*Jumps up and down* Weee! I have the first piccy done and up!! If you want to see it, copy and paste this url.
hseru.deviantart.com (if the page doesn't come up, please tell me)
Woot! It's a bit down the page, and I even think it turned out well. (and I also happen to be my worst critic.)
Cheers ^_^
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 14
Heero found, upon reaching the fresh air above ground, that the storm was well past gone. The sky was clear and ironically bright for that which he himself had just learned.
The world had to be laughing at him.
It had just thrown the overwhelming combination of learning that he was part phoenix somehow, and that the mysterious youth his band had 'rescued' from a dragon was in fact, the dragon he was rescued from. Not to mention that now, there was a powerful sorcerer bent on world destruction thrown into the mix, about to let loose a demon that would destroy all of creation unless said dragon could be rejoined from where it had been split into two bodies sharing the same soul.
Yeah, it must be freaking hilarious right about now.
After his initial shock, for Phenris had given a few moments, he allowed the perfect soldier to slip into place to cover his absurd surprise, and began the process of gathering his company together again.
Volunteering the information that both his and Duo's Illians were under her care, Phenris suggested that he ride out to meet them. Fortunately, no one had been injured, so they only need wait for Duo to wake. Heero vaguely wondered what the earth spirit would tell him when he woke up. Part, whole, or none of his apparently very interesting life that he knew nothing about.
With a wave of her slender and equally small hand, a tunnel had appeared that would lead to where the steeds were being cared for. A simple thought had all of his weaponry save for the long sword laying at his feet. Heero had aimed a questioning glance at the notable absence, and the earth spirit had merely shook her head with an annoyingly mysterious "It's not ready yet."
Instead of offering some sort of offense, Heero merely picked up the items, and shrugged with minimal difficulty into them, relying upon the fact that should something arise, he would be able to handle himself with a long dagger, and the boot knife despite his less than perfect physique at the moment.
Turning on his heel, he'd traveled down the long tunnel with easy, yet determined strides, the walls alight with a soft glow that seemed to diffuse from the very rock.
A more steady and bright light filtered from ahead, and he finally emerged into a cavern equal in size to the one he'd just left. It was divided into two sections, one Illian in each, and the light came from overhead, where the pocked ceiling opened up to the world above. A glance was all that was needed to see that the mounts were being very well cared for. Their saddles were off and hanging on a stalagmite that jutted from the floor in so convenient a place that he didn't even bother to wonder about it.
Taking hold of his Illian's saddle and bridle, he tacked out the white steed in a matter of moments, his sore muscles easing into the movements with little to no protest, though they would voice their opinion at times.
His Illian nudged him gently as he worked, whickering softly, and he decided then and there to give the mount a name, seeing as the beautiful animal belonged to him now.
"...Shiroi."[1] He murmured, pausing to give the Illian's silky strong neck a gentle pat that looked beyond what he was capable of showing when emotions were considered. It was overall, something that seemed meaningless, but Heero had always believed that things once named could better understand, and in turn be understood better.
After that brief show, he mounted the newly christened Illian, who pranced about beneath him as if it felt some sort of new energy bequeathed unto it simply by being given a name.
A long upwards angled ramp of packed earth lay across the room, and he kneed Shiroi towards it, the stallion tossing its head and mane in anticipation of being in the open again.
After a while of uphill riding, a sharp bend suddenly released a torrent of light upon Heero's eyes, and he was forced to raise a hand to them as the Illian trotted onto the grassy earth, the free wind tugging gently at his unruly hair.
He felt the need to take a deep breath, and after doing so, angled his cobalt eyes about in search for some sign of his companions.
In the not so far distance, a faint, thin column of smoke rose above the sparse trees, and Heero gave a heel tap to Shiroi's sides, breaking the stallion into a ground eating canter that would have him there in no time.
...
Eyes fluttering open, Duo had to take a moment to let the unusual blurriness in his sight pass before he could successfully look around. His surroundings were surprising, to say the least. After all, the last thing he remembered was seeing the blazing slash of light before his eyes, and being thrown into the air and out of the saddle.
Now, he was in a dark, warm room complete with a fire flickering in the hearth not some five or six feet from his bed.
Then things seemed to expand before his eyes, and the details he'd missed at first told him something was a bit off. For instance, the walls and ceiling, so earlier seeming smooth, were pockmarked, like water had eaten them away, and with a start, he realized that's exactly what had happened.
Now, he didn't know why he hadn't seen it earlier. Jut how obvious does a hole in the ground have to be before someone notices?
Shifting so that he could sit up and swing his legs off the side of the bed, the room spun about him for a moment before settling into its right place. He felt nothing that could be considered pain, which was weird considering what had happened.
