew open and he sat up with a gasp. He was on a ship! What the hell?
"Aa, you're awake. It's about time." Quatre looked up at the sound of the voice and recognized the Chinese man who'd been in the road with the other two. He was dressed fully in strange white silk clothes. The man raised an eyebrow at him and handed him a steaming mug of something. "Drink this, it'll help ease the headache you're feeling right now." A small smile appeared on his face when Quatre hesitated and he crossed his arms, hiding his hands in the wide sleeves of his shirt. "Not to worry, Highness. It is not poisoned."
Quatre took a tiny sip, feeling the warmth of the liquid spread throughout his body as the headache abated somewhat. He looked up at the man who still stood there expectantly. "Where am I? What have you done?"
"Aboard the good ship Wing." Came a semi-familiar voice. Quatre watched as the braided man with bright violet eyes jump to the deck from the rigging, his face plastered with a huge grin. "And we have kidnapped you, as you can see. Don't get so worried, Your Highness," he let out a laugh at the stricken look on Quatre's face, "we won't kill you or anything like that. I'm Duo Maxwell, by the by. The glowering one is Chang Wufei, or, Wufei, Wu-man, Wu-…"
"Don't you start, Maxwell." Wufei growled and Duo winked at him.
"Anyway, he's Wufei, and the strong silent one over there is Heero Yuy." Duo pointed out the man standing at the stern of the ship.
Quatre felt slightly perplexed. "Why have you kidnapped me? Who am I to you?"
Duo laughed loudly. "That's a joke. You're a prince, Prince Quatre. That's why you've been kidnapped."
"I haven't always been a prince. And please, just call me Quatre. I don't like any of those other titles." Quatre paused his mind reeling. "Why did you kidnap a prince? Why not a princess? Isn't that what most kidnappers would go for?"
"Because it's so clichéd." Duo practically giggled, sitting next to Quatre where he leaned against the ship railing. "It's more exciting this way. Plus, we were told to look for you specifically."
"Told? By whom?" Quatre asked, but Duo waved a reprimanding finger in his face.
"That would ruin the whole effect of kidnapping someone, to tell them your plans, right?"
Wufei snorted. "Like you haven't ruined the effect yet, baka."
"Oh, Wu, I'm hurt!" Duo cried, clutching his chest. "Besides, who you calling baka, katana boy? I am the one who's running this show, aren't I?" Wufei rolled his eyes and walked away. Duo shrugged looking at Quatre. "He's usually this grumpy, but you get used to it." He frowned when Quatre looked at him with eyes wide with fear. "I told you, we aren't going to kill you." Duo said placatingly.
"I don't care if you kill me or not," Quatre said, "But if they find me gone, they're going to think I ran away, and then Kushrenada is going to kill…oh, Iria!" Quatre shuddered and buried his head in his hands. He nearly fell over in shock when Duo wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders.
"Hey, it's okay. I planted enough proof that you were kidnapped and didn't run away." Duo said, then lowered his voice, "Who is Iria? Your lover?"
Quatre lifted his head and gave a little laugh. "Oh goodness no," he said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, "She's my sister. My love has long since been gone."
"Oh, I'm sorry, man." Duo said abashedly, removing his arm, "What happened? Did she die?"
"Yes…except, it wasn't a…" Quatre trailed off, his eyes widening once again, this time with uncertainty. Duo raised his eyebrows.
"It wasn't a woman?" He hazarded a guess to finish the sentence. Quatre gasped, standing and moving away from the braided man, who stood and followed as he backed away nervously. "Hey, Cat," he said raising his hands in the air, "I'm sorry if I made a mistake. But if I didn't, there's nothing to be ashamed about. We aren't going to hold it against you, not a bit. Well, maybe Wufei might…just a little…"
"Maxwell, you know that's not true! If you're wondering why I get angry it's because I'm somehow always privy to the little exhibitions you and Heero put on." Wufei interrupted, from where he was obviously listening in on the conversation only a few feet away, "And if I stumble onto you two in the cargo storage one more time, you're going to have a katana blade lodged in your throat."
