Duo sighed loudly, shattering the silence of the forest. It was a gray morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise.

Hilde, Father Maxwell, Sister Helen… They're all gone.

Duo grabbed the cross hanging around his neck, an unconscious reaction. Solo was asleep, and Duo didn't have the heart to wake him. He was curled up in Solo's tail, warm and satisfied. The sharp pain in his leg had dulled to a constant throbbing, but Duo was worried that it might get infected.

If I die from infection, then at least all be with everyone else.

That in itself was startling. Duo missed them, but yet, he still needed to live. He felt as if his mission in life was not yet completed, and that it wouldn't be for a long time.

Shaking his head to rid himself of bad thoughts, Duo focused on his newest companions. The blonde was definitely a cutie. He was small, and absentmindedly, Duo wondered how old he could possibly be. Thirteen? Maybe fourteen?

His dragon was a light blue-green, the same shade as his huge eyes. He was very thin, as if he didn't eat regularly, but still lightly muscled. He had an air of innocence about him that most of the world had already lost. He would of fit in perfectly in his village. Sister Helen would've loved him… Duo would bet his braid that the kid, Quatre, had never killed, was a virgin, and loved bunnies and butterflies.

OK! So what if he liked butterflies. He didn't meet the other criteria! Suddenly, the boy yawned, stretching his arms and inadvertently causing his shirt to reveal several inches of taut, muscled stomach, the same pale shade as the rest of his skin.

He rubbed his eyes, and stared at Duo, his look so intense that it caused Duo to up his age by a few years.

"You're sad," he said plainly. Duo blinked, was he that obvious? Quatre scooted closer to him, his baby dragon huddled in his arms, looking for all the world like a little kid clutching a stuffed animal, sneaking into his parent's room because he was afraid of the dark.

Leaning his head against Duo's shoulder, he wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Sometimes, we just need to remember not to blame ourselves for everything that happens, and remember that as long as we're still alive, we still have hope."

Duo wrapped his arms around the boy in return, leaning against him. The embrace wasn't in anyway romantic to Duo. It was just two people comforting each other.

"They all died." Duo figured there was no reason to lie. It's not as if he would loose anything by it anyways. Duo was a firm believer in the fact that honesty was the best policy.

"Sister Helen," he continued on, remembering all the fun times he had. "Hilde, and Father Maxwell, along with everyone in the village just died. We weren't expecting it at all. We had no enemies. No one had any reason to hate us!"

Quatre nodded, listening attentively. "My entire family died in a fire. Everyday, I remember them. I was only eleven then, and I was playing outside. Sometimes I wish that I had died with all of them in that fire…"

He squeezed Duo's shoulder reassuringly. "But if I had died, who would've found the egg and hatched a dragon? Who would've wrapped your wound?"

Duo thought about that. It was true. If he had died in his village, he would've never found the half starved boy wondering around the forest. If he hadn't been there, how would Quatre have found food? He might of even starved to death.

But still, everyone around me dies… What is one life compared to a hundred.

He saw Hilde again, holding out the book, and he panicked. "That book! What happened to it!"

Quatre started, apparently not expecting that reaction. His dragon squeaked, falling out of his lap.

Behind him. Duo could feel Solo stirring from his slumber. "The Dragon book?" Quatre asked, bewildered. "I picked it up and put it in my pack. Hold on a second and I'll go get it."

Duo waited patiently for Quatre to get the book. He just wanted to hold it, and besides, it wasn't like he could do anything else with it. He couldn't read, so books were useless to him.

"So what's it about?" Quatre questioned, snuggling back into their oddly familiar embrace.

"I don't know," Duo shrugged. "I can't read."

Quatre's eyes widened. "What?" Duo said defensively, "it's not like most people can read anyways, and far as I'm concerned, I'm not missing much."

"No it's not that, it's just…I could teach you, if you want." Duo looked at him, calculating. It didn't look like Quatre thought he was stupid or was pitying him, so he shrugged. Why not? He didn't have anything to loose.

"Sure, why not? I don't have anything to pay you with though."

"That's fine! I don't mind! Could you just do me a favor." Quatre exclaimed, clasping his hands, blue eyes huge. Duo narrowed his eyes.

"It depends on the favor."

"You made those daggers, right?" Duo nodded.

"If ya want my dagger, you're not getting them. I made these babies myself!"

"Oh no!" Quatre interrupted him. I don't want your daggers, I was just wondering, you know how to use them, correct?" Duo nodded.

"And if you want me to kill someone, I ain't doing that either!"

