This is the time everything seems slow and doesn't seem to go anywhere.
Isn't that how the wind feels before a storm comes? CHAPTER FIVE: CALM
BEFORE THE STORM.
(Deep breath to calm nerves) I do not own Gundam Wing.
I still do not like the new QuickEdit thing or whatever it is.
Sarcastic Pessimist: Who ever said they were paired? People can still be friends and be close, right? Right??? I certainly hope so. . . The kingdoms are both in English. Loquacity is the habit of talking too much, and Perdition is a terrible, irreplaceable loss. If you think about it, Loquacity can birth Perdition, which is how the story starts, right? It's just another theme I'm trying to show. Okay, on to the next topic, yes, lots of girls can seem preppy. (Shrug) I'm sorta out of it, so I'm only basing the definition of preppy on what my friend Artemis says and what those characters are like. But who doesn't like to look good, huh? (AHEM!! I don't! But I'm an odd girl, yep! )
SORRY THIS IS LATE!!! Saturday, I had some cousin's over, and I didn't feel like getting on-line until they left, and then I was simply lazy. So I apologize. Humbly.
[Ni lo tuyo ni lo mio]
[El termino medio es la verdad]
[Intenta convencerme, inclina la balanza]
[La falta de interes me esta destrozando]
[Dame algo en que pensar, para ir empezando]
/Neither yours nor mine
/The middle line is the truth
/Try to convince me, incline the balance
/The lack of interest is destroying me
/Give me something to think about, for the beginning Ella Baila Sola (She Dances Alone)
Quatre was free. Never in his life did he leave the small city that had been his home for fifteen years. And now he was dressed in clothing he was used to: thin, warm, comfortable, and durable. Those robes were too roomy for his tastes. Actually, as he thought of it, his clothing was similar to Wufei's now.
But Wufei was complaining too loudly, and Quatre told him so very firmly. Traveling in this city at night was dangerous, and there was no need to add to it with noise. "Since when did you get to be such a master at these streets?"
"I lived them," Quatre replied simply. "For fifteen years. All the light and dark of it." He took off the rope holding his hair in the mage's tail. He rustled his hair a bit and let it fall limply about his head. The look of shock on Wufei's face rivaled that of if Quatre had just dropped his pants. Quatre could not help but chuckle and beckoned him to follow. "I know these streets better than the castle. Only I was a mute then."
Wufei trotted dutifully after, his eyes still wide with what he did. Several times Quatre was certain they were going to be attacked, but he quite firmly laid it upon the possible attackers' frail minds that they were certainly something to fight, and not simple travelers.
It was the easiest traveling night he had known of all the time he had ever moved.
At the city outskirts, he paused and waited for Wufei to catch up with him. "I see castle living has eased you," Quatre teased and Wufei frowned.
"No more than it has to you. I'm just not used to running in cold air."
Quatre was taken aback by the statement. "Cold? It is only pleasantly cool, I do believe."
Wufei's face saddened. "You've known too many cold nights outside. Let's go."
Quatre was forced to follow Wufei, for both knew he would be useless in leading the way until they arrived at the Perdition capital. The people traveling presently stopped around them and they were just two men, walking down the road as companions. The stars were out, and Quatre found himself noting the change from the last month. Wufei caught what he was looking at and looked up.
"They are amazing," Wufei murmured.
"They've moved. I heard sailors talking about how they change each night and each month. Yet there is one, the Tiera, that never moves and most base their positions off of her."
"They move?" Wufei gasped. "I guess I've not been outside of the castle much."
Quatre studied the sky, searching for the arrow that pointed to the direction star. Finally, he found it in the south and mentally, he drew a line across the sky and found it. "Right up there. The bright one that almost glows blue. That is Tiera."
Wufei stared in wonder at the mass above them. "There are so many." Quatre blinked at Wufei and then understanding crossed his face. Wufei just had not seen them as much as he had. After many years of his ceiling of the night sky, Quatre found it to be simple and another part of the world as Wufei found a stone to be a part of the castle. Since there were torches that never went out in the King's halls, and he knew that the more light there was, the less stars he saw, Wufei must have never seen the stars as he had. Several times people with torches had come near his sleeping area and several stars had disappeared. It was simple observation, and he learned it because he had to.
