I have to give thanks to what I have now affectionately dubbed 'my dedicated fans'. Heh, just kidding, unless you'd actually like to be known as that *sweat drop*

Anywho, I just want to say thanks, and I love you all for giving me such spectacular reviews.

On another note, as an artist of both the writing, and the drawing, I hope to try and work on a piccy for this fanfic. If I do manage to get it up, I shall post it somewhere, and give you, the dedicated fan, the URL.

If anyone wants to do a picture for me, I'd be terribly flattered. ^_^ *nudge nudge* *wink wink*

And now, no more mindless dribble!! On to the Fic!

Eclipse of Dusk

By: Hseru

Warnings: Shounen ai later on 1x2 3x4 5x? (poor Wuffers)

Disclaimer: I own not Gundam Wing, but I do own the world the G-boys traverse. Fear my god power

Chapter 11

Three days passed in an almost pleasant blur. They all took turns hunting, preparing food, looking for firewood, and guarding the camp. As the injured elves healed, they joined those in rotation, relieving those who'd done more than their share to ensure that everyone had food and a fire while the majority was incapacitated.

They all spent a period of mourning their lost companions, but sensible to the last, they left no time errant. The night after the party had arrived at the new site, they sang their departed brethren home to the stars.

The humans had watched and listened with wonder as the soothing rise of lilting elvish voices mixed with the breeze, dancing with it as if the two were partners in some great cosmic imperial ball. Not too far in the distance, the clarion call of the Silver Wolves rose to join that of the elves, and the notes spiraled up and down to match perfectly. It was an awed custom to behold, and like a fabulous gift given to those who heard that woeful lamentation.

Afterwards, as the bodies had been burned earlier, their ashes were scattered to the four winds to free their souls to fly unbound by earthly chains.

…

The enigma that was Duo Maxwell gradually eased his way into camp life, somehow managing to find a niche in the way things worked. As each day passed, he healed as well, though no where near the advanced rate of the elves. He did heal fast for a human though, and could move about without much pain before long.

They gave him a change of clothes, though they were a bit big, considering he was the shortest among the group save for Quatre and Wufei, and they had to be adjusted to fit him properly.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so considering the two in question, Quatre and Duo became fast friends. Because of their shared debilitation, Milliardo and Heero jointly confined the both of them to the camp. There was nothing to do but talk, and talk they did.

Trowa, however, did not seem pleased with their association, and with good reason. His healing had been fast, and on the second day he'd been deemed able enough to be sent out to hunt. Before that period though, he would at all times be eyeing the two idly chatting, always with a sense of unease. There was something there that spoke of deviant things besides the collar, and it didn't bode well for any of them.

He didn't seem to be the only one with the sense that they were harboring a live fuse that could go off at any time. Heero kept a close eye on the long haired youth, or as close as one could without attracting his attention. Duo had the reflexes of a cat, and the stoic soldier had to grudgingly admit that he was very good at knowing when he was being watched. In fact, Heero had to rescind many of his initial thoughts on the youth as he continued to watch him. The main point to note, was that he'd risked his own life to help save that of another. It spoke of an ideal he possessed that the stoic soldier might be willing to respect.

He was constantly smiling, sometimes because it looked to be out of sheer habit. His personality was cheery, and he was one to joke, but as Heero'd already seen, he gave no regard whatsoever when it came to someone trying to order him around.

The more Heero saw of Duo, the more he began to think that there was a perplexing…something…behind his way of acting. Be it what he'd learned from Quatre about the long haired youth's past, and he had to admit that he did feel an amount of sympathy, or something they had yet to discover about him.

Despite Heero's misgivings though, all in all, he acted no differently than one would expect from someone in his situation. The only exception was the fact that he was always jovial. That was explainable as well though, as people who had lost something or someone dear to them often had to turn inwards to find something to keep them going.

To put it purely, Duo simply used his joy at living to keep living.

…

The fourth day dawned bright and sunny, but unfortunately, it wasn't fated to last long. Around noon, there was a visible change in the light from overhead, and a slight breeze picked up, driving chill air before it. A roiling, writhing mass of clouds came into view far to the north, and it advanced all too quickly.

The planes were infamous for the devastating storms that often blew down from the northern reaches and across the flat expanse of land. With nothing to block them, they could go on for days, though they generally died out before reaching any of the outlying kingdoms. However, every now and again one would manage to reach that far south and wreak havoc on the place. These storms sometimes brought snow, sleet, and periodically hail the size of one's fist. Coupled with city leveling winds, they were nasty to experience.

