Okay, how's everybody doing? Well, I got some complaints that I didn't flesh out the characters well enough in the first chapter; so, I guess we shall dedicate this chapter primarily to characterization.
Note: Gundam Wing and all related characters and material are the property of Sunrise and Bandai Entertainment.
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Londinium
"Make way for Centurion Mille Pacisprofessio!" The crowd in the main market of Londinium stopped their activities and quickly moved to sides of the street as Centurion Pacisprofessio made his way through the streets on his trusted horse, Tallgeese. The residents of Londinium noticed that there was something about the Centruion that they could not explain well, but they felt that the blonde-haired son of Claudius Pacisprofsssio would get through it. What they didn't know was that the situation was not as easy for him to get over that easily, particularly since it was his own family that was the problem. Mille made his way to his lover Lucrezia Novem's house where she was waiting for him.
"Mille, you're back!" She cried as he entered the home.
"Novem, where's Relena!"
"I don't know," she responded. "She disappeared the night of the fire, two weeks ago. We've been searching for her, but none of the soldiers have found her, nor have any of the British tribes! It's as though she disappeared to the Underworld." Mille growled in anger and kicked his helmet (he had taken it off and dropped it on the floor). Lucrezia tried to calm him down by grabbing Mille's arm and saying, "Stop worrying so much. I'm sure we'll find her; she can't be that far away. There were some witnesses who saw someone who looked like her chasing a native out of the city." Mille's attention was now fully on Novem, with the revelation that someone had possibly seen her."
"Where did they say she was going?" Novem lowered her head and said,
"They couldn't tell. They couldn't even get a good look at her. And Tredecim's not sure if they're telling the truth or not." Mille's heart sank after being filled with hope that his sister had been found. "Tredecim wants you to report to him as soon as possible. He wants to know if you've made any progress with the natives and whether you need any assistance from the other Legions." He stayed silent, clearly still worried about Relena. "Zechs," she said, using the nickname his friends gave him. "I'm sure Relena's fine. She's a strong woman, enough to make any brother proud, Roman or Celtic. If she hasn't found a Century, she's probably with a British tribe." Mille looked at her suspiciously.
"You'd like it if she was living with savages?" He asked.
"It's better than her being dead." She replied.
--
General Tredecim Kushrenada took a sip of his wine as he waited for Mille. Tredecim was relatively young for a general in the Roman army, but thanks to successful campaigns in Germania and Britannia, he had been promoted by the military to the rank of general relatively fast, which angered some of the more veteran officers in the army, who had been with the army longer than Tredeicm, which led to some of the officers accusing Emperor Claudius and the higher-ups in the military of corruption. But Tredecim's reputation as a solid commander and his successful suppression of the Iceni revolt three years earlier silenced his critics.
"General Kushrenada," a servant said to him. "Mille Pacisprofessio is here to report on his recent campaign, sir."
"Send him in, Julius." The general replied. One minute later, Mille entered the room. Tredecim greeted him, saying, "It's good to see you again, Zechs."
"It's good to see you as well, Treize." He replied.
"Now tell me, how have things been with you these past two weeks?"
"We managed to put down a small rebellion by the Belgae. Their leaders had grievances with some soldiers from another century. I had to promise them that the soldiers in question would be disciplined."
"Are they in the IX Legion?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'll be on it as soon as I can. I'll find them, and make sure they're disciplined. What did they do?"
"They were accused of theft by the people of the tribe." Tredecim nodded in understanding.
"Anything else for you to report on?"
"No, sir." Mille turned to leave before Tredecim stopped him.
"I have my best men searching for your sister," he said. "We hope to find her soon. If not, we may have to call off the search. I know you're worried Zechs, but Lucrezia's right. Relena can take care of herself if she's still alive." Mille stayed silent for a few moments before leaving his commanding officer's headquarters.
"It's not the fact that she's strong I'm worried about," he said. "I'm more worried about the poor soul who harms her in any way."
--
The Gundami
Relena got as comfortable as possible with the Gundami. Although the language barrier was great, it was starting to lower a bit. She did learn a few words, like "tarw", which meant "bull". Of course, the big story was the fact that she tried to kill the chieftain, which she, and strangely enough, Heero, tried to deny. Why Heero was not telling them what happened was strange to Relena. What did he have to hide? Why was he lying to his own people? Not even conversations with the Druid named Dr J could provide any answers. She was also wondering why Heero held such anger toward the Romans.
--
"Are you sure she didn't try to kill you?" Duo asked Chief Heero. The chief stayed silent, much to the annoyance of his best friend. "Ah dammit, you're just so confusing sometimes!" Heero walked away, annoyed with the warrior's words, apparently. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Duo sighed in defeat, saying, "Oh, why do I even bother?" Then he saw the Roman girl approaching. She watched Heero walk right past her, much to her confusion. "Hey, how ya doing? Your friend here isn't helping much…"
"Ego sum rumex, quis es vos sententia? Ego operor non agnosco vos. [1]" Said the Roman girl. Duo stopped for a moment and then he remembered that she didn't speak his language. "Oh, I forgot. Again. Sorry about that!"
"Duo!"
"Oh, hey Hilde," he said to the German girl.
"Quit bothering the Roman girl, she can't understand a word you're saying!"
"I forgot about, Hilde, don't blame me! I forgot."
"Well you know she's and outsider, she can be killed and no one will be punished! [2]"
"Jeez, well you're one too! I can kill you right now and get away with it."
