Chapter 2
It took a few days, but her hands finally healed. With her fishing line and her rope ready to go, she could finally attempt her escape. All she needed was to just do it. She was going to get out of the hole! Relena could feel his eyes on her as she prepared to toss the rope above her. She'd secured it to a rock of a decent size in the hopes that it would catch on part of the rock face and allow her to climb to freedom. Of course, if the dragon were to make an appearance to try and stop her she had nothing to fight it off, but she hoped that if she kept low to ground that it would simply miss her among the smog and vegetation.
"Don't do it." His voice urged her from behind the wall.
"I have to. I can't stay here in this pot forever!"
"The dragon won't let you leave. And if he does the stormy water will-"
"Enough of your negative thinking." Relena stared up at the opening. "One way or another, I'm getting out of this pit!" Taking the rope in hand, she gave it a mighty toss, but missed the wall entirely. She tried again and this time the rock smacked against the cave wall, giving her hope. "Come on!" Once more, she threw the rock and almost held her breath as she waited for the result. It hit once more, but fell disappointingly to the ground. Relena closed her eyes. She saw the faces of her family members in her mind. The thought of their pain and worry motivated her to try once more. With all of her might, she spun the rope round and round and let it fly above her. Seconds felt like hours and she held her breath. Then, she heard it hit… and stay! Relena cheered as she pulled the rope to test its strength.
"I'm getting out of here." Grabbing on with both hands, Relena began her ascent up the rope. "I will make it to the top! I will crawl out of the pit and-"
The sudden sound of part of the rope fraying killed her train of thought. She needed to climb higher faster! But as she moved, the rope frayed again and continued to do so until finally, with a sickening snap; Relena fell to the cave floor. Pain raced through every bone and muscle of her body as the impact took its toll. She laid there staring up at the cave's opening. It looked much like a cruel grin as though the island itself was laughing at her efforts. Her eyes glanced at the hole in the wall. He was watching her; his blue eyes studying her.
"G-go on…" she groaned. "Laugh at me. Say 'I told you so'." But he said nothing. Somehow she was able to sit up and her eyes met his.
"I'm sorry." That was certainly not one of the many things she pictured him saying and it confused her.
"Why are you sorry? You told me it would never work. You were right."
"I didn't want to be." Again, she was confused. "You don't want to be here. I understand why." His tone was almost sympathetic. It was the most emotion she'd ever heard from him.
"Are you saying you wanted me to succeed?" No answer. She frowned and stood. She would be bruised with a scrape or two but no obvious breaks or sprains. "You're rather peculiar." She could have sworn she saw him raise an eyebrow. How absurd it must seem for her to call him peculiar when she must be just as strange to him.
"I'll get more salve for your bruises." And he was gone. She groaned as the aforementioned bruises throbbed almost in response to his words.
"Well, so one attempt didn't work. I'll find another way…" she looked back at the hole in the wall. He was still off getting the flowers for the salve. "He must know this island very well… he did say he's been here as long as he can remember…" That made her think. There was no sign that he had any family. By all accounts he seemed to be completely alone on this island. Perhaps the survivor of a shipwreck? Or maybe one of the maidens stolen by the dragon hadn't been a Maiden after all? Whatever the case, he seemed to have been alone there a very long time. And he didn't even know his name! Maybe his parents died before he was old enough to learn it? Whatever the case, it was clear that he had been alone a very long time.
"Maybe I could give him a name? But what?" Again, she went over the details of what she did know about him, which wasn't much."All this time he's been by himself… the only one on the island…" She remembered a word from one of the books of foreign languages brought back by her brother from his travels.
"Heero…" just as she uttered the word, she heard him approach on the other side of the wall.
"Here." Her companion pushed the shell full of salve through the hole.
"Thank you." She walked forward to receive it from him. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Hn?"
"Do you truly not know your name?"
"No."
"Well, while I am here on this island it doesn't seem right to not have properly introduced ourselves, and you cannot possibly do so without a name."
"And you have one for me?"
"I do." She smiled at him. "Heero." He scoffed.
"I'm no hero."
"No, not 'hero'. Heero." She giggled. "It means 'one'."
"One?" He seemed to think about it a moment. She couldn't tell what he thought of the name and suddenly felt very silly. Her cheeks heated with a blush.
"If you don't like it then-"
"No." He stopped her, and her eyes somehow found his through the small hole in the wall. "It's... good. Thank you." She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and smiled.