"So, we need to go south and cross the three rivers, Riscka, Verd, and Lulce. Then we'll practically be on top of the capital." Wufei stopped for a moment and glared around him. "Unfortunately, I have no clue of which way is south without the sun. So we'll have to wait until dawn."
Quatre grinned. "Not unless you have a night dweller. I remember the sailors also saying Tiera is always to the east. South should be this way." Wufei stared at him blankly before he grinned. With a shrug, he led them down the farmland in the direction Quatre had shown.
"Not so fast, young lady! Whores are not allowed in the barracks!"
"But I know Trowa! And just so that you know, I am Middie Une, the daughter of Lord Une." A sharp laugh.
"I'm sure kid. Come on, get out of here."
Trowa shook his head and rounded the corner to find Middie fighting the two guards. Middie. A pretty girl, yet a suspicious one at that. He never quite trusted her, nor her father, but he would not turn his back on her. The poor thing thought she was the object of his desire. If only she knew better.
"Oh, Trowa! Tell them to let me go!" Her pale hair flew around her head as she fought them. "Tell them who I am!"
"Yeah, Silent. Is she the one she claims to be?"
Trowa nearly touched the hilt of his sword, but thought against it. "I do not know. Why don't you go ask her father yourself?"
One guard stared at him stupidly and let go of Middie. "You would know. You know everything."
"Then certainly you would notice that she looks nothing like a whore. Put her in my custody and then we will go."
The second stared at Middie and then frowned. "Fine. But only because you're the king's favorite."
Middie giggled and wrapped her arms around his arm, clinging to him tightly. She looked up into his face and murmured a phrase in the desert tongue, "Un nariz moreno." Trowa frowned at her.
"That's not nice," he muttered and led her out the barracks. "I thought you would know by now that I don't sleep in the barracks."
"Then what were you doing in there?"
Trowa shrugged and continued walking. There was a shout and Middie hid behind him suddenly. A stout man came running up, his face livid. "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, MISS MIDDIE?" he screamed, looking about to explode.
Trowa cleared his throat. "She was looking for me, Moriko, and she got caught with some guards. She's fine."
Moriko took a deep breath and shook his head. "Your father would kill me if he knew you had wandered off again. So, you say nothing, and I say nothing, and we get you into your bed as soon as possible?"
Middie pouted and clung tighter to his arm. Trowa rolled his eyes and shook her off easily. "Go with him," he commanded, and then strode off, leaving her standing there.
Just because she had something for him did not mean he had something for her.
Wufei managed to barter for a ride across the first two rivers, and Quatre found his amazement growing at the world outside the city. Water and stars and plains. Farmlands and, as Wufei told him, deserts outside the farmland. Seas were at the ends of the rivers. And there were other people beyond the deserts. Other lands.
Suddenly, his world was smaller than he had ever imagined it to be. The river water had a salty tinge to it, as Wufei mentioned that sometimes, when the tide was high, the salty water from the sea would come up the rivers. It amused him to think of rivers flowing backward.
Wufei was surprised at how easy it was to hide their identities. Quatre had been smart to remove the mage's tail. It hid him easier than many would expect. If any had been looking for him, it would have been with the tail.
The third river Wufei did not barter for a way across, for a reason he did not understand. Wufei murmured something of recognition when Quatre had asked. But why would anyone recognize him? He was a street rat that the king had pulled up from the rubble. Why would anyone from a foreign country recognize him?
Wufei did not answer him, but simply found a shallow fording spot, and they crossed. Though they were now wet, the sun was setting, and they were cold and without much food, Wufei seemed in higher spirits as they hiked further south. For Quatre, he had a growing sense of dread.
"What is it I have to do again, Wufei?"
Wufei turned to look at him as they walked down the road. "Avenge the wrong brought on you. If he cut your throat, cut his. It's as simple as that."
Quatre frowned. "But the Perdition king did not cut my throat. That blue- eyed man did."
"The king must have ordered it."
"But he was not the one who did it."
