Category: Angst, Adventure, AU, Slave/Master

Pairings: 1x2, 4x3 (eventually), 5x?

Rating: R (?)

Disclaimer: Standard. You know them all by now so I won't bore you with a repeat.

Warnings: This story does show how a lot of people felt about the owning of slaves, a feeling that was very alive in this country not that long ago, as well as in many civilizations down through the ages. There are some good owners and some bad owners, like in everything. If someone owning another person bothers you, you might not like this fic. But then I'm not forcing anyone to read it. There are also M/M relationships in this fic (I'm very much a 1x2/3x4 fan.) so if boys being together (and I do mean together) bothers you don't read.

Golden Lights Part Thirty-Two

By SilverLady

Motion was what finally brought Quatre back to the world of consciousness. That and the warm feeling of a pair of arms holding him.

Slowly he opened his eyes, to find himself looking at the back of a horse's neck. "What?" he whispered, his throat raw and aching.

"It's okay," Trowa's voice came from above him.

Quatre blinked. Why was Trowa holding him and why was he apparently on a horse? Then memories of what had happened flashed through his head and Quatre stiffened. "Duo. Heero. I have to...."

Trowa tightened his hold on the boy. "Shhh. Don't move around. You'll fall off."

"But..."

"I decided that staying in town was no longer an option. A lot of people could have been hurt tonight and a man almost lost his livelihood. If you hadn't given the alarm, the entire inn would have burned down."

"I didn't...."

"I know. Someone reported seeing a person running from the inn just before the alarm was given."

Quatre remembered the figure that had looked at him just before the door had erupted into flame. "Duo? Heero? Are they?"

"We're fine." The voice was familiar and yet sounded raw, as if talking hurt.

Quatre turned to find Heero riding on the horse next to them. Duo was riding behind Heero, his arms wrapped tightly around Heero's waist. It appeared that he was sleeping.

"Duo heard a noise and woke me up. Just as I went to find out what it was, the door burst into flames. We managed to get out through the window."

"Duo?"

"He hurt his ankle, but otherwise he's fine."

"I saw a woman. She set the fire."

"I would like to know how a fire could get going that fast." The voice was Wufei's. He was apparently riding on the other side of Trowa, but Quatre couldn't turn to see him.

"Helmin. It's a chemical used by the Midori. They soak pieces of wood in it and then use them to start their campfires. It burns really hot and will catch anything on fire, even wet or new wood."

"And how do you know about that?"

"My father was a friend of the head of the Midori tribe. We went to visit him several times. I recognized the smell."

He felt Trowa gently rub his hand across his shoulder. "Enough for now. You sound like your throat hurts. We can talk more later."

"But."

Jus then Quatre heard the sound of a horse approaching. "I found a site not to far ahead that would be a good place to set up camp," Sal told them as she rode up. "It's about a half hour's slow ride ahead."

Quatre felt Trowa nod. "Take Wufei and the pack horses and go on ahead. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Right."

Though Quatre heard Wufei grumble something under his breath, he could tell that he followed Sal when she left.

*****

"You sure you're all right?" Duo asked, looking over at Quatre. The two boys had been set down out of the way and told not to move.

"I'm fine. My throat's a little sore, is all."

"Yeah, you kinda sound like Heero. He said he swallowed some smoke when he was getting out. Though how come he's over there, helpin', and I'm stuck over here lookin' stupid is beyond me."

"Can you stand?"

Duo glared at Quatre. "Don't be logical."

Quatre smiled weakly. "Duo?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're okay."

"So am I. About you too. Trowa said he found you tryin' to put out that fire all by yourself, with this itty bitty bucket."

"He didn't say that."

"Well, not exactly, but close enough." Duo paused. "How come you didn't just get the hell out of there?"

"I didn't know if you and Heero were still in the room or not. I couldn't leave you there."

Duo was quiet for a minute. "Thanks."

"I saw someone."

"Who?"

"I don't know. A woman. She set the door on fire." Quatre sighed.  "I was afraid...."

Duo reached over and laid his hand on Quatre's shoulder. "It takes more than a little fire to take out Shinigami."

Quatre smiled. "But he's lousy at jumping out windows."

Duo winced. "Yeah, well... It's like... You see..."

"I understand."

"I'm sure glad you do." Duo sighed. "I sure hope they don't try and blame you for this."

"Trowa said someone else saw the woman running away from the inn."

"Good."

"So now what are we going to do?"

"Guess we're gonna have to catch this stupid bitch and find out why she's tryin' to kill us."

I have a feeling that is going to be easier said than done.