Disclaimer: I in no way own Gundam W or AD&D. Don't sue; I'm simply an E5 in the USN, therefore I have no money. Ha.
A/N; /magical spell/
-BEGIN FIC-
Duo's large violet eyes slowly swept their gaze over the picturesque landscape that hovered just outside of his open window, glistening in the sparkling and pure white light of the freshly full moon. The large trees that surrounded them, filled with nightingales, veritably buzzed with energy as their leaves stirred and shivered with the passing of the slightly chilled night breeze that whistled soothingly through the forest. The small huts, placed so deliberately upon the strongest limbs of the largest of those trees, shined with the lights of life and merriment, glowing warm with the orange bask created by warm fires. In the distance, light and happy laughter of many persons could be heard floating upon that gentle breeze, speaking of the calm and security of this small, beautiful city of the woods.
Heero watched, his eyes betraying nervous worry as the delicate breeze brushed through Duo's long bangs, brushing that chestnut hair across his round cheeks. And, calmly lifting his hands, the Prussian Blue eyed warrior plugged his ears as Duo slowly and deliberately wrapped his hands around the bars of their window and pressed his face into the opening between those hard steel rods.
"WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG! LEMME OUT! LEMME OUT! LEMME OOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT! NOW! NOW! NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW N-"
"Many thanks, Barton."
"No problem, Chang."
Heero watched Duo with apathy in his eyes as his longhaired lover flopped about on the ground, eyes burning with rage as he inched around like a humongous worm, hands and feet bound behind him with strips of his own robe and gagged with his braid.
"Sorry, Duo. I think they'd kill me if I let you up."
One of the mage's eyebrows twitched.
"I'm going to be sleeping alone for a month, aren't I?"
Nod.
"But Duo...!"
Glare.
Sigh. "Yes, dear."
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Duo snorted, crammed into his own little corner of the room that just happened to be as far from his companions as he could possibly get. 'Rotten bastards! Hmph!'
A knock on the door startled them all.
"The magistrate will see you now."
"Fabulous," Wufei sighed. "We can finally see what this is all about."
The guard at their door cleared his throat. "Please pick one representative."
Heero glared at the large wood door that separated him from the guard. "Why can we all not be heard?"
"Just pick a representative, human. He does not wish to meet with more than one of your foul design!"
Silence fell over the room, until Trowa nodded. "We pick Chang."
"Why not Duo? He's an excellent speaker, plus his lack of ability to hide what he's thinking should clear us of this illusory guilt they've placed over us," Heero said.
"We need someone who can reason," Trowa said.
"Hmph."
"And someone who could possibly alter his opinion of us, if you understand my meaning."
Heero's eyebrows both lifted. "Ah. Excellent thinking," he said, smirking as he turned to face Wufei. "You know what to do, neh?"
"Of COURSE I know what to do. Just leave it to me."
"Fabulous."
Walking over to the door, the Eastern warrior looked at it calmly as it creaked open, revealing an elven sentry in full chain mail armor. "I will represent us. Please, lead the way."
"Follow me," the lithe man said with a nod before turning on his heel and walking down the hall.
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"Crimes against the Celestial. Whatever do you mean by that?"
The elderly elf arched a brow as he looked at the warrior who stood before him, eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest as he glowered indignantly down at him. 'Strange. /True Sight/ isn't giving me much information. Apparently he isn't lying about his lack of knowledge.' And, finally stirring out of his reverie of staring, he shook his head. "Then you know not the identity of the celestial we speak of?"
"I've no clue what you're talking about at all, sir. I know of no celestial. And I'm certain that if I had ever met or known one, it would have made certain that I was well aware of it, whether it was a simple Trumpet or something so grand as an Archon."
"I see. Then you are claiming that you should be released due to your obscenely lacking amount of knowledge in this matter?"
Gritting his teeth, attempting to not insult or spit fiery rebuttal against the elven magistrate even through his ridicule, Wufei let his shoulders slump. "Yes."
"That's so ridiculously propo-"
KABOOM.
The elderly elf nearly fell over as he bolted out of his chair in pure shock as the loud explosion roared through the atmosphere and shook the humongous tree his office and the prison were both balanced in. Holding his desk as the tree swayed and yet another explosion sounded, he stared at the smoke that wafted into the room.
Wufei failed to panic. He simply rubbed his forehead, his teeth still gritted and a growl in his throat.
"Maxwell no baka!"
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Duo laughed happily as he ran down the forest path as quickly as his feet could carry him. Heero and Trowa flanked his sides, looking far more sober and serious than the nearly hyper mage.
"That was actually rather impressive."
"He's been practicing, Trowa."
"Yes, but still..."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to doubt him?"
Duo giggled, listening to the conversation taking place behind him even as they all ran desperately to make it out of the now suddenly very menacing forest that surrounded them. "Wonder if they appreciated that /Fireball/..."
Heero smirked. "Probably about as much as they loved that /Stinking Cloud/ you released into woods to cover our escape. You probably killed a few of their precious fuzzy forest animals with that noxious shit."
"Can't help it. It's the way the spell goes," Duo cackled.
"Perhaps something a little more subtle?"
"Oh yes! Watch as I cast /Mass Invisibility/ guys! Woo hoo! I outta slap you for saying that, bastard."
Heero just grinned as he followed the mage, his quickly wielded procured elven sword swiping an arrow fired from a hidden bow in the woods around them from the air before it could get close to him.
