Chapter 2: The blind and the weak

Duo was rudely awakened from his deep sleep when he felt a rush of cold water splashed harshly over his face. He spluttered and struggled frantically for a moment, his vision was completely black. As the water slowly seeped down his face though he remembered the blindfold. His head throbbed working quickly to put everything back into proportion- what had happened to him. Then he remembered them. Those natives.. His heart was pounding, and he wished so much to be asleep again- he had no idea what was going to happen now. He didn't even know where he was..

Someone acknowledged him from ahead, but the voice was gruff and unfamiliar.

"Yatoo wai epso meniaal. A puda pe."

Duo grew frustrated as the recollection of the days previous events came crashing back to him. He tried to remain calm but he found that calmness was damn near impossible in a situation like this.

Hell…I can't even see.. He thought darkly. His hands were bound to something solid, the bindings so tight that he was forced in an erect standing position. He imagined it to be a pole of some sort. Duo gulped despite himself. He just hoped they were going to set him on fire or anything…an image of the witch trials from early American history came to mind and immediately he began to twitch and move against the bindings.

But it was hopeless. Eventually he tired and stopped fighting it, he groaned when he moved his wrists to lay against each other. They were both raw, and he was pretty sure one was bleeding, the skin scraped completly off. After a while he called out to his friend desperately in need of hearing someones voice.. but his own had become withered and soft. Too soft to speak.. Like an old mans.

Duo hung his head trying hard to just breath. He needed water, or soon he would suffocate from dehydration. It had to be at least one hundred and fifteen degrees out here…in this no where..

Wufei was either not hearing his calls or would not return them out of pride.

Taking his katana away must been a major blow, Duo could understand. It was a very valuable thing to him. But Wufei wouldn't purposefully ignore him would he? Not with Duos fragile situation..he would know better...wouldn't he..?

No. He just can't hear you. You're too weak. He can't hear you.

Duo nodded to himself in chide. "Can't hear me...h-he can't hear me."

He tried to concentrate on other things. His legs as he now noticed were shaking. He knew they had to have been like this for at least an hour before he had awakened. They were giving out and fast, especially his right one. The wound must've dried up again, because he could no longer feel it bleeding or burning. Come to think of it he couldn't feel his right leg very much..at all. It was either too numb by now….or...or...-

Duo closed his eyes though his world was already surrounded by the darkness of the itchy clothe bound across his forehead. He could feel that god forsaken heat searing right through him like a giant laser. He was miserable. Dehydrated. Injured…and quite frankly very mentally unstable at the moment. And the thought of losing a limb right now wasn't exactly a cherry on top of this perfect day he was having. He concentrated on controlling his breathing shifting most of his weight to his good leg, allowing the other one to rest. Suddenly he heard a noise nearby and it startled him back to the present. He turned and squinted with alert open eyes, his mouth shut in a tight frown. Of course he could see nothing. But he still had ears. And thank god for that..

To his right the natives were struggling with something. After their consistent yelling, and a loud thump of someone heavy hitting wood, a voice nearby him growled furiously.

"Omae o Korso."

Duo could've cried with happiness. It was He-man.

"Heero!" Duo called out anxious to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. There was an unsure silence for a moment. The natives must have ran off again- he was sure it was only him and Heero now.

"Maxwell..?" Heero asked, a small emotion of disbelief evident in his voice only for a moment before it turned to stone.

"Where the hell have you been? Where's Wufei- we've been looking for you!" Duo smiled despite the harshness in his friends voice. If you were going to live with Heero you had to accept all of him..even the bad parts- which was about 90 percent of him most of the time. But Duo's happyness didn't waver a bit. He had grown used to Heeros moods a long time ago.

"We were searching for you too He-man. Wufei found me and we went to look for you. Then this…wild group of nomads found us and..now I don't know where he is." Duo changed the subject quickly.

"You said we. Quatre and Trowa were with you when you got caught?" Duo asked hoping they were alright.

"Ask them yourself." Heero seethed and then he was quiet. Duo cleared his throat.

"Quatre! Trowa!" He yelled, his voice cracking. But there was no need to be loud- they were much closer then he thought.

"I'm here," Quatre replied miserably from his left. Further down came Trowas soft reply of "I'm here too," and nothing more. But it was enough for Duo- he was glad he at least had three of them. He hoped Wufei was alright. No matter how much they got on eachother nerves.

Duo Heard Heero struggling against the bindings. After about ten minutes he went quiet again. He had given up.