Wufei sighed sadly. "True, but Treize also does not want you to get injured, and the best way would be to get rid of the head of the attacker, not just the arm."
Quatre could see the wisdom in it, but still did not think it was right, and told him so. Wufei chuckled and looked up at the stars, probably searching for Tiera. "Just like your mother."
Quatre perked up instantly. "You knew my mother?" he cried excitedly. "What was she like?"
Wufei stiffened and winced. "I don't, um, really remember her. I was just a child, you know. Fifteen years ago. And I was just a kitchen lad. I didn't know much of the King's favorites."
Quatre stared at him and then looked at his feet. "You don't want to tell me, huh?" Wufei winced again and looked to the ground.
"His Kingship told me not to. It was a slip of the tongue. Pretend I never said that." Quatre gave him a sad look before he attempted to smile. Wufei breathed out a sigh of relief and fake punched Quatre. Quatre looked at him in surprise before a sly grin spread over his face.
What he did next could not really be described as vicious, but it was quite animal-like. He pounced, like a cat, and suddenly, the two were locked in a "deadly" combat to the "death." Their laughter rang through the soft hills of young crops before they stopped and lay still on the dirt.
"So, what am I doing again?" Wufei promptly punched him again.
Duo sighed contentedly and entered the warm kitchens. The meal for the evening was being prepared and he was hoping to con some meat off a spit from some of his favorite kitchen girls.
And there they were, their hair falling over their faces as they kneaded bread, turned a spit, letting the bread rise, stirring soups. Duo leaned against the counter of one of the girls and smiled up at her with his roguish grin.
"Well, hello Caty. Fancy seeing you here."
'Caty' gave him a glare that could have mauled him in a heartbeat. "How many times have I told you to not call me that? My name is Catherine. I suggest you use it."
Duo pouted in a fashion that would have put a spoiled brat to shame. "Come on, Caty. I'm not being a total jerk."
"If you don't stop, I'm going to have to make you stop."
"You couldn't touch me."
"Yes, but my brother can."
Duo tensed as he felt a knife blade caress his chin and he backed up. "Um, hello Trowa. Sorry about that."
Trowa snorted and sheathed his blade. "Just don't do it again."
The other girl looked up at them and shook her head. "You fools. He's probably just wanting some tiny piece of meat we burned too much."
Duo threw her a grin that made her blush. "Ah, Hildi, you know me too well."
Hildi tried to make her face serious, but he gave her a silly look and she giggled. "Duo, stop it!" Duo nodded sagely, pinched a piece of bread and practically danced out of the kitchens, a large grin on his face. "Darn that man, he is a lady's man to be sure."
Catherine frowned and pushed a strand of hair out of her face, leaving a white flour streak. "I don't know. He's annoying to me."
"He's a man," Hildi reprimanded. "Give him a chance."
"He's less man than my brother," Catherine snapped. "And he's older than my brother." Hildi smiled at Trowa who looked abashed by her statement. He shifted his weight uncomfortably as some other kitchen wenches looked up, eyes wide with amazement.
"Maybe. But he's not grown up in his mind, which makes him adorable."
"Adorable. Yes. Lord Une's youngest child is adorable. The new whelps are adorable. Flitty's youngest colt is adorable. That word fits him."
Hildi gave Catherine a sharp look and pounded the bread dough into the pile of flour, sending up a cloud of white as she muttered angry phrases beneath it. Catherine smiled and gave her brother a look. He shook his head and walked out of the kitchens, very much aware of the following stares of the other kitchen wenches.
So peaceful, yes? Think of it like the calm before the storm.
Un nariz moreno: Literally, a brown nose. Brown noser. That's the Desert Trader's tongue, and Trowa knows it. That's why he tells her it's not nice.
Teaser:
There was a flicker of flame in his mind and Duo carried himself back, staring at the blue fire that burned there. How strange. He knew he was becoming mesmerized, that he should pull away, but why? He could feel Helen suddenly inside his mind, scrambling to find him. But he was lost, lost in the blue flames. His eyes alight with something akin to fear, he turned their sightless depths to the door, where most of the lords were suddenly looking. A feral smile played on his lips. "He comes."