Quatre listened awestruck, his mouth hanging open slightly. Duo laughed at his expression. "See, man. It's okay, really! Now, you hungry? It's been nearly seven hours since we set sail." Quatre nodded enthusiastically.
Later, after having eaten Quatre walked to the bow of the boat, leaning against the railing and watching the sun dip below the horizon. It was somewhere out here that Trowa must have watched sunsets exactly like this one. Quatre felt the old ache rise in his chest, and he opened the collar of his tunic slightly so he could grip the round stone hanging at the base of his throat. It always felt oddly comforting there, as if somehow Trowa was always with him. Quatre's ears picked up on the sound of Heero calling to Duo and Wufei from the stern of the ship. He turned his head slightly to hear better.
"Who do you think that is?" Heero asked.
"Couldn't be…they couldn't have caught up to us that fast! And we aren't in Airtsua waters yet." Duo said trying to sound calm and reasonable, "Perhaps it's just some fisherman trying his hand at night fishing."
"Perhaps." Came Wufei's short answer. Quatre turned around fully to see a black ship several miles in the distance, illuminated by the first stars appearing the night sky.
"Well, we have enough headway at the moment, so we should be able to reach our destination before he's even caught up, if he's following us." Duo said confidently flipping his braid over his shoulder.
"Hn." Heero said, his eyes on the ship in the distance.
Morning came with Heero's call of, "The ship is still there. And it's closer."
"It's alright," Duo answered, bounding to the bow of the ship and pointing, "We've made it! Look, Quatre, the Cliff's of Lunacy! (3) Creepy, huh?" All Quatre could do was nod in agreement at the sight of the towering walls of rock that nearly disappeared into the sky. "Let's go, Wufei, time to get this ship landed! You grab that rope thingy, and I'll get this one!" Duo cried out, almost maniacal in his excitement. Wufei merely rolled his eyes before picking up the "rope thingy."
Heero steered the small ship to the largest patch of land to provide a safe harbor and Duo hauled Quatre onto shore. "Let's go, Cat, we gotta get up these cliffs."
Quatre stared upwards, fear showing clearly in his blue eyes. "Up the cliffs? How?"
"Heero. See, we got the rope, and this handy dandy little harness that'll hold the three of us. Everything's set up for us, and it'll take that guy forever to catch up with us. Heero's the only one strong enough to pull us up, and he'll have to sail around for hours to find another way up." Duo explained, as Heero clipped the harness to his shoulders.
Quatre eyed Heero nervously. The man had muscles, but he was rather short and not extremely bulky. "Are you sure about that, Duo?"
"Heero can do it, trust me. He's called the Perfect Soldier because he can do crazy shit like this. Hey, I call shotgun!" Duo shouted running so he could get into the harness that was in front of Heero. Wufei snorted and helped Quatre into his part of the getup before getting into his own. Duo chuckled, wrapping his arms around Heero's waist as with a jerk he started pulling all four of them up the rope. Quatre gasped and shut his eyes tightly as the ground became naught but a distant memory.
"Look, he's climbing the rope." Wufei's observation persuaded Quatre to open his eyes enough to see a tall man dressed fully in forest green, from his boots the leather mask he wore covering the upper portion of his face and hair, pulling himself up the rope just as Heero was, though he was making better progress as he wasn't taking three other people along for the ride.
"Heeerooo…" Duo said plaintively, "I don't suppose you could climb any faster?"
"No," Heero grunted, "And if you keep squirming like that you're going to make me lose my grip on the rope."
"Squirming like what? This?" Duo said, grinning evilly as he demonstrated and Heero growled.
"Maxwell, stop that. I don't plan on being a decoration for those rocks down there." Wufei snapped. Quatre felt inclined to agree with Wufei as he pinched his eyes tightly shut once more.