Duos gladness couldn't have lasted forever, as a dark reality suddenly began to sink in and then it hit him.

How could Heero have been caught so easily…? He wondered.

Out of all of them Heero had always been the most alert. He was born and trained to kill anything that threatened him..anything that stood in his way... Some even claimed him to be flawless. Unconditionally emotionless.The perfect soldier built for destruction. Now…like himself..Heero was nothing more then a mere teenage boy stranded in the middle of nowhere..captured by a group of native who probably couldn't even read. Much less speak English.

Duos crestfallen face went unnoticed by his comrades..for they too were blindfolded. The silence ate away at all of them, especially Duo whos small faith slowly burnt out as he went under in his thoughts.

These people…were just mere savages…a tribe of some sort- with no real means of intelligence besides survival in a rural area.. Duo felt ashamed but it was the bitter truth.

He had been captured by a group of nobodies. All of them had. J and the rest of the doctors would be laughing in their faces if they knew about right now. But then again Duo had never prided himself to think he was much better of a soldier then anyone else really. It was Heero and Wufei he imagined were beating themselves up the most…They possessed so much arrogance and honor and strength. Failure was their worst enemy. Duo just had to learn how to deal with his…while they were probably still trying to accept it. But in truth he was still finding it hard not to be harsh on himself as well.

If Heero was caught…and he's the best of us all…then there's no hope for the rest of us. He thought gloomily.

He didn't know what to think of these Natives. Their skill in stealth and tracking was amazing compared to their obvious lack of civilized intelligence.

He decided to leave Heero alone. Quatre, the youngest of them all was probably in need of the most verbal comfort anyway.

"How are you holding up Q-man?"

"I'm fine I suppose..- I…I'm burnt everywhere though."

"What do you mean?" Duo asked frowning. Quatres reply was hesitant.

"Too much sunlight irritates my skin.." Duo chuckled but the amusement was forced.

"I think we all have that problem. I know I'm probably already burnt to hell by now. My head feels like a boiler oven."

"Just keep your breathing up," The Arabian admonished softly, " Don't swallow any saliva. It will only make your throat more dry." Duo sighed, switching his weight painfully to his wounded side again. His left leg was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"Where the hell are we anyway?" He asked scuffing his shoe at the sand. He yelped and cursed out loud when he toe came into contact with a hard edgy piece of rock. Quatre was thinking for a moment but it was Trowa in the end who knew the answer.

"Somewhere in South Africa." Duo fell silent.

Damn. Why couldn't it have been some place like Suadui Arabia? He thought. Then these people would've ended up being related to Q-man or something and made him their Sultan while the rest of us booked it out of here. He laughed as he pictured Quatre lifted onto a pedestal with an expression of horror as all the little nomad gypsie people bowed down to him while the rest of the boys made their escape.

Duo shifted again uncomfortably. The pole was roughly carved, his shirt had risen up in the back, and now large splinters of wood were embedded into his skin. But just as he was about to find a way to pull his shirt back down someone spoke and it wasn't in English.

"Peeleshar." Duo found out that word meant water. He yelped, his body sent into temperature overdrive as a large splash of cold water was flung across his body. Normally he would've thought some nice cold water in this heat would feel refreshing but it was the exact opposite. The dramatic change in temperature burned his skin even more and he roared out in anger and pain.

"I'm already AWAKE you morons!" Quatre hissed beside him and further down he heard Trowa get splashed as well. Heero remained silent and untouched. There were low murmurs and grunts before they walked off again. Duos control was about to snap. He couldn't fight it. The hopeless weak little boy that had been forced to grow up too fast..that had seen so much in such a short lifetime came out and could not be hidden again.

He began to cry.

We're never getting out of this alive.

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Ajule and Yeebal laughed as they watched the one with the long hair bellow at them furiously in his native tongue.

"He doesn't like the water, that one..." Ajule said with a chuckle. Yeebal grabbed the other sac of water and tossed it continents on the other two. He glanced back to Ajule for a moment, his face uncertain.

"Water on the other two?" He asked. Ajules eyes darkened as he rubbed the large bruise that was forming on his stomache from where the first one had hit him. He surprised by the strength the young tranger possesed. Watching his two friends being taken from him must've brought out a feirce anger in him. The one on the far end had given much struggle too he had heard, but this one..