Nothing more to say.
Kay Kylo
(Deep breath to calm nerves) I do not own Gundam Wing.
I still do not like the new QuickEdit thing or whatever it is.
Sarcastic Pessimist: Who ever said they were paired? People can still be friends and be close, right? Right??? I certainly hope so. . . The kingdoms are both in English. Loquacity is the habit of talking too much, and Perdition is a terrible, irreplaceable loss. If you think about it, Loquacity can birth Perdition, which is how the story starts, right? It's just another theme I'm trying to show. Okay, on to the next topic, yes, lots of girls can seem preppy. (Shrug) I'm sorta out of it, so I'm only basing the definition of preppy on what my friend Artemis says and what those characters are like. But who doesn't like to look good, huh? (AHEM!! I don't! But I'm an odd girl, yep! )
SORRY THIS IS LATE!!! Saturday, I had some cousin's over, and I didn't feel like getting on-line until they left, and then I was simply lazy. So I apologize. Humbly.
[Ni lo tuyo ni lo mio]
[El termino medio es la verdad]
[Intenta convencerme, inclina la balanza]
[La falta de interes me esta destrozando]
[Dame algo en que pensar, para ir empezando]
/Neither yours nor mine
/The middle line is the truth
/Try to convince me, incline the balance
/The lack of interest is destroying me
/Give me something to think about, for the beginning Ella Baila Sola (She Dances Alone)
Quatre was free. Never in his life did he leave the small city that had been his home for fifteen years. And now he was dressed in clothing he was used to: thin, warm, comfortable, and durable. Those robes were too roomy for his tastes. Actually, as he thought of it, his clothing was similar to Wufei's now.
But Wufei was complaining too loudly, and Quatre told him so very firmly. Traveling in this city at night was dangerous, and there was no need to add to it with noise. "Since when did you get to be such a master at these streets?"
"I lived them," Quatre replied simply. "For fifteen years. All the light and dark of it." He took off the rope holding his hair in the mage's tail. He rustled his hair a bit and let it fall limply about his head. The look of shock on Wufei's face rivaled that of if Quatre had just dropped his pants. Quatre could not help but chuckle and beckoned him to follow. "I know these streets better than the castle. Only I was a mute then."
Wufei trotted dutifully after, his eyes still wide with what he did. Several times Quatre was certain they were going to be attacked, but he quite firmly laid it upon the possible attackers' frail minds that they were certainly something to fight, and not simple travelers.
It was the easiest traveling night he had known of all the time he had ever moved.
At the city outskirts, he paused and waited for Wufei to catch up with him. "I see castle living has eased you," Quatre teased and Wufei frowned.
"No more than it has to you. I'm just not used to running in cold air."
Quatre was taken aback by the statement. "Cold? It is only pleasantly cool, I do believe."
Wufei's face saddened. "You've known too many cold nights outside. Let's go."
Quatre was forced to follow Wufei, for both knew he would be useless in leading the way until they arrived at the Perdition capital. The people traveling presently stopped around them and they were just two men, walking down the road as companions. The stars were out, and Quatre found himself noting the change from the last month. Wufei caught what he was looking at and looked up.
"They are amazing," Wufei murmured.
"They've moved. I heard sailors talking about how they change each night and each month. Yet there is one, the Tiera, that never moves and most base their positions off of her."
"They move?" Wufei gasped. "I guess I've not been outside of the castle much."
Quatre studied the sky, searching for the arrow that pointed to the direction star. Finally, he found it in the south and mentally, he drew a line across the sky and found it. "Right up there. The bright one that almost glows blue. That is Tiera."
Wufei stared in wonder at the mass above them. "There are so many." Quatre blinked at Wufei and then understanding crossed his face. Wufei just had not seen them as much as he had. After many years of his ceiling of the night sky, Quatre found it to be simple and another part of the world as Wufei found a stone to be a part of the castle. Since there were torches that never went out in the King's halls, and he knew that the more light there was, the less stars he saw, Wufei must have never seen the stars as he had. Several times people with torches had come near his sleeping area and several stars had disappeared. It was simple observation, and he learned it because he had to.
