Kat: ^^ I vole you. Hope you had fun at camp!
Daemaethor: No prob. Lurking is ok, I believe you are the third person I
pulled that notice on to make them review...*nervous laughter* Thanks!
Claire: *reddens* Thank you.
Jaid Skywalker: Yes, dogs... Weird, no? Did you ever get book 13? If so,
don't you love that last bit with Rath?*giggles*
Ed: Ok, then, thanks! I'm highly impatient, so I thought I should put up
the little apology to avoid getting fried by flamers. O_X
Disclaimer: Whoa, I've been forgetting this, I think. Whoops. Well, sadly, I
still do not own Gundam Wing. I don't own much more than a doodled in
planner, actually. Sniff... I'm now reading To Kill a Mockingbird in English,
and I think some of that leaked over into this piece. Much like what
happened with Julius Caesar. ^^;
***
November 22, Edoras
The sky was a clear blue, not a cloud in sight except for at the very edges
of the mountains to the east far away. And even there they were light
and seemed no more substantial than a wisp of dandelion fluff tossed
about in the air by a gust of wind. A thick haze seemed to have settled
over the town, all things seen through it appeared blurry and it was
almost possible to see the steam rising slowly off the ground as bread
rose from a heated pan. Gnats buzzed along the ground and through the
air, flying no higher than the roofs of nearby homes.
People themselves were slow moving and either grudgingly working or
attempting to avoid having to do so.
There was no moisture in the air; all wetness had long since evaporated.
It was a hot late summers day and Sally stood outside her house.
There was, for once, not a breeze to ruffle her dirty blonde and braided
hair hanging in two bunches over her shoulders or to play and tug at her
deep green skirts like a living creature in jest.
The sun beamed down; it was warm for this time of year, the brief cold
spell they had seemed to have vanished with the leaving of her guests, a
hot front filling the vacuum it left behind.
She turned her head upwards, one hand shading her eyes from the harsh
glare of the midday sun as it beat down upon the land.
It was clear, warm, calm.
She wished it wasn't.
Resigning herself to her fate, she headed slowly around her house to her
stables in the back.
As she crossed over dry and yellow grass, she remembered how green
and lush it was during the earlier months of the year; how it had grown
so high in places that it was a nuisance. Now it was falling down limply
under the heat of the day, and she, in her long dark skirt and wrist-length
sleeves, sympathized with it.
Reaching her destination, she strode the last few steps to the large cage
on the side of the stable, the weak shadow it cast under the sun in the
middle of the sky the only patch of shade on this side of her property.
Sally pulled back her sleeve on her right hand, placing the worn leather
glove she had carried out of her house onto it and brushed a loose
strand of sticky blonde hair out of her face. Then, quickly, before she
changed her mind, she pulled open the door on the cage, reaching inside
and managing to settle a large and silver bird on her forearm.
As she closed the door after she pulled out both the creature and her
arm, the remaining bird, unhooded, shot her an almost quizzical look.
She stepped back towards the main building of her house.
She took a deep breath, stole a last admiring look, and removed the
feathered messenger's leather hood.
Two large golden eyes blinked at her in the sudden light of day, harsh
black slits in their center contracting in the transition from the dim hood to
the bright daylight. Silver-gray feathers ruffled along the lean body as
powerful muscles tensed in anticipation.
Suddenly and without warning, the bird spread it's wings to their full span
and took to the air, flying up into the sky and to the northeast without a
backwards glance.
She shaded her eyes once again from the sun, watching it go.
A hot, dry silence lay over the land.
The only audible sound was her steady breathing in the overpowering
heat of the day.
"That was," She struggled for the right words, breaking the quiet,
"Completely unremarkable. But what did I expect?"
A wry smile passed over her face, words unspoken laughing at her
temporary naivety, then vanished.
She removed the leather glove and turned to go.
She knew she had to release the bird. It obviously belonged to someone;
a specimen of such majesty had never existed in the wild, and it wasn't
her place to keep it.
