Yay! Chapter 5!
Disclaimer:I own my mind (little as it is), my really sore fingers, and my crazy wardrobe, BUT not gundam seed! (Or any other materials used)
Athrun
You think to much
Of yourself
You think you are
A god, a hero
A saint
Sanits don't turn
Thier back on thier friends
Athrun wasn't sure where he was, but he knew the place was magical. The grass glowed in a floresent shade of green and the skies shinned so brightly, you had to flinch when looked up. Somewhere to the distance, stood a stone tower. From it, he could hear the voice of a maiden singing. The music was so beautiful, Athrun felt it was calling out to him. He responeded by going to find it. Once he stood at the foot of the tower, he spotted the singing girl. She was beautiful. Her long wavy, shiny, perfect hair fell gracfully upon her delicate sholders. Her skin was pale, her body perfectly shaped and her eyes blue. Blue.
« Dear night, » said the maiden at last, « Have you come to free me? »
« Free you? » asked Athrun.
« Yes, » said the maiden, « I am a princess from a farway land, but I can not return home. »
« Why? »
« A couple of months ago, while I was wandering through the hills, an evil witch caught me and bound me to this land. »
« That's horrible! Where could I find this witch? »
The girl's eyes flickered.
« She lives in the tower, » she said.
Before he knew, Athrun was in the tower, in front of him was another maiden wearing a black dress.
« You fell for her act too » she whispered.
« What act witch? I am here too save that fair maiden! »
« Then you have already failed! » she cried.
« What are you talking about? » demande Athrun. The girl walked over to the window.
« Come » she said. She pointed out the window to the maiden with the blue eyes, « There is your witch! » she excliamed. Athrun at the witch (real one) then to the girl. There was something familiar about her…
« Cagalli? »
« You suck, » she replied. Suddenly, Athrun felt something come up behind him.
« Goodbye » said the witch, still looking so innocent.
Cold sweat surronded Athrun Zala when he awoke, panting. That's when he remembered where he was, home base, home. He looked at Cagalli, who was also awake.
« You're still up? » he asked.
« No, your fear of the dark inturupted my peace. » Cagalli always called sleeping her peace, for none of her problems were of any importance to her while she slept.
« Fuck you, » murmured Athrun, « well I'm fine now. So you can return to your stupid dreams »
« Easier said than done » replied the princess, pointing out her uncomfortable position.
« Whatever »
The next morning was somewhat embarrasing for Athrun. Cagalli wasn't the only one to have suffored froms his nightmares, tent walls are thin, so had half the camp.And the other half had heared about it. If Athrun had ever been truly grateful about his high position, it was during moments like these. Only Yzak and Dearka would have the guts to tease him, and they were easy to handal. Still walking through the camp knowing the minute he turnned, the men's mouth's would be set a blaze whispering about his 'fear of the dark' as Cagalli called it, wasn't pleasent. It blew off by midday though, at wich point Athrun was caught up in a meeting with Le Creuset and the three others.
« Perhaps we could request a large sum » said Nicol « we're running low on food and amunition, and our budjet's decreasing by the hour. » Athrun smiled, Nicol was different from the rest of them. Instead of worrying about forts and battles, he cared for the soldiers, those who actually fought the war.
« No, the concil will reward us grandly for our capture, our stocks will be resupplied soon » said Le Creuset. Yzak, Dearka and Nicol's fathers were all on the concil and therefore support was not hard to get. As for Athrun, anyone in ZAFT would support the son of the great Patrick Zala in a heartbeat. He was the heir to the new Orb they were creating. « Does anyone else have an idea on how we should trade the princess? »
« How about Onogoro? » suggested Dearka with a smile.
« No » replied the commander « Uzumi won't give up his glowing capitol, at least not if his concil members let him. »
« What about asking for Uzumi himself? » said Yzak in his usual, loud manner.