Quatre's eyes widened, the blue depths looking as if they were going to swallow the rest of his face.

"No! I don't want to kill anybody! I was just wondering if you could teach me how to use a weapon. I mean, I can fight reasonably well, but…"

Duo narrowed his eyes as Quatre's fingers strayed to his shoulder.

"What weapon do you want to use?" Duo asked. Quatre shrugged, staring off into space.

"I don't really know. I don't want a weapon to kill with, I just want something to protect myself with. Probably not a sword… I don't like bows and arrows to much either."

Duo nodded, searching his mind's eye for weapons. Personally, he wasn't a big fan of staffs, seeing as they were big and bulky and commonly made from wood. One strong sword strike later, and it was just a bunch of splinters. If he was going to teach Quatre how to use a weapon, it should probably be one with plenty of balance, unlike a pike or spear.

Scimitars! Those would be perfect for Quatre.

Somehow, the long, curved blades seemed to suit him.

"Now all we have to do is get to a village! Then I could make you some Scimitars!" Excitedly, Duo leapt to his feet, immediately regretting it as his leg gave out and he fell to the ground.

"Ouch!" Duo hissed, batting the worried Quatre away. "It's okay, I'm fine, just a bit weak, I guess." Testing out his leg, he found that any and all movement hurt.

'Duo, we should get you to a village and allow a doctor to look at that leg.' Sometimes Solo could be over protective, but as Duo felt his leg ache, he knew his faithful companion was right.

"There's a village a little ways South of here, I think…" Quatre trailed off, looking unsure of himself. Quatre was looking at the book Hilde had gotten him, and apparently it had a map. Quatre then gave the book back to Duo, looking sheepish.

Solo used his long neck to turn and grab the back of Duo's shirt and heave his onto his back. Duo managed to strap himself on to the impromptu leather saddle he had made, and he looked down at Quatre, clutching his dragon to his chest.

Quatre's dragon made a sound that was almost like a purr, rubbing itself against Quatre like a deformed cat. Duo reached out an arm to him, and Quatre looked confused.

"Grab onto my arm and I'll pull you up," Duo explained to the blonde. Suddenly something clicked in the little blonde's eyes and he looked up at Duo with a surprised expression.

"You're taking me with you?" he asked, apparently surprised.

"Obviously," Duo rolled his eyes, "how else are you going to teach me how to read?"

Quatre still looked a little bewildered, but reaching up, he grabbed Duo's arm and allowed himself to be pulled up, his pack secured to his back by a leather strap, his other arm around his dragon. He scrambled on in front of Duo, his dragon settling against his torso, his pack seated in front of him.

"Honestly Quatre, you really are a blonde." Reaching around the blonde, he put his book in Quatre's pack. He trusted that Quatre wouldn't steal it.

Quatre leaned back into him, and suddenly voiced a rather sensible question. "Wouldn't it be suspicious, two boys traveling together, especially with one of them injured?"

Duo had failed to think of that. These were suspicious times, and two people traveling together without any apparent connection would be seen as odd.

"If you don't mind, we could say we were brothers," Duo suggested.

"'Course, I get to be the big bro, and you're the baby of the family!" He continued, and Quatre made an indignant sound, causing Duo to laugh.

"What, if anything, you should be the younger brother!" Quatre sounded affronted.

"Nah uh!" Duo insisted. "I'm eighteen, and I know you can't be that old! You're probably only fourteen.

"I'm sixteen!" Quatre practically squeaked, "But still, you are older, so I guess you have to be the older brother…"

Duo ruffled Quatre's hair affectionately, just to annoy him.

"Glad you see it my way, little brother."

"Duo!"

'Are you children ready to go yet?' Solo questioned.

'Hey! You have no room to talk Solo! You're only six months old!' Duo mentally shouted. Quatre giggled, his entire body shaking.

'Remember your hair Duo!'

And with that they were off, Duo clutching his braid wearily, Quatre gaping in amazement at everything around him.

"Wow!" Quatre exclaimed, his dragon chirping away, hyper from their shared excitement. Quatre's dragon was growing quickly, and in about a week it was going to be able to fly on it's own, but for now, it was reduced to clinging to Quatre, staring at the sky it would soon be flying through.

Duo wrapped an arm around Quatre's waist, his hand coming in contact with dragon scales as he secured the two of them so they wouldn't fall off.

'Easily amused, aren't they?' Solo asked him, and Duo couldn't help but laugh. Up here, with his new friends and Solo, surrounded by nothing but blue air and white clouds, his braid whipping against his back, Duo could almost forget his village, and all the bad things that had ever happened.