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Trowa sighed as he stared at the woods that rested once again downhill from their location, sitting upon the very spot where his tent had previously been stationed.
Walking over to him, Duo shoved a canteen into his hands. "Watchin' for Wufei?"
"Hn," was Trowa's complete reply as he took a sip of water before returning the skin to the mage.
"He'll be awhile. Gotta fetch all our stuff before he can blast his own way outta there, you know."
"Of course."
"You're about as good at holding a conversation as a dead chipmunk is, you know?"
Plopping down beside Trowa, Duo crossed his legs and rested his hands in his lap. "You mind? Hee-chan's scouting an' made me stay here. Told me that if I move more than fifteen feet away from you, no nookie for a year. And that bastard'd hold to it, too."
Trowa shrugged. "I don't particularly care."
Duo sat in silence for awhile, just watching Trowa.
Trowa astutely ignored him, his focus being upon the woods he and his friends had escaped from barely an hour ago. 'That's the direction he probably went. Otherwise I'd have been able to spot him from the top of the hill when I looked over the plains. It's not hard to spot a platinum-blond head in a green grassy field that spans as far as the eye can see.'
'Unless he used that... what was Wufei calling it...? Psionics... unless he used that to escape.'
'But why would he think that he'd have to escape from us? The others are rough around the edges and may not like him at all, but they wouldn't harm him. And...'
'I wish he were here.'
"You're worried about that kid, aren't you?"
Trowa's pounding heart settled back into his chest where it belonged after he got over the start of Duo's voice bursting uninvited into his daydreaming. "What?"
"About that VonWinner kid. You're worried."
The thief nodded. "Of course. He's out there on his own..."
"He'll be fine. I know it sucks for him to be alone and that he's probably lonely as hell and that we do need to find him to at least keep him under supervision, but he seems to be one powerful little squirt. 'Member what he did to those ogres?"
"Yeah."
"But that doesn't mean that we don't chase after him, right?"
Nod went Trowa's head.
"Listen," Duo said with a sigh, turning his gaze away from Trowa and towards the woods below, "I know that we weren't the friendliest to him. And that he was probably being a sadistic little shit towards us because him bein' psi an' all meant he could fuckin' sense that we were annoyed with him. But that doesn't mean that we don't want to find him."
"Heero told me-"
"Ignore Hee-chan. I'll change his mind."
Arching a brow, Trowa glanced over at the smiling mage. "Why are you so anxious to find Quatre?"
"Oh hoh! So his name is Quatre, eh?"
Gulp. "Don't tell him you know if we do find him."
"Eh, it's alright. Anyway, why am I so anxious to find him, you ask? Maybe 'cause last time I actually got to spend some one on one time with him, I was startin' to get the impression that he's really not that bad of a guy. That maybe something in his past really fucked him over and drove him batty, 'specially seeing how he talks about his supposed 'father' like he was some sort of inquisitionist or torturer or somethin'."
"'Supposed'?"
Duo's smile became a smirk. "That kid ain't no son of Lord VonWinner's."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because the times don't line up. Quatre-kun ain't 40. Can't be VonWinner's boy, seein' as how four decades ago is the last recorded time Lord VonWinner was seen in the company of someone of the opposite sex. And he don't look like VonWinner's kid. And..."
"And?"
"His entire mannerism gives him away. He's NOT VonWinner's son."
Duo closed his eyes.
"Anyway, I was really hopin' to talk with him some more. Find out what's REALLY goin' on between him and the ol' man. And, with what I saw last time I talked to him, I'd really actually like to find out if there's anything I might be able to do to help..."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Because I think that underneath that bitchy little attitude is a really sweet kid who's just been broken by how fucked up life can be at times. And if he is as I think he is, maybe, just maybe, there's somethin' I can do to help."
Trowa returned his gaze to the woods, a ghost of a smile crossing over his lips.
'Duo's going to help, eh? That means that inevitably Heero will, too. And Wufei... seeing as how he's practically exiled from Waterdeep and is now in the veritable middle of nowhere, he really doens't have a choice but to accompany us.'
'We'll find you, Quatre.'
'And maybe then I can get you to love me, too.'
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Heero glanced around nervously, his hand upon his sword.
The air around the small hill he, Duo and Trowa were once again stationed upon didn't feel right.
"What's eating you, Yuy?"
Heero nearly dropped the elven-made blade he'd stolen from their last prison guard as he jumped away from the voice and rounded even as he landed, bringing the weapon to bear against his 'enemy.'
Wufei arched a brow and smirked.
"You! I hate it when you do that!"
"Hmph. Want your blade back or not?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Handing Heero's pack over, Wufei just shook his head. "It was one hell of a hassle getting all of this back. You all owe me."
"Fine, fine. All hotels for the next fortnight are on us."
"Good."
Returning to the acrobat and the mage, the two warriors began to set up camp.
A loud, snarling roar echoed through the air around them.
Freezing, both Heero and Wufei found their hands already drawing their weapons. Duo collected himself from where he'd fallen on his face in an instinctual attempt to hide under his taller companion and looked nervously around even as Trowa froze solid, his hands already on the hafts of his daggers.
The roar sounded again, noticeably louder and closer.
Everyone looked up as they heard the beat of enormous wings upon the air above them.
Green scales flashed in the bright moonlight as the huge dragon dove towards the small party, jaws parted, white fangs glistening in the light of the night and the noxious fumes of its breath weapon gathering within its gaping maw.
tbc...