« Orb needs Uzumi too much to let him go. He would be restrained untill we eventually got rid of the girl, leaving out a few tears on the family's part, Miss Attha's capture would've been worthless, » said Le Creuset. Athrun bit his lip. When he had been fighting with him, Kira had confessed that if anyone he loved were to die, he felt he would go mad. He had seen the proof of the matter when Kira was unable to save Erica Simmons (Cagalli's tutor) young son, more than seven years ago. It wasn't even his fault, the boy had died of sickness, but Kira nearly went crazy anyways. The boy didn't have that much connection with the prince, and that was probably what saved his mental state. Athrun shuddered at the thought of what would happen if he saw his sister die. Orb would lose one of it's most valuble commanders, that was certain. Orb would lose thier prince, thier heir. Orb would lose Kira. It would be wonderful for Zaft, but Athrun did not say anything. He chose not to. « What about you Athrun? » asked Le Creuset, « what do you think we should trade Miss Attha in for? »
« Well… » Athrun pondered the thought for a moment, « I've heared rumors of a new type of weapon, one that would avoid contact and kill faster. People say that it's a sort of powder. »
« Gunpowder » said Le Creuset, « yes that would be useful, but we aren't sure if it really exisits. What would happen if we were to ask for it and the rumors happened to be wrong? »
Athrun was tense for a moment, suddenly a distant memory came to him Morgenrate guns.
« We don't have to worry, it exists, and if my memory hasn't begun to fail me yet, the Orb forces have already begun to craft a technology to go with it, » he said smugly. The others all smiled.
« Gunpowder it is then, » said the commander.
« The morgenrate guns » corrected Athrun.
Meanwhile, Cagalli had finnaly woken up. Where am I? she asked herself. She tried to brush thruogh her hair, but couldn't because of the bonds. That's when she remembered. Damn! She thought, she was stuck and it wasn't as if there was someone there to untie her, Why me?
« ZALA! » she cried, nothing happened, « ZALA! » again. She continued like this for at least five minutes untill he arrived, looking amused. He smiled as he untied her. « What are you smiling about?»barked Cagalli.
« You should be smiling too, you won't be here for much longer » he answered. Imeadialty, Cagalli understood.
« What for? » she asked, at what price would she be given freedom?
« Something you wouldn't understand »
« Stop taking for an ignorant child Zala! Now tell me at what price are you offering my freedom? »
« Something your father wouldn't want you to know about. »
Kira was somewhat disapointed after his meeting with his Father. The only important thing that had happened was that Cagalli was officially declared hostage. No action had been taken to help her, no one had even brought it up. What were these people thinking? Cagalli was his sister! Kira couldn't just sit politly and attend meetings while she was being held captive who knows where by Athrun! He had to do something! But the concil wouldn't let him, his father wouldn't let him. After declaring her hostage, the meeting had taken a completly different corse. It was as if these people didn't even care about the fact she was missing! Kira groanned, could they at least care about how ZAFT would try to use her or if she would still be desirable for thier sons as a bride! Cagalli, are you allright?he asked her from afar.
It had been two or so days since the nightmare scene, and, as Rau had predicted, thier supporters had gratly rewarded them for thier capture. Athrun, Nicol, Yzak and Dearka had gone to restock themselves in the nearest town. Leaving Cagalli at camp with Le Creuset. By the smile he gave Athrun before he left, it was obvious the commander had something planned for the feisty hostage.
Midday had passed once Cagalli finally awoke, and, as had become routine, she cried out for Athrun to untie her. But, he had set out at dawn, so it was Le Creuset who came instaed. After she had a chance to spread her legs, he challenged her to a game of chess, to which she ageeded to having nothing else to do. The game did not last long, and Le Creuset beat her within the hour's first quarter. He smiled as he watched her curse.
« Do you want to play again? » he asked.
« No, » she grumbled.
« Set the board, » he commanded.
« I said I didn't want to play. »
« We're not going to play, we're going to learn. »
Near the emcampment, there were two towns. Two very different towns. Both were occupied by ZAFT, one by choice, the other by force. The first supported their cause, the seccond rebelled, but did not have the power to free themselves. For saftey reasons, Athrun and the others went to the first to restock. It was further away than the rebelious one, which meant a longer trip. But it was nesseary, especially now that Cagalli's capture was public news. It the end it proved worthwhile, when they met up with an unexpected guest. They were almost done with thier shopping when a ceratin female figure caught thier eyes. She was beautiful, though she looked somewhat lost. Dearka was the first to make a move.
