Disclaimer: Still don't own GundamW...

Chapter 4:
The Assassin

Heero Yuy walked silently through a small village as he continued his search for a familiar face. The idea of actually being in ancient Japan was still not sinking in, but there was really no other place he could be. No one he had encountered so far in his week's journey had ever heard of Colonies or Mobile Suits, they didn't even seem to know what a television was! There were really only three possibilities for this. One was that he was really, somehow, sent back through time and was in what, by all appearances, seemed be ancient Japan. The second was that these people were all living under the same rock and living the same fantasy. Or third, somehow, he was knocked unconscious and then placed into a reality TV show. If those sick TV executives think they could make a fool of him, they really had something else coming to them. God only knows that people's simple minds are so easily entertained with all that garbage that is aired.

Letting his rage subside a bit, he sighed as he watched a few children run ahead of him playing swords using shinai. He studied them for a while as they continued to bash the wooden weapons against each other. He watched as they skillfully swung, parried, and attacked one another until they disappeared behind a building. By the appearance of all things he had encountered so far, and the fact that no network would actually behead a person (as he had witnessed earlier that morning) it seemed like the first of his three options was the truth. His head began to ache again as he thought about the situation. He really wanted to go back home now.

"Have you heard, the Goddess Amaterasu has descended from the heavens!" a man questioned a vender at a stand.

"It's not just a rumor?" inquired the vender.

"No," replied the man, "They say that she wants to conquer all the land possible and unite the kingdom."

Heero frowned at the thought of all these people actually believing that there were such things as gods and goddesses. Sure, even he believed that there was some sort of force at work that made certain things happen, but just not an actual being that people could perceive with any of their five senses. He believed in something more along the lines of the Force. You know, a sort of life force that is thought to be in all living beings, in which the Force makes you sensitive to other living things, makes you intuitive, and allows you to read other people's minds, kinnda like Quatre, et cetera.

Anyways, let's continue with the story.

"She came to his lordship in the form of a child, going by the name Mariemaia O-hime. She plans to unite all the provinces and to conquer other lands," jumped in another man.

At this, Heero stopped in his track. "Mariemaia O-hime..?" he questioned himself.

"I hear that the Goddess is a marvel to behold," interrupted the first man again. "That her hair is like fire and her eyes like the sky!"

"I've heard that the Goddess has destroyed and taken control of many lands in just the few days since she's arrived at the services of His Majesty. That she's imposed strict mandates on the conquered lands. "

"Could it really be that a mere child could rule many lands with such an iron fist?"

Heero laughed nervously as the description of this so-called goddess matched that of the little girl he had met only a few years ago. It was almost ironic to him that she'd try and play the role of a ruler once more. Would she succeed this time? Only time, and later on history, would tell.

"And where is this 'goddess'"? Heero questioned as he approached the vendor's stand.

The three men looked down at him. The vender raised his hand and pointed behind the other two men and Heero. "It's about a two day's walk over that mountain range, young man. Give or take," he informed.

"Thanks," Heero turned to start his long walk.

"You best be careful, boy," warned the first man, "they say there's a ruthless assassin living in the villages along that road. He's a demon that kills even women and children, that's what they say."

"Ruthless assassin," Heero shrugged the old men off as he continued on his way. "They've never seen me with a sniper rifle equipped with a silencer..."

###

As the day finally came to its end, Heero looked around at his surroundings to see if he could find a place to spend the night. There were no signs of life anywhere. Alright, maybe he should have stayed at the last inn about an hours walk back. He sighed. Well, there was no point in turning back now. He continued on his way as a cold wind picked up around him, sending shivers down his back. How the hell did people live past the Middle Ages with just a gii and hakama? These items of clothing offered absolutely no protection against the cold. It was a miracle that the history books weren't full of people freezing to death each winter!

A twig cracked. Heero instinctively reached for the gun at his side only to realize that he wasn't carrying a gun. He cursed to himself as he quickly realized that he was completely weaponless. His dark blue eyes scanned the surrounding areas as he stood still, carefully listening to anything that moved.

Suddenly, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. Instinctively, he turned, arching his body to one side and ultimately falling to the floor as a sword was thrust into what would have been his back. With his left foot on the ankle of his attacker and his right leg swinging at full strength at the back of his attacker's knee, the young man knocked his enemy down. Without hesitation, he reached for his attacker's arm, twisting it behind the fallen man and jabbed is knee into the back of his attacker's neck.

"Heero?"

Heero released his grip on his attacker. Taking a step back he looked down at his assailant slightly muddled. The man on the floor slowly got up and dusted himself off. "I was wondering where you had gone to."

