GS: GAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!! (bangs head on keyboard multiple times) THIS REALLY SUCKS!!!
Midori: --'…Um…Author-lady's having computer problems…A virus broke into the internet and infected the whole machine…her editor-mama had to erase the whole OS, and they still couldn't get it to hook onto the internet…
GS: ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!
Haku: And now, for your regularly scheduled author's note:
GS: Gr…Don't worry, folks…I'm not gonna have one of the Amazons go for Shun. I don't like that kinda thing, pairing an OC with one of the core characters…way too cliché. Nah… Meilu's basically a roommate, a bit of a hassle, and a friend…nothin' else.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: If you would like to see the picture I drew of Shun in this fic, include your e-mail address in your review. I'm nearly finished with it, and will send out the pictures ASAP.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything original to St. Seiya. But I do own the Amazons, and Meilu.
Among the Amazons
Chapter 4: Surprise
The light, reedy tune of a brass trumpet echoed throughout the island, responded by several more that increased the song to a raging symphony.
Shun gave a light moan in protest and buried his face in the pillow. It felt like he had only just gotten to sleep…a lot of adjusting had to be made for him to be able to rest. And what was Saori doing playing that music at this time of day…?
There was suddenly a sharp yank on his hair that made him sit up with a yelp. Meilu was standing there, looking down at him smartly. "Up and at'em, sleeping beauty. We've got training this morning."
Shun nearly jumped a foot when he remembered where he was, but he restrained in favor of pulling the blankets over his torso, in case she could notice anything… missing.
Meilu raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to cover up, you know." she mentioned. "We're all girls here."
"Yes…um, yes…" Shun shifted his disguise just enough to hide it, and lowered the blanket. "It's just a…um, a reflex. I used to live with my…brother, in an orphanage. You never knew when a man would sneak up on you…"
Meilu nodded sympathetically. Then the empathy disappeared and was replaced by a serious glare. "Here." she said, tossing him the uniform (his with a dark pink belt, ironically enough) "Get dressed. Now. We've gotta get going."
"Going…where?" he asked, dazed, carefully pulling the tunic on so as not to reveal himself.
"Training, duh!" the girl snapped, tossing him a lump of bread. "Eat up quick, we're already running a little behind."
Shun did as he was told, swallowing the bread quickly as he pulled on his sandals. He jumped to his feet and headed out the door after his 'roommate', who was waiting impatiently.
"So…uh, where're we going?" he gulped down the rest of his breakfast.
"The ropes course." Meilu jutted her head in down the path. "Low-level to start out with. Come on, let's go."
'Ropes Course'? Just what did that mean?
Shun didn't have very long to wonder, following after Meilu slowly. He glanced around a moment, gazing between the trees and rocks for any sign of the entrance to the cave-maze Meilu had mentioned the night before. But, judging by the way the sun was rising, they were heading South, not North, so he wouldn't be able to discern any entrances while in this area.
He let out a bit of a yelp as Meilu pulled at his hair again. "Hey, twerp. Pay attention." she scolded, glaring a bit, then pointed behind her again. "See that? This is the Low-Level Ropes Course."
Shun looked. They had come out of the trees into a large clearing, filled with moving, rotating wooden objects. Some of it looked vaguely familiar, from old movies about boot camp and such, but most of it was rather unfamiliar. And unfriendly. And just a little inauspicious.
"Relax." Meilu flicked her hair back, rubbing her hands together. "It's not has hard as it looks."
She placed her feet on the edge of the starting line, leaning down momentarily to check the ties on her sandals. Then she took a steady mark position, waited a few seconds, and took off.
Shun watched as, with an impressive rate of speed and agility, she jumped over a deep pit, dodged several flat-tipped 'spears' with some impressive acrobatics, scaled a forty-foot-high wall in a matter of seconds, swung like Tarzan from one rope to the next, and leapt methodically through three moving, swinging loops to end her run.
Shun applauded a bit, more than a little impressed. He hadn't seen moves like that since his initial training for Sainthood. Meilu wasn't as good as say, June had been, but June was a Saint. For a solider, even a specially-trained Amazon warrior, Meilu wasn't too shabby.
"Easy, see?" Meilu brushed her bangs back. "Now your turn. And don't worry if you don't do so well…everyone has to start somewhere."
Shun sighed, brushing his hands together. "Okay…" he muttered to himself, taking the place. "No need to show off and blow my cover…but no need to get hurt, either…"
"On your mark…" Meilu said in a corny voice, obviously making fun of herself. "Get set…Go!"
Shun started forward, using the leverage of the ground to leap across the pit. His landing was a little shakier than he would have liked, but he couldn't concentrate on that.
Next came the spears. He'd counted, there were six of them fired rapid-pace. He jumped over the first, landing on his hands to cartwheel over the next. The last four were a pattern of slide-jump-leap-slide and he was clear.
Meilu raised an eyebrow, watching the new girl as she scaled the wall in a matter of seconds. This Andrea was good…real good. She'd already made it through half the course, and she'd only been at it for two minutes.
Three minutes later, the green-haired trainee was through, breathing heavily, but not too bad. Meilu came up to her, a slight smirk on her face.
"Not bad, kiddo, not bad." she amended. "But we've still got another nine runs before we can move on."
. . . . . .
Shun sighed, plopping face-down onto the bed. It felt vaguely like he was back on Andromeda Island, in the middle of his training. Only worse. Even with his muscles trained as a Saint, he was exhausted. But not in enough pain to pass out on contact with the pillow, which was to his disadvantage.