After what seemed a small eternity, Quatre found himself being hauled over the clifftop. Once all four men were there, they peered over the edge.
"Would ya look at that." Duo said, whistling through his teeth at the fast climbing man.
"We have to take care of him." Heero said determinedly, moving over to where the rope was wrapped several times around a boulder and pulling a long dagger from his boot.
"You're not going to kill him, are you?" Quatre cried out in horror. Duo held him back as Heero began sawing through the taught rope that split easily under the blade.
"I'm afraid we're going to have to. He'll probably kill us if we don't get him first, Cat." He said reasonably. Quatre shook his head but didn't say any more, watching with horror as the rope suddenly snapped and disappeared over the edge of the cliff. They approached the edge themselves, Quatre with trepidation at the sight he knew they would inevitably see. But he was wrong.
"He didn't fall?"(4) Duo exclaimed. "That's impossible!"
"Perhaps," Wufei said, watching the man clinging to the very face of the cliff, "But then again, we can see that you are wrong, Maxwell." They continue staring at the man.
"He's still climbing?" Quatre asked in a hushed voice.
"Alright," Duo said, suddenly galvanized into action, "Heero, Quatre, you're coming with me. Wu-man, would you mind taking care of him yourself?"
"Sure." Wufei replied shortly, pulling out his katana, a broad, wicked looking blade, from its sheath.
Duo caught hold of Quatre's arm and started pulling him along, Heero following close behind. "Good luck, Wufei, be careful! You know what I always say about guys in masks!"(5) Quatre wanted to say something, but Duo was pulling him too quickly for him to call out anything but a, "Bye, Wufei."
Wufei turned back to the precipice, balancing his sword on its tip and waiting for the man in green to reach the top of the cliffs.
Twenty minutes had passed, and Wufei was seated comfortably on a boulder watching the progress of the man below him, which was not very much. He sighed and picked up his katana. "Hey you, how long do you think you are going to take getting up here?" He called impatiently down the man who looked up at him.
"I think you have a bit of a wait, sir, unless you plan on throwing something down that could help me out." Came the sardonic reply. Wufei nearly laughed at the man's tone. For someone who was about to die either way he went, he certainly was arrogant.
Wufei waited another ten minutes before returning to call out once again. "I have some rope up here, if you want that. But I think you should know, you'd only be climbing up here to be killed by me."
"Thank you, but I think I'd prefer just climbing like this."
"Why? The rope is faster."
"Two reasons, my good fellow. One, I don't know you won't let go of the rope again and allow me to fall, and two, maybe it'll take me so long to climb up this way you'll have become bored and gone away."
This time Wufei did laugh aloud. "Both valid points, but I promise I will not kill you until you get up here."
"As much as I wish to believe you, I'm afraid I must do it this way."
Wufei thought for a moment. "Would you accept my word as a Chinese?"
"No, I've dealt with the Chinese before.(6)" The man grunted as he pulled himself another quarter of an inch up the cliff wall.
"I swear on the soul of my wife Nataku, I will not kill you before you reach the top." Wufei said solemnly, a strange glow in his dark eyes.
The man nodded. "Very well. Throw me that rope."
With the help of the rope and Wufei hauling on his end, the man in green made it the rest of the way relatively quickly. As soon as he was over the edge, he pulled on the sword at his side. Wufei held up a hand. "Wait until you've rested a bit." If the other man was surprised, he didn't show it.
"Thank you, that's very generous." He seated himself on a large rock, pulling of a boot and shaking some pebbles out of it. Wufei stood in front of him, arms crossed, a slight frown on his face.
"You wouldn't happen to have six fingers on your right hand, would you?(7)"
The masked man looked up at him curiously. Wufei shrugged. "My wife was killed by a man with six fingers." The man held up a gloved hand for inspection, which obviously showed the normal five fingers.