« Well hello Miss, » he began « would you happen to be lost? »
« Why, yes, I am, » she answered, « Though I believe I shall be fine now that I have found you Mr. Elfman. »
« Lady…Lacus? »
She just smiled.
« The pawn, the rook, the knight, the bishop, the queen and the king, » said Le Creuset, « These are the pieces you find on a chessboared. »
« I know that, » said his frustrated companion. Rau took no notice.
« There are eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen and one king.»
Cagalli groaned.
« Why do you believe that is? » he asked.
« Because as they get more powerful, you need less of them, to be fair. » she replied after a moment of thought.
« Right. » said Rau, « That is true in every case, safe one. Can you tell me which one that is? » Cagalli remained silent. « The king's. » he answered for her. « The king can only move by one space at a time, yet there is only one of him, why do you think that is? »
« He's King, he has the power. »
« That's somewhat true, » replied Le Creuset, « but there is more to it than that. »
« What do you mean? »
« Look here, » said the commander, pointing to a pawn, « Here is the most useful piece in the game. »
« How is a weak pawn helpful? »
« It's how you use it that's helpful. The pawn can easily be used to achive higher goals. »
« You mean manipulate. » said Cagalli.
« Manipulate is a rather vile term, I prefer use, » said Le Creuset. « And if you use your pawn correctly can give you a good advantage, a very good advantage, » He smiled devileshly.
« Yes, but in most cases, you have to sacrifice your pawn to succed in achieving your so called 'higher goals', is it really worth it? » stated Cagalli testilly.
« It is, » he replied, « every time. » Le Creuset smirked, Cagalli bit her lip. « You say that in most cases you sacrifice your pawn, what about the other cases? » asked Rau.
« When a pawn makes it to the other side of the board, it can be transformed into any other piece. Therefore it is useful, and there is no need to make a sacrifice. »
« Ah, yes. That gem of a rule. When, or if, a pawn makes it to the other side of the board, it can be transformed to any piece of higher rank, save the king. Do you know why that is, Miss Attha? »
« No… »
« But you do, Miss Attha, you said so yourself : because he is king. »
« I don't see what you mean. The king is not that useful anyways. His power is just symbolic. »
« Oh, it is more than symbolic my dear princess. For you see, when the king dies, the game is over, and the player who has killed the king wins. Your queen, your bishop, your knight, your rook and even your pawns may be still on the board, but that dosen't matter, for when the king dies, they all die. »
« So each piece is dependant on the king, that's what you're saying? »
« Exactly. »
« But that's not really true is it? When a king, or lord, dies in real life, he is followed by an heir who will take his place and life will go on. »
« You have only seen one ruler of Orb, your father, Uzumi. »
« Lord Uzumi. »
« You have never seen a king die, I have. Depending on weather the king was a good strong leader, or just a pawn of the governement, the situation after his death is never as simple as you make it out to be. »
« What are you saying? »
« When a strong leader dies, his son will carry on after him, poorly. A son can never beat his father. The new king, the weak one, will be controlled by his father's government, which will ofentimes be hungry for power. He will become a pawn. When he dies, his son is most likley to have learned from his father's mistakes and will become a strong leader like his grandfather. But because of his father's mindlessness, he will be far too busy leading the contry and will have no time to teach his son how to rule properly. So when he dies, his son will become a pawn. It is the vicious circle of corruption. The father used pawns too lead, the son was a pawn and let others lead. So when a king dies on a chessboard, the reaction is the same as that of when a king dies in real life, one side loses one side takes over. A king's death is never so simple. »
« You speak much of pawns, why? »
Le Creuset smiled.
« Because, as I said earlier, pawns are the most useful piece in the game. Weather the game is chess, or life. A pawn can easily be used to make one richer, or as the case is here, to aid one side in war. »
« You're saying that I'm a pawn? »
« Yes. »
« But, much as I dislike it, I am a princess, I have status. I cannot be a pawn! »
« Well then tell me, my dear princess, have you ever heared of a princess ruling a contry? Of a female ruling a contry? No, you haven't. In our world, in our society, women are good for mainly one thing, giving us sons. All women are pawns, minless pawns.»