It was still in the back of his mind, a scar, but for now sadness had retreated back into the farthest corner of his mind, allowing Duo a brief moment of excitement and happiness.

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Quatre gazed at his Scimitars with wonder. He could feel Duo's amused look focused on him, but he ignored it. The weapons were a work of art. Sharp, long, and curved blades were lighter that they looked, and felt like perfect extensions of his arms. The handles seemed to be fitted for his hands, and engraved into each handle were the letters QRW, his initials.

It had been about a week since they had arrived in thesmall village Quatre had pointed out on the map. Duo had gained full use of his leg back in an amazingly short period of time, all thanks to the village healer.

Sally Po was a tall woman with red hair and sharp, intelligent eyes. She was sturdy looking, but still undeniably feminine. When they had gotten to her hut, she had taken Duo in and said one simple word to heal his wound.

"Cura!"

It had stuck in Quatre's mind, always there, reverberating inside his brain. After Duo had been healed, he immediately went to the local blacksmith asking for a job. Apparently Duo was quite famous for his weapons, because he was immediately hired, and even allowed to make two scimitars for Quatre.

Quatre had quickly gained a job as the local school teacher, showing kids how to read, write, and do arithmetic. The village was quaint, and the people were kind. An old woman, widowed by her husband, forgotten by her grown children, allowed the two of them to stay in her house. She had bought them new clothes, deciding that their old rags were useless, and she was always complaining that they were too skinny, feeding them anything she could cook.

"So, do you like them?" Duo asked, violet eyes glittering. The question jolted Quatre back into the future.

"They're wonderful!" Quatre leapt into Duo's arms' nearly slicing both of them with the scimitars.

'Iria, come see the scimitars Duo made me!'

A giant blur of light blue landed on the ground in front of him. Iria, his dragon, had grown quickly, and now she was up to his waist, her long wings capable of lending her flight, though it would be a while before he could ride her.

'They're gorgeous Quatre,' she stated politely. She was maturing quickly, no longer the baby she had beena weekand a half ago.

"So, what does Iria think?" Duo asked excitedly. Something somewhat troubling had come up lately. Quatre could understand what Duo and Solo were saying, even when they didn't want him to know, but Duo could only understand Iria when she was speaking directly to him. Neither he nor Duo knew why, but Quatre figured that it didn't really matter.

"She thinks they're wonderful." Quatre told him.

Duo leapt up and down, hyper and excited.

At first, people hadn't believed that they were related, but both of their personalities were so similar that they had to believe it.

Quatre traced the letters on the hilt of one of his scimitars. Duo was learning how to read very quickly. He already knew all of his letters and could string together short words. As a rule, they hadn't read from the Duo's book yet, becauseDuo wanted to be the first one to read it.

Though Quatre was itching to read it, he respected his "older brother's" wishes.

"Kay! We'll start lessons today. First of all, you have to hold 'um like this, or else your opponent can knock 'um out of your hands."

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Duo teaching Quatre various blocks and strikes, as well as when to use them. Quatre was a natural with the weapons, and Duo had hopes for him in the near future.

The distinctive clang of metal on metal was painfully loud in the forest as Quatre backed away from Duo, collapsing into the grass and dropping his scimitars.

"I think that's enough for today," Quatre breathed deeply, staring up at the clouds. Duo sat down next to him, not even out of breath.

"Come on little brother, I thought you could do better than that," Duo teased. Quatre knew that Duo was trying to make him angry so that he would continue trying, but Quatre was just too tired.

Duo laid down beside his little brother, staring up at the clouds. Seeing that Duo's stomach would make an excellent pillow, Quatre dragged his battered body over to him and ploppeddown on him.

"Oomph! Quatre, are you trying to break my ribs with that fat head of yours?" Duo asked, teasingly. Quatre giggled, relaxing.

"I think that cloud looks like Iria," Quatre pointed to a cloud which did indeed look like the female Dragon.

"Look, that one's an angel," Duo stated.

"No way Duo! It's a butterfly!" Quatre argued.

"Are you saying I'm wrong Quatre? I think you need to be punished for that!" Duo cackled evilly at the blonde. They teased each other like this everyday. It was fun, andit allowed them to forget all the bad things around them. Quatre quickly leapt off Duo, running as fast as he could in the other direction.

Duo lunged at him, knocking both of them into the lush grass. Sitting on top of Quatre, Duo started his tickle attack, causing Quatre to shake with laughter.