The voice finally became familiar. "WuFei..." he stammered.

WuFei Chang continued dusting himself off in the dim moonlight. He was still wearing his traditional white Chinese clothing, but had what looked to be a dark colored scarf wrapped around his neck and shoulders and some sort of belt around his waist with a scabbard at his left hip. Silently, the young Chinese man reached down and picked up his sword, quickly returning it to its sheath. He looked around in the dark night. "You're alone as well, I see," he commented.

Heero nodded. He paused for a moment looking the Chinese man over. "You're the assassin?" he questioned surprised.

WuFei looked over at him with a blank expression. "Assassin?" he questioned. "What do you take me for?"

"So you haven't been killing people in these areas?"

WuFei glared at Heero rather annoyed. "Why would I kill people?"

"Well, you just tried to kill me," he began. "And then there was that time when you kill a bunch of really inexperienced cadets that were sleeping at Lake Victoria and-"

WuFei quickly unsheathe his sword and took a swing at Heero. The Japanese man, however, took a few steps back and stood ready for a fight. He might be unarmed but he was just as dangerous. The two glared at one another, waiting for the other to take the first step.

Before either one could make a single move, they heard something snap. The two looked over to the source of the sound and watched silently, waiting for something to emerge from the bushes. After a few seconds of intense waiting and sweating a small rabbit hopped out. It looked up at both of them and twitched its pink little nose. The pair looked at each other before returning their attention to the rabbit. The rabbit returned their puzzled look by twitching its whiskers once more.

"That's it!" WuFei returned the sword into its sheath upset. "Stupid animal!"

Heero sighed in relief. "Better a rabbit then some homicida-"

Heero was cut short as someone tackled him to the ground from behind. He hit the cold earth face down and felt the weight of his aggressor as he sat on his back. In an instant, his aggressor wrapped a line of rope around his neck and began to strangle him. For a split second he could feel as his life was draining from him. He franticly reached back to get a grip of his attacker but was unable to.

WuFei stood in shock for a moment. He watched in horror as Heero continued to struggle on the ground with the assailant. The man was nearly three times bigger then the two of them put together and truly looked the part of a maniac. His long, unruly hair flew every which way with each movement he made. His hands and face were filthy. His tattered cloths were also as disgusting looking and his tiny, mad stricken black eyes made WuFei's blood run cold in his veins.

"Wuuoooo..." Heero gasped for air as his eyes began to bulge from their sockets.

WuFei suddenly snapped out of his trance and rushed the few steps before him and the man attacking Heero. In a fluid movement the young Chinese man kicked the assailant square in the face. The man feel back as blood rushed out his nose.

Heero got to his feet the moment he felt the rope loosen around his neck. He gasped for air as he watched the man lay on the floor in a pool of blood. He turned angrily to look at other ex-gundam pilot as he continued to rub his neck. "What the hell were you waiting for!" he hissed at WuFei.

"I just saved your ass and this is how you speak to me?" WuFei snapped back.

"At the rate you were going you could have just waited until I was dead!"

Before either could continue arguing, the crazy man had gotten to his feet once more and was nearly on top of WuFei. Instinctively, WuFei jabbed his sword's hilt into the man's side with all his might, breaking a rib or two as the blow landed. At the same time, Heero dropped his body to the floor and knocked the crazy man's legs out from under him. The man fell face first onto the cold earth. Without wasting time, WuFei brought his sheathed sword down on the back of the man's neck, leaving him motionless on the ground.

Without uttering a single word, Heero began to walk down the road in silence.

"Where are you going?" WuFei asked crossly.

"To find Mariemaia and get the hell out of this place," Heero responded just as crossly, if not even more.

WuFei followed. He certainly didn't want to stay behind in the middle of the night with a crazy, unconscious man next to him. And so, the two young men walked down the road in silence.

The next morning, a young man walking down the small road found the still unconscious body of the assailant lying in the middle of the road. He returned to the village he had past just a few minutes ago and told them of how he valiantly took down the feared Assassin of the Mountains. He was rewarded a hefty amount of money for his valor and was called a Hero. The story of his bravery and valor would later be handed down from generation to generation in this mountain area and a shrine build in his honor.

A/N: Alright, school is finally out for winter and now it's time to work my behind off so that I can pay my bills! Ummm…. ya, anyways here's the next chapter. I hope that was somewhat of an enjoyable read. Do you like it? Do you think this is a bunch of BS and I should stop wasting precious webspace? Please do tell me your thoughts