"So, we need to go south and cross the three rivers, Riscka, Verd, and Lulce. Then we'll practically be on top of the capital." Wufei stopped for a moment and glared around him. "Unfortunately, I have no clue of which way is south without the sun. So we'll have to wait until dawn."
Quatre grinned. "Not unless you have a night dweller. I remember the sailors also saying Tiera is always to the east. South should be this way." Wufei stared at him blankly before he grinned. With a shrug, he led them down the farmland in the direction Quatre had shown.
"Not so fast, young lady! Whores are not allowed in the barracks!"
"But I know Trowa! And just so that you know, I am Middie Une, the daughter of Lord Une." A sharp laugh.
"I'm sure kid. Come on, get out of here."
Trowa shook his head and rounded the corner to find Middie fighting the two guards. Middie. A pretty girl, yet a suspicious one at that. He never quite trusted her, nor her father, but he would not turn his back on her. The poor thing thought she was the object of his desire. If only she knew better.
"Oh, Trowa! Tell them to let me go!" Her pale hair flew around her head as she fought them. "Tell them who I am!"
"Yeah, Silent. Is she the one she claims to be?"
Trowa nearly touched the hilt of his sword, but thought against it. "I do not know. Why don't you go ask her father yourself?"
One guard stared at him stupidly and let go of Middie. "You would know. You know everything."
"Then certainly you would notice that she looks nothing like a whore. Put her in my custody and then we will go."
The second stared at Middie and then frowned. "Fine. But only because you're the king's favorite."
Middie giggled and wrapped her arms around his arm, clinging to him tightly. She looked up into his face and murmured a phrase in the desert tongue, "Un nariz moreno." Trowa frowned at her.
"That's not nice," he muttered and led her out the barracks. "I thought you would know by now that I don't sleep in the barracks."
"Then what were you doing in there?"
Trowa shrugged and continued walking. There was a shout and Middie hid behind him suddenly. A stout man came running up, his face livid. "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, MISS MIDDIE?" he screamed, looking about to explode.
Trowa cleared his throat. "She was looking for me, Moriko, and she got caught with some guards. She's fine."
Moriko took a deep breath and shook his head. "Your father would kill me if he knew you had wandered off again. So, you say nothing, and I say nothing, and we get you into your bed as soon as possible?"
Middie pouted and clung tighter to his arm. Trowa rolled his eyes and shook her off easily. "Go with him," he commanded, and then strode off, leaving her standing there.
Just because she had something for him did not mean he had something for her.
Wufei managed to barter for a ride across the first two rivers, and Quatre found his amazement growing at the world outside the city. Water and stars and plains. Farmlands and, as Wufei told him, deserts outside the farmland. Seas were at the ends of the rivers. And there were other people beyond the deserts. Other lands.
Suddenly, his world was smaller than he had ever imagined it to be. The river water had a salty tinge to it, as Wufei mentioned that sometimes, when the tide was high, the salty water from the sea would come up the rivers. It amused him to think of rivers flowing backward.
Wufei was surprised at how easy it was to hide their identities. Quatre had been smart to remove the mage's tail. It hid him easier than many would expect. If any had been looking for him, it would have been with the tail.
The third river Wufei did not barter for a way across, for a reason he did not understand. Wufei murmured something of recognition when Quatre had asked. But why would anyone recognize him? He was a street rat that the king had pulled up from the rubble. Why would anyone from a foreign country recognize him?
Wufei did not answer him, but simply found a shallow fording spot, and they crossed. Though they were now wet, the sun was setting, and they were cold and without much food, Wufei seemed in higher spirits as they hiked further south. For Quatre, he had a growing sense of dread.
"What is it I have to do again, Wufei?"
Wufei turned to look at him as they walked down the road. "Avenge the wrong brought on you. If he cut your throat, cut his. It's as simple as that."
Quatre frowned. "But the Perdition king did not cut my throat. That blue- eyed man did."
"The king must have ordered it."
"But he was not the one who did it."
Wufei sighed sadly. "True, but Treize also does not want you to get injured, and the best way would be to get rid of the head of the attacker, not just the arm."