"Duo, stop it!" Quatre squeaked, attempting to bat Duo's hands away as they tickled as his ribs. Quatre somehow managed to escape Duo's grasp, running away from his 'captor.'

"Iria help me! He going to tickle me to death!" Iria gave him a mental snort, followed by a short, 'deal with it.'

He turned around to see Duo catching up to him, and he was so focused on the other boy, he ran straight into someone.

"Oomph!" Quatre ran into a rock hard chest, before he stumbled backwards, falling straight on his ass.

"I'm so sorry!" Quatre said, looking up to see who he ran into, only for his breath to catch in his throat.

A bright emerald eye glared out at him from underneath a mass of brown hair, styled so that it covered the other half of his face, . He was tall, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He had pointed ears, which could only mean one thing. He was an elf! He was so perfect, and Quatre felt very, incredibly stupid, falling down on hisrear in front of this majestic being.

Quatre felt a blush cover his cheeks as he sat himself up with is arms. 'Ooh! Does little Quatre have a crush!'

'Shut up Iria!' Quatre smiled up at the man, and he leaned over, extending his right arm to help Quatre up. Quatre grasped it with his left arm, and a shock traveled through him.

His hands are so big, and the skin is so smooth!

"Umm… Thank you," Quatre began. "My name is Quatre." Finding that he couldn't look up into those stoic green eyes, Quatre focused on the grass instead.

"Q, you OK?" He walked over to Quatre, brushing some grass out of his hair. The elf just watched them silently.

"Hi, sorry about this. My name's Duo, and the dude who rammed into you is Quatre." Duo scratched his head sheepishly.

"I know, he already introduced himself." Wow! His voice was deep and smooth.

"So, what brings you here?" Quatre asked timidly. The elf didn't answer him, and Quatre felt like he had just had a door slammed closed in his face. Instead, he turned to the older looking Duo.

"I need a place to stay, and I haven't found any inns," The elf said dispassionately.

"You can stay with us!" Duo offered. Quatre blushed.

"Come on Quatre, I'm sure the widow won't mind, you know how she likes company!"

Quatre sighed and held out his right hand to shake. "Um, welcome to our home."

The elf brushed past him, only saying, "thank you. You may call me Trowa Barton."

Quatre ran to catch up with him, noticing that he had a short sword strapped to his hip, and a bow with arrows slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, I have to grab my scimitars!" Running back, Quatre grabbed them off the ground before rushing back.

By the time he got back, Trowa and Duo were already heading into the house. Of course, I haven't even gotten to know him and he already hates me.

Quatre entered the house to see Duo chatting animatedly with the widow and Trowa, though only the widow actually responded to any questions the cheery boy asked.

After an awkward dinner, the elf went upstairs, and Quatre followed him, showing him which room was his.

"If you need anything, just call me! My room is right next to yours." Trowa didn't respond, and somewhat put off, Quatre retreated to his room.

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Trowa didn't so much as glance as the small blonde left the room. Instead he looked down at his right hand. It glimmered with an unnatural light, oval in shape, the mark of a dragon rider.

Currently, his dragon, Middie, was too far away to communicate with. Trowa had been forced to leave her when she became ill, in order to complete his mission. He was to find the two missing eggs that had disappeared from Elvin lands seven and a half months ago. One was a deep purple, the other a pale blue. So far, he hadn't found either one and his mind was filled with worry.

If those eggs found fell into the wrong hands, things would be difficult, if not impossible, to rectify.

He would search the village tomorrow, and if he didn't find anything, he would have to report back home empty handed. That would be a horrible occurrence.

Leaning against the wall of his room, his unusually sharp ears caught the sound of the blond breathing on the other side of the wall.

His slow, shallow breaths were calming, and Trowa soon found himself lulled to sleep.

Creak!

In an instant, Trowa was up and armed, his arrow at the intruder's neck.

"What are you doing here?" Trowa asked, voice monotonous.

"I was just bringing you breakfast," the boy answered, motioning to the tray in his hands.

Trowa pulled the arrow away, noticing that he had nicked the boy's neck. A small amount of blood gathered at his collar.

"Sorry," he said, and the blonde smiled at him.

"It's no biggie, I've had worse." Setting the tray down on Trowa's bed, the blonde pulled away, bringing his left hand up to wipe away the blood with the back of his fingers.

Trowa's eyes widened as he saw that the boy had an identical white-silver oval on his hand.

This boy is a rider? He thought incredulously. Riders were supposed to be warriors, and excellent at magic, but this boy looked like he wouldn't even be able to lift a sword.