Besides, it didn't seem to like her much, she laughed.
And she did have her own messenger, one who didn't begrudge her the
pleasure of touching it, either.
Today had been the perfect day to do so; all days previous had been
windy, stormy, cold.
The polar opposite of this warm midmorning.
Today was the hottest it had been in a long while.
In fact, it might have been the sun, it's rays caused all it touched, even
indirectly, to relax and slow.
Perhaps it was the intense heat which dulled her senses.
Or maybe she just was not expecting anything of that sort to happen,
especially not on an overheated and lazy day such as this.
Whatever it was, she was still walking towards the doorway to her home,
when a young man, a couple years younger than her by his appearance,
stepped out of the few shadows remaining around her house, an
unsheathed blade in his hand.
He spoke in a slightly accented voice and had bottomless prussian eyes
speckled with polished silver as deadly as the glinting broadsword he
held. The pointed tip of his weapon reflected the sun back ominously in
the half light in which he stood in.
"I'm warning you," He said, cutting to the quick without preamble.
He took a step forward, his sword still pointing to the ground, then spoke
once more, his almost nasal voice mingling with the sound of blood
pounding through her body filled her ears.
How do you know him."
***
Tall wooden doors hidden behind three majestic and intricately carved
arches; soaring pillars of hard wood and gold, rested upon a base of
stone blocks. Steps carved into this sturdy base crept from the dirt and
grass to the stone platform. A great hall rested on top of this thick base.
A huge compass, as golden as the sun, with spurts of light and flame
jutting off of it was engraved above the doors, high on the front wall,
directly beneath the arching ceiling.
Below it, standing on the stone beneath the golden and amber arches, a
young girl stood, caramel hair hanging limply down her back, and her fair
face tilted towards the ground.
It was hot; her long dress clung uncomfortably to her skin, serving to
make her even warmer than she already was. It's maroon material was
dark enough to soak up added warmth from the sun, even though she
was standing in the shade.
It had been almost a month since she had last seen the dark haired boy;
he stood out, but seemed to do a great job of blending in.
No one else seemed to know of his existence.
Mind, she hadn't mentioned him to anyone.
Selfish though it seemed, she secretly enjoyed the idea of keeping him to
herself. Keeping him hers; a prize all her own. It was foolish, however.
Mainly since she didn't know who he was.
Or where he was, for that matter.
The deep rumble of male voices caught her straying attention.
Father.
He was inside the Great Hall, sitting in on yet another meeting.
That seemed to be all he did recently.
Sit and talk.
And listen.
But never to her.
***
"I'm warning you. How do you know him?" Heero's voice seemed to
shatter the thick air much like his blade and a block of sticky molasses.
The cut was smooth and the passage thick; the very air seemed tense
with the friction.
"I'm sorry?"
He was surprised at how she kept her cool. He had expected her to run,
or at the very least scream. Yet she took another step towards him, her
face relaxed, but her body, he noticed, was tense and prepared for
action.
What she expected to do in her heavy dress he didn't know.
"How do I know who?" She asked again.
Deep blue eyes narrowed, a flash of metal and the sword was at a right
angle to his body.
"You know who I'm talking about. I saw him," He added in, almost as an
after thought, "Tallgeese."
Sally stopped herself from doing a double take.
Whatever she had been expecting certainly was not this.
"The bird?" She asked, incredulous.
He sent her a deadly look, managing to convey the image of the worst
death imaginable in his eyes.
"No. The bird belongs to him."
He said the next words as if they were a foul tasting substance, forming
his mouth around them, then letting them fall freely to smash into pieces
against the ground.
"Zechs Marquise."
***
Lind' giggled behind her hand, her short sunkissed locks pulled back out
of her face.
"I know! How can they stand it?" She asked no one in particular, her
three friends shaking their heads back to her, looks of disapproval and
amusement on their faces.
"It's horrid."
Lissi crossed her arms, the shimmery material on them sliding and
pushing up one of her sleeves a fraction of an inch, allowing a slimmer of
pale skin on her arm to show. She pulled it back down, both her arms
completely covered again.