"Well, then," she reached her hand through the hole. "My name is Relena. It's a pleasure to meet you… Heero." He stared at her hand for a moment a d she realized he didn't know what a handshake was. She giggled. "You're supposed to take my hand in yours. It's called a handshake."
"Hn." He reached out. "A pleasure to… meet you too." His hand wrapped around hers and she felt an electric thrill shoot up her arm directly into her heart. Her eyes met his and, for a moment, she thought maybe whatever she'd felt, he'd felt too. Suddenly, his hand tightened around hers almost painfully as a growl erupted through the space. He cried out in what might have been pain and she jumped back as he released her.
"Relena. Stay back. The dragon-!" Another cry erupted from him as he was slammed against the wall.
"Heero!" The cave shook. The wall cracked. She covered her head to protect against the debris that rained down from the cave roof. When the dust settled, she desperately ran back to the hole and looked through. Scotch marks and gashes in the rock from giant claws were everywhere, but Heero was nowhere to be found. "Heero?!" No answer. "Heero!" Her only company; her only friend and ally on the godforsaken island was gone. Anger hit her like a wave. Concern for her friend overwhelmed her. If the dragon had Heero then she had to get to him! She had to try and save him!
Stepping back, she stared at the wall and noticed the large cracks that formed around the hole. The appearance of the dragon had weakened it!
"Maybe I can break through!" Picking up a rock in an act of sheer desperation, she began her assault, slamming the large rock into the wall over and over with off of her strength she could muster. Her body complained at the movement, muscles burning, bruises burning, but she had to get to him! She had to try to save him from the dragon no matter what the cost.
"Better to die fighting than live here alone!" With one last strike she saw the wall begin to give. "I'm coming, Heero." And she threw her body against the weakened wall once, twice. And finally, the rocks gave way, exploding out in front of her. She looked down, half in disbelief, before collecting her senses and making her way through the opening. Relena looked from side to side. The scorch marks were still warm to the touch.
"Heero…" She struggled to make her voice strong enough to be heard. She was tired and injured but she wouldn't be stopped. "Heero!"
She pushed forward, straining to see in the dim light and shadows. Pebbles crunched and moved beneath her feet and every tiny noise echoed through the cave. She could hear the growl of the dragon and the scrape of its claws on the rocks overhead. Her heart pounded in her chest and she willed it to be calm. She couldn't let fear control her. Finally, she reached an opening and stepped out into the daylight. It was a ledge and, looking down briefly, it was a very high ledge. She made to turn back when a hand grabbed her arm.
"Relena." She turned to see Heero standing at the entrance of the cavern. He was unharmed, but his pants he'd worn earlier were gone, replaced with some sort of torn cloth.
"You're alive!" She felt relief right over her. "How did you escape the dragon? Is it close?"
"I need to tell you something." Something in his tone put her on edge. The look in his eyes was wild; a glow seemed to emanate from their core. She took an involuntary step backward. He was alive. Unharmed. No sign of the spot from the flames that made the scorch marks… There were logical explanations, however unlikely. He could have wriggled free and landed in the water, cleaning off any sign of his struggle. Perhaps he killed the dragon and came to find her? But that wouldn't account for his new lack of attire. The finally explanation that came to mind seemed too unreal. It was one she didn't want to consider because it seemed too unlikely but enough evidence pointed to the truth of that unlikely fact. Heero, the man who had become her only friend on the island was...
"The dragon!" She gasped. "You're the dragon!"
"I can explain-" he took another step closer to her. "Please. Come off the ledge."
She stared at him for a moment. Logically, if he was the dragon then he should want her dead, but he had helped her. He brought her food and fire and salve for her wounds. If he were all bad, then he wouldn't have helped her. She would be dead, or at the very least, more miserable, right? Deciding that she at least owed him the chance, she took a step forward to rejoin him in the safety of the cave.
But the ledge was slick. And she lost her footing.
With a cry of terror, she slipped off the side of the ledge and began a deadly descent to the turbulent, rocky water below.
"Relena!" He dove after her, somehow managing to plunge faster. He grabbed her, flipped her so that she was pressed against his chest and held tight. His skin heated and the mark on his chest began to glow. With a ferocious cry, the man before her morphed and changed into the same winged beast that carried her from her home. And they were still falling. The dragon seemed to struggle to right itself in hopes of flying free but there was no time. Instead, he wrapped his wings around her in an almost protective gesture before both she and her reptilian rescuer plummeted into the cold water below.