"My wife, Nataku, was a great fighter. The best in all of China. The six-fingered man showed up one day and dishonored our household. I will not tell you how he did it, but my wife challenged him to a duel to bring honor back to our family. The six-fingered man did not answer, he simply stabbed her through the heart. I loved my wife very much, though she was so different than I in our values. So I in turn challenged the man. He didn't kill me, but left me with these," Wufei pulled up the sleeves of his shirt to reveal several long scars running across both his forearms. He covered them before continuing, "After he left, I dedicated my life to learning martial arts and fencing. I haven't stopped hunting for him for ten years."
"How old were you?" The man asked. Wufei sat next to him.
"I was just turning fourteen. My wife was of the same age, our families had arranged the marriage according to old tradition. We were not old enough to even start considering having children of our own. But now, I will have my revenge. When I see the six-fingered man, I will say to him, 'Hello. My name is Chang Wufei. You killed Nataku, prepare to die.'" Wufei explained, his obsidian eyes glowing at the thought of his vengeance.
"So why are you in your line of business at the moment if you've not accomplished your goal?" The masked man asked shaking out his other boot and replacing it, and Wufei noted the slight inflection of his tone when he mentioned Wufei's work.
"As you probably guessed, a man cannot become wealthy in the retribution business. I simply started working with Duo and Heero to make ends meet." Wufei said matter-of-factly and the other man pursed his lips slightly before standing and unsheathing his sword. "Ah, you are ready now?" Wufei asked gracefully standing as well.
"Whether I am or not, you have given me more than enough time." The man said taking a casual en guarde stance.
"You seem an honest enough man," Wufei said raising his own katana, "I hate to take from the world one of the few decent people in it."
"Even so," the masked man said a respectful tone in his voice, "I am glad you are the person to do so."
The two men nodded at each other, seemingly relaxed, but both of their bodies tense, coiled ready to spring. Wufei tapped the blade of his katana against the other man's thin fencing saber. "Then let's begin."
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(1) I know I said I would be changing the original names of the countries in this, but it just seemed like China could be considered one of those "fairy-tale" places, and it's always seemed exotic to me, so, hey, why not? ^_^
(2) Okay, I know I said Hilde was from Airtsua, but remember she was orphaned due to the war? And with Quatre's giving nature he wouldn't care where the heck she'd come from…ahem…yeah…
(3) A lot of things mentioned throughout the story will be based on the original names and lines from the movie. Like, "Whoever he is, he's too late! See! The Cliffs of Insanity!" –Vincini, Princess Bride. I'll be changing the names somewhat, so it won't be a blatant plagiarism, and I am citing the Princess Bride as my source for everything in this. So don't sue…pweeeeaase? I'm just a poor little college student. I can hardly pay of the insurance of my car, let alone a settlement. Sheesh.
(4) This following starts my favorite sequences of scenes in the movie aka, Wesley's chase. Vincini saying, "He didn't fall! Inconceivable!" Inigo- "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." ^_^
(5) What do you say about men in masks? Fesic (sp? I can never get it right!) – "Men in masks cannot be trusted."
(6) I don't want to offend anyone out there of Chinese heritage! It's just that in this scene, Inigo asks Wesley if he would take his word as a Spaniard. Wesley- "No good…I've dealt with too many Spaniards." See! That's what he said, and I really wanted to include it in the conversation, since it's the first we hear of Inigo's/Wufei's father/wife. I have many friends who are Chinese American, and I have nothing against them whatsoever. I've always admired and respected them and their culture. So please don't take any offence!
(7) Okay, I know this is coming directly from the movie. But I couldn't think of any other traits that wouldn't be common among people and easily recognizable. I mean, I couldn't have Wufei ask, "You wouldn't happen to have a mole the shape of New Jersey on your right butt cheek?" now, could I? If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them! And I'll edit the story so it'll work. Thanks!
A/N: I think all those thing above explain things pretty well. This really is fun to write, and I'm hoping it's just as fun to read. I apologize again if too much description leaves you floundering. If so, let me know, and I'll edit it down a bit. Thanks! Reviews always welcome, of course! ^_^