« And what of the queen? On the cheesboard, she has great power. »
« The piece that is the queen is symbolic for the councilman with the most influecnce over the king. A real queen is as much of a pawn as any other woman, she just has favorable childbirth conditions. And you my dear princess, are no different than her, the real queen, a mindless pawn. »
« I am not mindless! »
« Oh really? Than tell me Miss Attha, do you even know why Orb is fighting this war? »
When Athrun returned, he found a mud-covered Cagalli tied up in her usual spot.
« My,my, Little Princess, what happened here? »
She glared at him, as had become her custom, but when Athrun took a deeper look, he found that there was more anger than usual. It made him shiver.
« Come on, » he said, « Let's go get you cleaned up. »
« No way! I'm not going to let you stinking men clean me up! »
« I know that, » replied Athrun sighing, « I'm not an ididot. My lady friend is the one who's going to help you. » They arrived at a tent.
« May I come in? » asked Athrun.
« Of course you may, » replied a high, melodic voice. They entered.
« Cagalli, I would like you to meet Miss Lacus… »
« Clyne? » said Cagalli, « As in the daughter of Siegel Clyne? »
« Why yes, » replied Lacus cheerfully.
« Even in hell there is a savior! » cried the tomboy.
« You two know each other? » asked Athrun.
« We do, » said Lacus, « before the war, our fathers intoduced me to Kira, in hopes that we might learn to love each other and eventually marry. Consequently, I met Cagalli too. » Both girls smiled as if sharing a juicy secret. « So I suupose you haven't changed much over the years, have you now Cagalli? » said Lacus, observing the rebellious princess's dirty attire.
« No, » she replied, « and I suppose you haven't changed that much either. Tell me, now with this wretched war going on, your marriage with Kira is off, has your father too paraded hundreds of men infront of you in hopes that you might choose one to be your husband? »
« Yes, but that period of my life is over, I am now happily engaged. »
« Oh really? And who's the lucky man? »
« He is standing behind you, » said Lacus. Cagalli turned as if in hopes of seeing another man besides Athrun behind her. Sadly, there wasn't.
« So this is Lacus, » she mumbled, « I can't believe I didn't make the connection sooner. »
« You wouldn't have natural, » spat Athrun.
« Athrun watch your tounge, » scolded Lacus, « Come now Cagalli, let's clean you up. » She menntioned for Athrun to leave.
« Don't let her escape, » he said.
« Don't worry, » spat Cagalli, « I won't take advantage of my friends! »
So Athrun sat at the door quietly, for at least an hour. Near the end of it, the two princesses started biquering. Well really it was a one sided fight, the rebelious one yelling and the pink one taking it kindly. They must be trying on dresses, thought Athrun. Suddenly there was an outburst differnt from the others :
« THERE IS NO WAY I'M GOING TO WEAR THAT DRESS! »
It made Athrun wonder, was the dress blue?
When Cagalli finally came out, the mud was washed from her face and she was wearing a simple black dress. This seemed familiar to Athrun. They bid Lacus goodnight and were on thier way. Suddenly the pink princess cried :
« By the way, how is Kira? »
« Fine, » lied Cagalli.
Now it was nightime and everything was in it's place. Athrun in his bed and Cagalli at her pole. Neither were sleeping though. An odd sound could be heared, that of a sniffle. Athrun realised Cagalli was crying. He felt…guilty. He wanted to go over there and comfort her, but his pride wouldn't let him. Instead he asked :
« What's wrong? »
« Your fiance is in love with my brother, » was her answer.
Athrun knew she wasn't crying for them.
Cagalli
You intrigue me
You stand up for a cause
That is corrupted,
Just like this contry
I want to save it
Why won't you
Help me?
Ok, that's chapter 5! And just to clear thing up, what Le Creuset said is not at all how I feel about women. I'm Feminest actually...oups, gave away my sex...Read and Review