He stared at the first one with slit eyes full of hatred and- deep down where no one could sense it-..intimidation. For the stranger stood there like all the rest of them..but he stood in away that mocked him. As if he knew what was going to happen and dared Ajule to go through with it. Yeebal was about to throw the last sac on him but Ajule grunted and held him back.

"Leave this one. He is violent. He does not deserve water." Ajule said with dark eyes. He spat on the ground in resentment and Yeebal did the same.

"What about the other one?"

"He is not amusing. Leave him." With that they left.

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Raja dodged between the trees like a small shadow, flying through the air so fast that no ones eyes could see. When she reached the border of the jungle she stopped, squatted close to the earth and waited. Her eyes sighted the village and sure enough... there they were. She craned her neck above a tall plant root that obscured her vision and carefully peaked through its branches to get a better look.

Yes..it was them. Except this time there were five of them. Mikal had them tied straight against the capture posts they had built on the outskirts of the village. Raja checked both sides of the open field before racing across and diving towards the wall of the nearest hut for protection. She knew it was not wise to approach them but Raja found it out of her control. She was far past curiosity now..to even care about what was wise and what was not. They were male. All of them- she was sure of it just by looking at their strong muscular backs. Her fascination was not in this though, she understood why she could not stop her feet from moving her towards their still figures. It was their skin. Lighter then hers- yes very much…

But…like a small glimmering hope that tied her to her past she remembered…

She remembered.

"They look like I did. Once..a very long time ago." She whispered to the wind. She stood directly behind them now. The guards had their backs turned about twenty man heights away. She went unnoticed but not by everyone.

The one nearest to her right turned around slightly, as far as his body would allow. The blind fold prevented him from starring at her, but she knew he could sense her presence. Her steps were soft and nearly silent but this one must've had very good hearing. She admired that as she stepped between them and turned to face the next one.

She stopped herself from breathing too loud, trying to contain her surprise.

This is the one she thought. The one in the forest.. the one who saw me…

She stepped closer to him and he stiffened.

He spoke harshly in a language she could not understand. It seemed rather familiar to her though. She had no idea why it would be. She was sure she hadn't heard it before. Although she couldn't interpret the meaning of what he said she knew it was meant to be offensive and threatening just by the tone.

He must be very scared right now.

Raja knew that all of their hands were bound and it was very unlikely that they could escape or break free of them. So she decided to do something very foolish. She touched him.

The male in front of her gasped in surprise,and yet no words seemed to be able to come out of his mouth. He stood completly still as her fingers traced lightly over his face. Raja was enthralled, her mind in a trance by the softness of his moist skin, the perspiration that gleamed on his upper lip and the distinct bright color of his skin as it shined in the sun. Her thumb traced over his lips curiously but he did nothing. He merely gawked at her. She chuckled under her breath at the mysterious stranger that stood before her.

He looks like a fish when he does that.

When she glanced at the lower portion of him she winced. Palla had treated him very harshly in the way his skin looked. It was severely burnt and red, some parts were even blistered. His right leg was limp and she saw that he had injured it deeply. She touched his collarbone and a small groan protruded from his mouth. He mumbled something again. This time in pain and she stopped. She glanced at the other three. One who to her shock had golden white hair and an even whiter complexion then the other two, a taller more lean one with sharp brown hair, and the last on the far end seemed to slump as if he were unconscious. She turned back to the one she was in front of, slowly reaching up to hold his head in her palms and prayed to Palla to not be so harsh on this one who seemed to be suffering the most.

"Raja! Get away from those filths!" Someone bellowed angrily. She turned and saw Ajule, one of Talibens horrid little minions advancing on her. Yeebal was glaring at her from afar. Mikal was nearby as well and he too came towards her, angrily trying to chase her off.

"Go home now sister. This is not a place for you to be." He said pushing her away from where the strangers stood.

"But I was just-" The look in her brothers eyes was no longer worry for his sister, but a dangerous glare of a warrior.

"I said GO. Now!" He hissed. Raja recoiled under the wrath that pierced his eyes. She realized she was out of place to disobey him again, to show him disrespect in front of the other warriors. Obligated to leave the strangers she backed away and went into the village towards home.

This won't be the last time I see them. She thought as she opened the flaps of cloth that led into her home. Yatima was humming in the corner he looked up and smiled.

"I'm glad you came back." Raja nodded, her mind on other things.

"Much has happened."

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AN. K that's a filler. Next chap has some action and decisions to be made. I'm hoping I'll have it out here real soon…because I have an outline of what I want to happen. It just may take a while to write it all out. Review's are much appreciated! Thank you!