Quatre could see the wisdom in it, but still did not think it was right, and told him so. Wufei chuckled and looked up at the stars, probably searching for Tiera. "Just like your mother."
Quatre perked up instantly. "You knew my mother?" he cried excitedly. "What was she like?"
Wufei stiffened and winced. "I don't, um, really remember her. I was just a child, you know. Fifteen years ago. And I was just a kitchen lad. I didn't know much of the King's favorites."
Quatre stared at him and then looked at his feet. "You don't want to tell me, huh?" Wufei winced again and looked to the ground.
"His Kingship told me not to. It was a slip of the tongue. Pretend I never said that." Quatre gave him a sad look before he attempted to smile. Wufei breathed out a sigh of relief and fake punched Quatre. Quatre looked at him in surprise before a sly grin spread over his face.
What he did next could not really be described as vicious, but it was quite animal-like. He pounced, like a cat, and suddenly, the two were locked in a "deadly" combat to the "death." Their laughter rang through the soft hills of young crops before they stopped and lay still on the dirt.
"So, what am I doing again?" Wufei promptly punched him again.
Duo sighed contentedly and entered the warm kitchens. The meal for the evening was being prepared and he was hoping to con some meat off a spit from some of his favorite kitchen girls.
And there they were, their hair falling over their faces as they kneaded bread, turned a spit, letting the bread rise, stirring soups. Duo leaned against the counter of one of the girls and smiled up at her with his roguish grin.
"Well, hello Caty. Fancy seeing you here."
'Caty' gave him a glare that could have mauled him in a heartbeat. "How many times have I told you to not call me that? My name is Catherine. I suggest you use it."
Duo pouted in a fashion that would have put a spoiled brat to shame. "Come on, Caty. I'm not being a total jerk."
"If you don't stop, I'm going to have to make you stop."
"You couldn't touch me."
"Yes, but my brother can."
Duo tensed as he felt a knife blade caress his chin and he backed up. "Um, hello Trowa. Sorry about that."
Trowa snorted and sheathed his blade. "Just don't do it again."
The other girl looked up at them and shook her head. "You fools. He's probably just wanting some tiny piece of meat we burned too much."
Duo threw her a grin that made her blush. "Ah, Hildi, you know me too well."
Hildi tried to make her face serious, but he gave her a silly look and she giggled. "Duo, stop it!" Duo nodded sagely, pinched a piece of bread and practically danced out of the kitchens, a large grin on his face. "Darn that man, he is a lady's man to be sure."
Catherine frowned and pushed a strand of hair out of her face, leaving a white flour streak. "I don't know. He's annoying to me."
"He's a man," Hildi reprimanded. "Give him a chance."
"He's less man than my brother," Catherine snapped. "And he's older than my brother." Hildi smiled at Trowa who looked abashed by her statement. He shifted his weight uncomfortably as some other kitchen wenches looked up, eyes wide with amazement.
"Maybe. But he's not grown up in his mind, which makes him adorable."
"Adorable. Yes. Lord Une's youngest child is adorable. The new whelps are adorable. Flitty's youngest colt is adorable. That word fits him."
Hildi gave Catherine a sharp look and pounded the bread dough into the pile of flour, sending up a cloud of white as she muttered angry phrases beneath it. Catherine smiled and gave her brother a look. He shook his head and walked out of the kitchens, very much aware of the following stares of the other kitchen wenches.
So peaceful, yes? Think of it like the calm before the storm.
Un nariz moreno: Literally, a brown nose. Brown noser. That's the Desert Trader's tongue, and Trowa knows it. That's why he tells her it's not nice.
Teaser:
There was a flicker of flame in his mind and Duo carried himself back, staring at the blue fire that burned there. How strange. He knew he was becoming mesmerized, that he should pull away, but why? He could feel Helen suddenly inside his mind, scrambling to find him. But he was lost, lost in the blue flames. His eyes alight with something akin to fear, he turned their sightless depths to the door, where most of the lords were suddenly looking. A feral smile played on his lips. "He comes."
Nothing more to say.
Kay Kylo