"If you want, I can show you around town today. It's not that big, but it's easy to get lost." Trowa thought about it.

Obviously, if this boy was a rider, he needed to evaluate him and see if he could be of any use to them.

"What time?" Trowa asked. The blonde, obviously not expecting him to accept, blushed.

"Oh! In around a half an hour, just after I take a bath." With that, he scampered out of the room, leaving Trowa to eat his breakfast in peace.

Interesting, Trowa thought. Very interesting.

The blonde appeared about twenty minutes later, his damp hair falling into his eyes. He was wearing a pair of tight black pants, and a simple white shirt.

"Ready to go?" He asked cheerily. Trowa nodded, silently following the petite blonde out of the house.

The town was indeed small, and most of it was residential. "This building is the school house," Quatre explained. "I teach here Mondays through Fridays."

The school house was a quaint place, humble but cheery, much like the blonde. It was isolated from the rest of town, surrounded by fields where children most likely played during breaks.

Trowa could smell the sweet aroma of evergreens and other northern flowers not yet destroyed by the upcoming fall. They reminded him of his home and his sister Catherine.

"This is the blacksmith's shop, where Duo works, and the healer, my friend Sally's, hut, and here's the bakery. They have the best bread!" On queue, the blonde's stomach growled, and he laughed nervously.

Pulling a few coins out of the pocket of his tunic, Trowa entered the shop, buying the blonde a blueberry muffin. It was uncomfortable, since the baker, a plump old man, kept glancing from Trowa to Quatre and acting as if they were a young couple, completely enamored with each other.

I only bought him the muffin because it was polite.

The next stop was the butchers, which Quatre avoided. "Dead animals aren't my thing," he explained.

"But yet you still eat them," Trowa replied. Humans were such hypocrites, preaching against war and cruelty, and then killing animals to eat.

"So do you," Quatre stated simply, walking away. Trowa blinked, he hadn't been expecting a reply like that.

Soon the tour was over, and Trowa still hadn't found out anymore about Quatre, beside the fact that he was a school teacher. It was mildly frustrating.

The rest of the afternoon was spent scavenging the forest near the town, but he didn't find a thing. No eggs.

On his way back, he heard the sound of metal cutting air. Following his ears, he found the blonde swinging his scimitars through the air in a series of simple but effective strikes and blocks. The scimitars were gorgeous, obviously forged by someone with a lot of skill, enough to rival even the elves.

Trowa appeared silently behind the blonde. Suddenly he swung around, not noticing Trowa, and swinging his scimitars at the elf. Only Trowa's extremely quick reflexes allowed him to draw his sword and block the strike in time.

"Oh My! I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there!" He dropped the scimitar, and it landed on the solid Earth with a dull clang. His left hand caught the light, and before he could move it away, Trowa grabbed it, seeing that indeed, the boy was marked.

"You're a rider." It was a statement, not a question. The blonde's eyes widened substantially, pits of pale blue-green looking understandably startled.

"H-How do you know?" Quatre asked, shocked. Trowa lifted his right hand, showing Quatre the white mark.

"I guess that's one egg I don't need to find."

An awkward silence filled the air as Trowa let go of Quatre's wrist.

"Eggs?" Quatre asked. Trowa nodded and Quatre gulped.

"Would one of the eggs happen to be light blue, and the other one purple." Trowa nodded, wondering what the blonde was talking about. Quatre sighed.

"Then that makes two eggs that you don't have to find. My friend, Duo, hatched Solo nearly seven months ago."

Trowa couldn't believe. This was unreasonable, but very handy for him.

"So now what?" Quatre asked. Trowa sighed.

"Traditionally, the custom is that inexperienced riders are taught by more experienced ones under elfin watch."

"Oh…" Quatre, sighed.

"I guess that means that from now on I'm your teacher," Trowa shrugged.

"B-But what about Duo!" Quatre exclaimed. Trowa had a headache just thinking about it.He didn't think he could stand training anyone so talkative.

"Until we get back under elfin territory, I will teach only one pupil. It's law." Quatre nodded.

"How long until we leave?" He asked.

Trowa calculated the time it would take for Middie to get to this town. "About three days," he replied.

Seeing the blonde's confused look, he knelt and handed him his scimitar and left him to his training.

He could feel the blonde's eyes burning into his back until he shut the door.

Both eggs hatched, and for humans? This is far different than expected.

Silently, Trowa wished that both Middie and Catherine were here. They always knew what to do. But for now, he was stuck training the blonde, and most likely explaining everything to both of them. It was going to be a busy evening.