Turning his head to look about, his violet eyes came to rest on the figure of a young girl seated just to where he would not have been able to see her were he still laying down.
"Who are you? Where am I?" He questioned, unknowingly using the same opening words as Heero before him, but it will be noted, with a great deal less of a cold nature to his voice.
"You are underground, in my dwelling place. I am Phenris, the-"
"The spirit of the earth…" Duo quietly finished for her, then blinked.
Where had that come from? The words and knowledge had suddenly appeared to him out of the void that was his memory.
And the young girl was watching him with a slight smile. He frowned.
"Sorry…keep going." He muttered.
With a nod, her unusually long hair rippling with the movement, Phenris folded her hands into her lap, a disturbingly mature looking move.
"Your companions are some distance away from here, but Heero Yuy has ridden out to fetch them back. They will be here before too long, but before they return, I have something to give you."
Blinking, Duo watched her as she rose gracefully to her feet. She then walked to the far end of the cavern, and picked up a small pouch that looked to be made of an unusual shimmering hide of some sort. It practically moved of its own accord within her hold.
"I was given this some time ago by...a dear friend...and I believe he would like me to give it in turn, to you." She said softly as she laid the small package in Duo's waiting hands. The hide was soft to the touch, and gleamed in the flickering fire light.
With fingers that for some reason were suddenly trembling, Duo slowly folded back the hide.
There within the glittering folds, a small black stone rest in a silver setting ornately designed with what seemed to be elvish style vines and leaves. A long, brightly burnished chain connected to the top of the setting made long loops about it, and now not encased within the hide, spilled off the edge of Duo's hand to dangle in the quiet air.
"What…what is this?" He asked quietly, but the fact that he was not answered did not register upon his mystified mind. It looked so familiar to him, and yet...
His field of sight narrowed to that single black stone, like a void sucking in all light about it, yet possessing a tiny, bright point of light at its heart.
Then he picked it up, and the world fell away as an apparition rose before his eyes, as if he himself were sucked into that very void.
A blue blackness surrounded him, the rush of wind in his ears the only sound clearly audible. The bright point of light at its center multiplied a hundred fold, and spread above before and behind him, twinkling merrily in the night.
A pulsing sound reached his ears above the roar of the wind, and he vaguely wondered what could be causing it. Turning his head, an ebony sail came into view just behind him. Two, to be exact. And they moved.
The pulsing was these vast stretches of black moving up and down against the wind, providing lift for whatever being they served.
And with a jolt, Duo suddenly realized who he was. What he was. And the realization drove everything else away.
The vision left him feeling unbearably empty as he again found himself sitting on the edge of a bed, under the ground, and not soaring so free in the open skies.
It was almost too painful to bear.
With haunted, empty eyes, he looked up at Phenris, who had an infinitely sad expression on her face. His hand was now clenched tightly about the small pendant which had suddenly become his link to reality.
And then that small reality was all that held him as another horrible realization came to him.
Duo was the one...the thing that had burned the convent, and all the people there. The lives of men, women, and children he'd known and cared for now so much charred earth because of him.
"Gods..."He whispered, his heart hurting beyond nearly anything he'd felt before.
"Phenris..." He again whispered, almost pleading as some semblance of life returned to his features, though it was only a shadow of what had earlier resided there.
"...Duo...Shinigami" She answered in a quiet voice, both names having a visible impact upon the long haired youth before her.
Duo's eyes fell to his tightly clenched fist, and almost of its own accord, it opened, revealing the pendant that had given him back some small part of himself.
At what cost had he been separated...
Moving slowly, the young girl gently took hold of the long chain, and lifted it from Duo's now lax hand. She then slipped it over his head where it fell against his chest, at level with his heart.
"Keep this with you always..." She murmured as she did so, one hand moving to lay against the side of his face to hold his attention away from the past. "Its connection to Shinigami will allow your most important memories to break through the powerful spell upon you."
And Duo understood despite the barrage of images that now flashed through his mind, for he now remembered whom had given her the small stone.
Himself.
It was made from the purest of black onyx, seethed in his own blood and sealed with fire. It was a blood bound guarantee that Phenris would have been able to call upon his aid at any time, any place she might need it. A gift, from a friend who had lived so long that the words 'lasting friendship' didn't mean much.
Of course, not a lot of things meant much to a mind that had seen the birth and death of countless civilizations; cultures that rise from the dust only to return to it in the form of ashes in so short of a time, as all things eventually do...
except...
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1. Shiroi literally means 'white' in Japanese. Cheap, I know, but *shrugs* oh well, ne?
Woot! Completion of another chapter, and a piccy ^_^ How much head way is that, I ask you?
Lots!
Will have more to come, and yes, this is going to be a long story. Sit back, and enjoy the ride.
Review, Review!!