The current camp was located on open ground, so they were going to be given little to no protection when the storm hit.

Milliardo gathered his warriors, now mostly hale and able, and they quickly collected the camp paraphernalia and packed it all together and away so they could move.

As everyone was now well enough to ride under their own power, each elf and human had a steed of their own, Milliardo having granted the use of one of the rider-less Illians to Duo; A beautiful black silk roan with eyes so dark the hue could not be clearly seen, though they flashed violet in the light like diamond cut gems.

The entire group was under way as the ominous clouds overhead gathered, and a light pre-fall of rain misted over them. A fierce gust of wind lifted the dust from the dry ground, blowing it before them as they rode at a clip the steeds would be able to keep for some time, covering the land in great, ground eating strides. Despite that, the mass of clouds was above them in a short time, slowly spiraling overhead as if waiting for the opportune moment to release the deluge upon them.

Risking a glance upwards, Quatre saw the spidery lightning that spiked through the dark clouds from the back of his fleet Arabian. Then bringing his glance down again to those around him, his eyes met their slightly hunched over figures. Trowa, Wufei, Heero, and Duo, bringing up the rear on his newly appropriated black Illian. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Heero tightening the reigns on his steed somewhat to keep back with the long haired youth. If the situation were not so serious, Quatre might have let a smile slip past his lips. He had watched Heero watching Duo, and had seen a new emotion forming in those normally cold blue eyes. He didn't know quite what it was, but apparently, Duo had even endeared himself to the perfect soldier whether Heero had wanted it or not, and Quatre had a feeling the stoic soldier didn't even know about his own feelings yet…

Thunder rumbled threateningly overhead, drawing the blonde's thoughts forcefully back to the here and now. Once more looking up, his eyes narrowed perceptibly. For some reason, this storm did not feel natural to him, though there was nothing that readily discounted it as such. Looking at it with his second sight though, the clouds seemed to be pierced through with lines of power whose source could not be readily identified.

Then his blue eyes widened as the spidery lightning gathered at one place directly over the traveling party.

Letting go the reins and trusting the steed to keep its own head, the little mage had no time to warn the others, and began speed muttering an incantation, hands weaving symbols in the air. At the very back of his mind, like a presence of its own, he could feel the tug at his magic. Duo had warned him, but he had to take this chance.

He almost didn't make it.

The brilliant blaze of lightning suddenly arced down from the clouds, spooking both mounts and riders as the shattering sound of thousands of volts of electricity slammed into the spell barrier Quatre had erected over the party a mere few feet over their heads, showering bits of light everywhere like the bolt had splintered into a thousand pieces.

And then came the rain, torrential being the only word to describe it.

They were drenched in moments, from over-cloaks to underwear.

"Go!" Milliardo yelled, needing only a heel tap at his Illian's dusky side to have the stallion racing at full speed. They then threw caution to the winds, and let all their mounts loose.

The wind at their back pelted them with rain, and another bolt of lightning jolted downwards, once more deflected by Quatre's shield, though with an explosive sound like shattering glass, the mage's spell fizzled into nothing, unable to long withstand the power that was hitting it.

"I can't hold it any more!!" Quatre yelled as loud as he could, but he wasn't sure that his words were heard because they were taken by the wind as soon as they were uttered.

The entire posse spread out though, lessening the chance of a group of them being hit.

The lightning dancing overhead again gathered at one point, and the resulting bolt leapt up from the ground directly in front of Duo with a resounding crash, tearing the dirt up in a long track, and effectively cutting off his path as his Illian turned a sharp right, heading him away from the rest of the group.

"No!" He shouted. His black steed understood his alarm, and made to angle back towards the group when another bolt of light sliced across his path, forcing the Illian to turn again, once more away from the others.

Violet eyes wide, Duo looked over his shoulder at the retreating forms of his new found companions.

Turning once more forward, he leaned down close to his steed's neck to try and afford himself some protection from the stinging winds. Giving a tug on the reins, he tried again to aim for the rest of his group.

The bolt of lightning struck directly underneath him and the Illian, throwing them both into space as the repercussion of power thundered through the air and ground, ripping up the dirt and throwing it after them.

The ground rushed up to meet them, and Duo closed his eyes before he hit, a brilliant pain slamming into him before he was swallowed by darkness.

-----------------------------------

Wow….

Hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Review, Review!!