"How can they live like that?"
Girlish laughter in the air, a long haired girl snickered, "Maybe they like it."
All four laughed, even Lissi abandoned her disgusted look for a moment in
favor of a teasing smile.
"We probably shouldn't be doing this," Linte giggled, covering her mouth
with a smooth hand.
"You're right, we shouldn't," Lissi agreed.
"But we are anyway!" Lind' chimed in, sending them all into fits of
laughter once again.
***
"Zechs?" Sally looked puzzled, "Zechs Marquise," She repeated, scouring
her memory for the origin of that name. It seemed... Familiar, but why,
she could not say.
"I'm sorry," She said at last, "I can't seem to remember.
His eyes narrowed further, and he took another step out of the shadows,
towards her.
She did a quick assessment of him, glancing up and down his body. He
was shorter than her by six inches, maybe, with dark brown hair and
colbat blue eyes. He had fair skin, and though obviously a human, he
seemed to be from the north. Or at least, that's where his ancestors
were from. He was muscled, not obviously so, but if one looked it was
apparent. The slight sheen of sweat from the high temperature was
glowing on his skin. He didn't seem like he could be much more than
sixteen, eighteen at the most, but held a certain... Maturity about him,
much like the elves who lived far beyond the normal life of man.
He seemed almost ageless, because of that fact.
Ageless, and with a sword, it's tip aiming for her breast.
"Zechs," She repeated once again, not too worried about the stranger in
her yard. She could tell a bluff when she saw one.
"Zechs Marquise," It was defiantly familiar, but... Her eyebrows raised.
Oh yes.
That Zechs Marquise.
***
Weird. I actually know what I'm doing with this fic once again. O_o I'd lost
my plot for a bit there(luckily, I have a time line written down in my
planner or I'd be completely lost), but I seem to have refound it. W.B.
has...vanished. Weird... O_o;
***
I'll buy it if it does a dance for me.
I'll write more if you review for me.
Daemaethor: No prob. Lurking is ok, I believe you are the third person I
pulled that notice on to make them review...*nervous laughter* Thanks!
Claire: *reddens* Thank you.
Jaid Skywalker: Yes, dogs... Weird, no? Did you ever get book 13? If so,
don't you love that last bit with Rath?*giggles*
Ed: Ok, then, thanks! I'm highly impatient, so I thought I should put up
the little apology to avoid getting fried by flamers. O_X
Disclaimer: Whoa, I've been forgetting this, I think. Whoops. Well, sadly, I
still do not own Gundam Wing. I don't own much more than a doodled in
planner, actually. Sniff... I'm now reading To Kill a Mockingbird in English,
and I think some of that leaked over into this piece. Much like what
happened with Julius Caesar. ^^;
***
November 22, Edoras
The sky was a clear blue, not a cloud in sight except for at the very edges
of the mountains to the east far away. And even there they were light
and seemed no more substantial than a wisp of dandelion fluff tossed
about in the air by a gust of wind. A thick haze seemed to have settled
over the town, all things seen through it appeared blurry and it was
almost possible to see the steam rising slowly off the ground as bread
rose from a heated pan. Gnats buzzed along the ground and through the
air, flying no higher than the roofs of nearby homes.
People themselves were slow moving and either grudgingly working or
attempting to avoid having to do so.
There was no moisture in the air; all wetness had long since evaporated.
It was a hot late summers day and Sally stood outside her house.
There was, for once, not a breeze to ruffle her dirty blonde and braided
hair hanging in two bunches over her shoulders or to play and tug at her
deep green skirts like a living creature in jest.
The sun beamed down; it was warm for this time of year, the brief cold
spell they had seemed to have vanished with the leaving of her guests, a
hot front filling the vacuum it left behind.
She turned her head upwards, one hand shading her eyes from the harsh
glare of the midday sun as it beat down upon the land.
It was clear, warm, calm.
She wished it wasn't.