He sighed, contemplating what had happened. After the Ropes Course exercise, there'd been archery (a practiced tradition of the Amazons, but he'd never held a bow before), javelins (another practiced art, sad to say) cross-country running, and more obstacle courses, each the same level as the ones the soldiers trained in at Sanctuary. One at a time, none of these exercises were so bad. But these came all at once, without so much as a lunch break.
If it every day was like this, it could take him weeks to search for the piece of the Gold cloth. If he didn't get found out and skewered before then.
They'd been given dinner as soon as they'd finished, but he was too tired to eat. The bread, cheese, and dried meat lay on a plate next to his bed, a bottle of water beside them.
Meilu had already eaten and left for some sort of self-meditation, patting him encouragingly on the back as she exited. "First day's the hardest."
He wanted to believe her…really, he did.
It took him fifteen minutes to regain his breath, lying there and not moving. If he passed out, it was only for a few seconds and it didn't make him feel any better. But after thirty minutes of lying there, he had regained his senses enough not only to sit up, but also to realize that he was not only hot and sweaty from the training, but also caked with dirt, especially his hair.
He groaned. Feminine as it was, once the day was done, he truly hated being dirty. Wounds and battle-scars he could deal with. This he could not. And he was supposed to be hiding as a woman, after all…
He dug out the towel he'd been provided with from the trunk, and very shyly headed in the direction of the hot springs.
Said springs were situated on a small, grassy hill, liberally sprinkled amongst the trees that grew there. The larger ones were out in a sort of commons, where several Amazons bathed and relaxed after a long day. Some of the women here were children… girls as young as six or seven, already dressed in the tunic-like uniform and laughing with the adults.
Shun, to his great relief, found a small, cozy, secluded spring several meters away from the others. It was not as warm nor as clean as the others, but it was good enough, and from the looks of things, the others didn't even know it was there. It was perfect.
After quickly examining the area to make sure non of the women were coming his way, he very quickly undressed and wrapped the towel around his torso. After a moment, he sank into the water, letting the heat wash over him.
"Oh…thank goodness." his mind exclaimed, feeling the boiling water gently wash the dirt from his skin.
He lifted one arm out of the water and ran the other hand over it, gently scrubbing the filth and grim away. He repeated this a few times on the rest of his limbs, both above and below the water. Then he sank down and let his hair soak through.
"Andrea?"
He shot upwards in surprise, pulling the towel a little further around him. Then he felt a heated red blush rise into his cheeks.
Meilu was standing in front of him, her hair pulled back in a pony tail that fell over her shoulder. Her clothes were folded over her arm, and she was wrapped in a towel, ready for a bath.
"Meilu!" Shun gasped, back under the cloudy water just enough to hide the lack of leverage. "Um…Hey. Didn't expect to see you here."
"Ditto." the sat on the edge of the pool, sliding easily into the water. "Usually I'm the only one who comes to this one. Nice and private, good place to think…"
Shun glanced away for modesty's sake, not to mention his cover, as she pulled her cover off and sank into the hot steam. He gulped a few times and shifted nervously, hoping that his blush didn't give him away.
Meilu sighed, ducking her hair into the water for a moment, then coming up to sit calmly on the edge of the rock. "Nice, isn't it?" she said with a grin. "Perfect after a good training day."
"Y-Yeah…" Shun gulped, keeping his eyes towards the water.
Meilu glanced his way. "You don't have to be shy, you know." she said, shamelessly lying back. "Like I said this morning, we're all ladies here, right?"
"Yes…yes, you're right." Shun made sure his voice was high enough. "I'm just a little…insecure around strangers, that's all. I'll be a bit more comfortable…later."
"Understandable, I suppose." Meilu sniffed. She lifted an arm and rubbed water over it, then spoke again. "Listen, Andi…mind if I call you that?" he shook his head. "Okay then, Andi…I think you and I got off on the wrong foot."
He glanced down at the smoky water once again, trying to keep modesty at his highest priority. "This was the worst idea I ever had." he thought with a gulp. "And if I ever get back to Japan, I am so gonna get back at Seiya and Hyoga…"
"I didn't mean to be so snappish before. It wasn't about you." Meilu sighed, bringing him back to reality. "I was just…a bit annoyed, that's all. I knew I was gonna have to share a room sooner or later…but I've been sharing a room with the bratty little mini-tots my whole life. ALL of them. It sucked."
"I can…imagine."
"Well…If you lived at an orphanage, I suppose you could." Meilu said off-hand, glancing over at him again. "Probably better than this dump, anyway…you wouldn't believe the crap they put the little ones through as initial training."
She sighed, looking up at the darkening sky. "I don't really have any idea why anyone would come to this freakin' place."
Shun gave her a curious look, feeling a bit empathetic. She seamed…kinda lonely, all things considered, even if she did have the whole tough-girl tomboy act running for her…
Then he realized that she had looked up at him. And was currently staring with at him with her mouth hanging open, as though she couldn't believe her eyes.
And then he realized that, in his absent-minded train of thought, he had allowed part of the towel to come open. And it was showing her a chest that was defiantly not female…
TBC…
Haku: evil laughter
GS: Oh sure, YOU can laugh evilly! I'M the one who gets the death threats over stuff like this! Do you know what the readers are gonna DO to me?!
Shun: Forget that!! What're the crazy ladies gonna do to me?!
Haku: Heh heh heh…
GS: T.T Meanie…
Midori: ahem Remember, if you want a picture of the green-haired guy in the dress, just put your e-mail in your review and author-lady'll send out the pics before she updates next…