"You wouldn't dare!" She said. The Roman girl watched in interest, curious at what Duo and Hilde were discussing.
"But do we have a treaty with the Romans? [3]"
"No. But I'm an honorary member of the tuath remember [4]? But if the tribal Druid approves it, she might become…"
"Did someone mention my name?" Duo, who was immersed in his conversation with Hilde, did not notice Dr J come up behind him. When Dr J spoke, it scared the crap out of him.
"Jeez, don't scare me like that!" Said Duo.
"We didn't mention your name Dr J," said Hilde. "But we were wondering if it was possible to make the Roman girl an honorary member of the tuath if it was approved."
Dr J stood silent for a few moments. "Hello, are you going to say anything?" Duo said impatiently.
"I'll see what I can do."
--
Relena watched Duo, Hilde and Dr J intently. However, she, considering she still did not know the language of these people, did not know what they were talking about. Obviously the language barrier would have to fall.
--
"No, no, no, NO! I will not accept her as an honorary member!" Heero yelled in a very rare case of breaking character. Dr J sighed in exasperation.
"The members of the tuath are worried about her."
"Not everyone. Which members are you talking about?"
"That girl can be killed or harmed if she's not careful. Her deorad status puts her in danger with every step she takes. And add to the fact that she's Roman—a wealthy Roman, I might add—and it could be a recipe for disaster. Her killer might not get punished by the tuath, but he may have to deal with her brother, Centurion Pacisprofessio."
"How do you know what will happen? Are you psychic, old man?"
"Why no, I'm just warning you in case something does happen to her. It's rumored that if anyone does harm her, he'll do some nasty things to whoever did it, so I would suggest at least giving her some protection, whether it be a bodyguard or legal status." The Druid finished his argument, leaving Heero to think about Relena's fate. The fact that a Celtic tribesman was now responsible for the fate of a Roman noblewoman was terribly ironic now.
--
Relena was helping an old woman with her work when the German girl Hilde came running up to her unexpectedly, and shouting in the tribe's language. Relena of course, did not understand a word the German girl was saying, and was even more surprised when the girl hugged her. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't understand you at all." Hilde, after hearing Relena's words, but not understanding them, remembered that they did not speak the same language. However, Hilde had an idea to tell Relena the news—but it was interrupted when Dr J appeared.
"She's excited because the chief is considering giving you legal standing within the tribe or bodyguards." The news excited relena, but then she was brought back down to earth by the statement.
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"Well, you're an outsider, so you're really not a member of the tribe. The chief is considering whether to make you an honorary member or just give you bodyguards."
"Why is the chief making this decision? Why aren't you?"
"Because he's the chief; his decision is what matters, not mine." He said. Relena nodded in understanding and then said,
"Why is it important that I be an honorary member?"
"Because it will give you rights within the tuath—and most likely prevent you from getting killed." He said. Relena was in shock at the revelation.
"What do you mean?"
"As an outsider, you have no rights. Someone can kill, harm or maim you and they will not be punished. If you are named a member, or honorary member, that will change. Of course, if you are simply given bodyguards, which will also work."
"Why honorary though?"
"Because you were not born a member of this tuath, and you have no kin within it [4]. Until Heero makes his decision however, I suggest you keep your guard up and keep that dagger close to you."
--
For the next several days, Relena did as Dr J told her to do, watching out for anyone who might try to attack her. She didn't really have to worry much about it in Rome, since a bodyguard in Rome usually accompanied her, but here, where she had no rights as an outsider scared her enough that she almost tried to kill the German girl Hilde when she surprised her. Of course, Relena's—or I should say, the Roman girl, since not everyone knew her name—behavior worried some members of the Gundami tribe enough that they constantly bothered Heero about it night and day. "Give the Roman girl rights!" They said. Heeros really wanted to kill her right here and now, but despite the laws involving outsiders, the tuath who like Relena would not forgive him, while those who were wary of her would not care at all. It was enough to drive a young chief crazy, so much that he was thinking about kicking Relena out of the village but Trowa, who rarely spoke, talked him out of it.
"You know if that Roman girl is kicked out, she might not survive long enough to get back to Londinium. The Romans may be looking for her, but if any of the other tribes find her, they might use her status to their advantage. It's possible they might kidnap her and hold her for a high ransom from the Romans. And there's also the wildlife around here…"
"Alright, then I heard you! I won't banish her. I guess that I'll have to bow to pressure and give her honorary status until the damn Romans find her."
"That is a good decision, sir. Now what about the feast we were planning for?"
"I nearly forgot about that," he said in his distinctive monotone. "Send out our best warriors to find some game."
"As you wish, sir."
--
[1] "I am sorry, what are you saying? I do not understand you?"
[2] Outsiders, or deorads, had very little, almost no legal standing in the tuath, or tribe.
[3] That is, unless there was a treaty between two tribes. Then they had legal standing.
[4] My sources seem to imply that foreigners had no rights at all universally. However, it seems that at some point, the Celts did give rights to outsiders. There's no evidence of this, however, but it is possible that some tribes' laws differed from another. It's possible that some tribes granted legal protection to foreigners at some point. Of course, even though I am trying to be accurate, I do have some freedom, since the Gundami did not exist in real life and I will say that this particular tuath allowed outsiders to become honorary members—they would have the same rights and protection as a member of the tuath, but they are not actual members.