Resigning herself to her fate, she headed slowly around her house to her
stables in the back.
As she crossed over dry and yellow grass, she remembered how green
and lush it was during the earlier months of the year; how it had grown
so high in places that it was a nuisance. Now it was falling down limply
under the heat of the day, and she, in her long dark skirt and wrist-length
sleeves, sympathized with it.
Reaching her destination, she strode the last few steps to the large cage
on the side of the stable, the weak shadow it cast under the sun in the
middle of the sky the only patch of shade on this side of her property.
Sally pulled back her sleeve on her right hand, placing the worn leather
glove she had carried out of her house onto it and brushed a loose
strand of sticky blonde hair out of her face. Then, quickly, before she
changed her mind, she pulled open the door on the cage, reaching inside
and managing to settle a large and silver bird on her forearm.
As she closed the door after she pulled out both the creature and her
arm, the remaining bird, unhooded, shot her an almost quizzical look.
She stepped back towards the main building of her house.
She took a deep breath, stole a last admiring look, and removed the
feathered messenger's leather hood.
Two large golden eyes blinked at her in the sudden light of day, harsh
black slits in their center contracting in the transition from the dim hood to
the bright daylight. Silver-gray feathers ruffled along the lean body as
powerful muscles tensed in anticipation.
Suddenly and without warning, the bird spread it's wings to their full span
and took to the air, flying up into the sky and to the northeast without a
backwards glance.
She shaded her eyes once again from the sun, watching it go.
A hot, dry silence lay over the land.
The only audible sound was her steady breathing in the overpowering
heat of the day.
"That was," She struggled for the right words, breaking the quiet,
"Completely unremarkable. But what did I expect?"
A wry smile passed over her face, words unspoken laughing at her
temporary naivety, then vanished.
She removed the leather glove and turned to go.
She knew she had to release the bird. It obviously belonged to someone;
a specimen of such majesty had never existed in the wild, and it wasn't
her place to keep it.
Besides, it didn't seem to like her much, she laughed.
And she did have her own messenger, one who didn't begrudge her the
pleasure of touching it, either.
Today had been the perfect day to do so; all days previous had been
windy, stormy, cold.
The polar opposite of this warm midmorning.
Today was the hottest it had been in a long while.
In fact, it might have been the sun, it's rays caused all it touched, even
indirectly, to relax and slow.
Perhaps it was the intense heat which dulled her senses.
Or maybe she just was not expecting anything of that sort to happen,
especially not on an overheated and lazy day such as this.
Whatever it was, she was still walking towards the doorway to her home,
when a young man, a couple years younger than her by his appearance,
stepped out of the few shadows remaining around her house, an
unsheathed blade in his hand.
He spoke in a slightly accented voice and had bottomless prussian eyes
speckled with polished silver as deadly as the glinting broadsword he
held. The pointed tip of his weapon reflected the sun back ominously in
the half light in which he stood in.
"I'm warning you," He said, cutting to the quick without preamble.
He took a step forward, his sword still pointing to the ground, then spoke
once more, his almost nasal voice mingling with the sound of blood
pounding through her body filled her ears.
How do you know him."
***
Tall wooden doors hidden behind three majestic and intricately carved
arches; soaring pillars of hard wood and gold, rested upon a base of
stone blocks. Steps carved into this sturdy base crept from the dirt and
grass to the stone platform. A great hall rested on top of this thick base.
A huge compass, as golden as the sun, with spurts of light and flame
jutting off of it was engraved above the doors, high on the front wall,
directly beneath the arching ceiling.
Below it, standing on the stone beneath the golden and amber arches, a
young girl stood, caramel hair hanging limply down her back, and her fair
face tilted towards the ground.
It was hot; her long dress clung uncomfortably to her skin, serving to
make her even warmer than she already was. It's maroon material was
dark enough to soak up added warmth from the sun, even though she
was standing in the shade.
It had been almost a month since she had last seen the dark haired boy;
he stood out, but seemed to do a great job of blending in.
No one else seemed to know of his existence.
Mind, she hadn't mentioned him to anyone.
Selfish though it seemed, she secretly enjoyed the idea of keeping him to
herself. Keeping him hers; a prize all her own. It was foolish, however.
Mainly since she didn't know who he was.
Or where he was, for that matter.
The deep rumble of male voices caught her straying attention.
Father.
He was inside the Great Hall, sitting in on yet another meeting.
That seemed to be all he did recently.
Sit and talk.
And listen.
But never to her.
***
"I'm warning you. How do you know him?" Heero's voice seemed to
shatter the thick air much like his blade and a block of sticky molasses.
The cut was smooth and the passage thick; the very air seemed tense
with the friction.
"I'm sorry?"
He was surprised at how she kept her cool. He had expected her to run,
or at the very least scream. Yet she took another step towards him, her
face relaxed, but her body, he noticed, was tense and prepared for
action.
What she expected to do in her heavy dress he didn't know.
"How do I know who?" She asked again.
Deep blue eyes narrowed, a flash of metal and the sword was at a right
angle to his body.
"You know who I'm talking about. I saw him," He added in, almost as an
after thought, "Tallgeese."
Sally stopped herself from doing a double take.
Whatever she had been expecting certainly was not this.
"The bird?" She asked, incredulous.
He sent her a deadly look, managing to convey the image of the worst
death imaginable in his eyes.
"No. The bird belongs to him."
He said the next words as if they were a foul tasting substance, forming
his mouth around them, then letting them fall freely to smash into pieces
against the ground.
"Zechs Marquise."
***
Lind' giggled behind her hand, her short sunkissed locks pulled back out
of her face.
"I know! How can they stand it?" She asked no one in particular, her
three friends shaking their heads back to her, looks of disapproval and
amusement on their faces.
"It's horrid."
Lissi crossed her arms, the shimmery material on them sliding and
pushing up one of her sleeves a fraction of an inch, allowing a slimmer of
pale skin on her arm to show. She pulled it back down, both her arms
completely covered again.
"How can they live like that?"
Girlish laughter in the air, a long haired girl snickered, "Maybe they like it."
All four laughed, even Lissi abandoned her disgusted look for a moment in
favor of a teasing smile.
"We probably shouldn't be doing this," Linte giggled, covering her mouth
with a smooth hand.
"You're right, we shouldn't," Lissi agreed.
"But we are anyway!" Lind' chimed in, sending them all into fits of
laughter once again.
***
"Zechs?" Sally looked puzzled, "Zechs Marquise," She repeated, scouring
her memory for the origin of that name. It seemed... Familiar, but why,
she could not say.
"I'm sorry," She said at last, "I can't seem to remember.
His eyes narrowed further, and he took another step out of the shadows,
towards her.
She did a quick assessment of him, glancing up and down his body. He
was shorter than her by six inches, maybe, with dark brown hair and
colbat blue eyes. He had fair skin, and though obviously a human, he
seemed to be from the north. Or at least, that's where his ancestors
were from. He was muscled, not obviously so, but if one looked it was
apparent. The slight sheen of sweat from the high temperature was
glowing on his skin. He didn't seem like he could be much more than
sixteen, eighteen at the most, but held a certain... Maturity about him,
much like the elves who lived far beyond the normal life of man.
He seemed almost ageless, because of that fact.
Ageless, and with a sword, it's tip aiming for her breast.
"Zechs," She repeated once again, not too worried about the stranger in
her yard. She could tell a bluff when she saw one.
"Zechs Marquise," It was defiantly familiar, but... Her eyebrows raised.
Oh yes.
That Zechs Marquise.
***
Weird. I actually know what I'm doing with this fic once again. O_o I'd lost
my plot for a bit there(luckily, I have a time line written down in my
planner or I'd be completely lost), but I seem to have refound it. W.B.
has...vanished. Weird... O_o;
***
I'll buy it if it does a dance for me.
I'll write more if you review for me.