Notes: Thank you, Sol and Tai for your suggestions :) And another thank you goes to my wonderful beta, DMx04! :)
Wow, only the epilogue now and it's finished! Wow!
The Claim Part 12
Heero crouched by the spot where he positioned one of his traps a week ago. He cleared the snow from the metal jaws, and finding everything in order, he frowned. It was weird. He hadn't seen any wolves around the woods for days now. It was as if they disappeared. He suspected that it was the fault of the Old One, as he deemed the killer wolf. The pack just moved farther to avoid the danger the Old One posed.
Still frowning, Heero covered the trap with snow again, then stood up. He would really have to find the Old One soon. It was sheer luck that the wolf hadn't yet killed anyone from the village.
When the first snowflakes started to fall, Heero looked up at the sky. Through the bare crown of trees he could see the steel grey sky, the clouds hanging low. It didn't look good. The wind hadn't started yet, but everything hinted at a big snowstorm. He should head back home, since he didn't want Duo to worry too much.
The Enforcer turned around to call Shinigami, when he saw the dog freeze in mid-step, ears pointed. Shinigami listened intently, sniffing at the air. Suddenly, the hound bared his teeth in a vicious snarl and bolted in the direction they came from.
"Shinigami!" Heero called, starting after him. The Enforcer felt a cold sweat run down his back when he realized where the dog was heading. He was running home and that could mean only one thing.
Duo was in danger.
~*~
Duo swallowed painfully. The beast was huge. He had never seen a wolf that big. He was all silver, only one thin scar showing through his thick fur - it ran across his throat, almost from one ear to the other. It looked like an old knife wound. The wolf crouched lower, lips pulled back, teeth bared. He was snarling at him, but no sound left his mouth. Besides the huffing breathing, he was completely silent. It sent shivers down Duo's spine.
Slowly, oh so slowly the lifebearer backed up a step, then another one, hands firmly clenched around the handle of the full bucket. Maybe if he moved really slow and carefully, he could reach the hut before the wolf attacked.
But then the wolf's body tensed, muscles taut. The breath caught in Duo's throat.
The beast lunged forward, snow flying after him. Duo took a quick step backwards, his foot slipping on the frozen ground. With a silent thump he hit the ground, the bucket tumbling from his hands, spilling water everywhere. The lifebearer's body was buried deeply in the snow. Eyes wide open, Duo saw the wolf miss his jump, his body flying over the narrow stream and Duo's fallen body. If he hadn't slipped...
Duo scrambled to his feet, snow caked to his clothes. Looking up from his half crouch, he saw the beast land on all fours and turn back to face him. What now? What now? The wolf stood between him and the only safe haven he had. If only he had something to protect himself with...
Duo didn't look away from the snarling beast, as his hand searched blindly for something he could use as a weapon. The wolf moved slightly to the left and Duo mirrored his turn. He couldn't afford to lose sight of the beast.
It started to snow, the flakes falling gently to the ground. Everything was silent, but even if there would've been some sound, Duo wouldn't have been able to hear it over the roar in his ears. Tears stung his eyes, a litany of 'pleasepleaseplease...' running in his head. He had been so stupid, so incredibly, incredibly stupid!
When the wolf charged again, Duo threw himself to the side, gripping the empty bucket in mid-roll. Getting back to his feet, from the corner of his eyes he saw the beast turn and move quickly in his direction again. He didn't think about his reaction. He just snapped around, the bucket flying through the air in his outstretched hand. The blow struck the wolf´s head, sending him flying further to the left, in the direction of the stream.
Duo almost cried out at the pain that shot up his arm and settled in his shoulder. He dropped the broken bucket in the snow and didn't even stop to look at what happened to the wolf. He ran as fast as he could to the hut, hearing the wolf running after him again. He flew inside through the open door, turned around and slammed it shut, pushing the bar in place quickly.
He backed away from the door in fearful anticipation. When he had turned around to close the door, he had seen the enraged look in one of the beast's eyes, while the other was torn from the blow, his muzzle stained with blood. The wolf wanted to kill him and Duo feared that the beast wouldn't give up so easily.
Hearing the impact of something heavy against the door, Duo cried out, his trembling hands flying to his mouth. Another blow and another. The wolf was trying to get in. In horror, Duo watched as the hard wood of the door shook, the bar keeping the door shut cracking just a little in the middle.
Oh gods, what should he do? Duo looked around frantically, searching for a way out of his peril. He moved further away from the shaking door, pleading for every deity to help him.
As he backed away again, the floor thumped hollowly under his foot. He looked down and his eyes lit up.
~*~
Heero could hear Shinigami's howl clearly in the silent winter woods. He ran as fast as he could, the snowfall that turned from light to heavy obscuring his view. He threw away his warm gloves, letting them sink into the puffy snow, then pulled the knives out of his belt, one in each hand. He followed Shinigami's prints, taking the shortest way back to his home.
When he finally reached the clearing where his hut stood, he jumped over the stream and stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening. He took in the broken bucket, stained with blood, the broken, splintered door leading into the hut. He could hear Shinigami and the Old One fighting inside, the dog's snarling and growling, things crashing to the floor. But Duo...
Duo was nowhere in sight.
The Enforcer crouched lower, preparing himself to fight, as the Old One shot out of the hut, Shinigami at his heels. Both the wolf and the dog were bloodied, insane rage in their eyes as they circled each other, their heads low to the ground. Their lips were pulled back, teeth bared.
Then they both leaped forward, clashing together. The bigger wolf caught Shinigami by the scruff, flinging him to the side. The dog slid over the snow, hitting the foot of the big oak tree, standing by the hut. Immediately he scrambled to his feet again, was looking dazed though.
The instant the two animals separated, Heero threw his knife with all his might. The weapon found its target, catching the wolf in the side in the same moment when the beast leaped forward again. It looked as if the animal broke in half in the air, before falling to the ground, snow flying in every direction, obscuring the view for a moment.
The Enforcer threw himself to the side, as suddenly the silver beast burst through the white cloud. The wolf landed heavily, but snapped around quickly. The knife wound in his side didn't seem to slow him down in the least. Heero rolled, coming back to his feet, the knife in his hand ready. He turned around just in time to see the Old One charge forward with all his strength. This time Heero didn't move, the knife in his hand changing its position, so that the point laid now almost by his elbow. And when the wolf flung itself on him, Heero crouched, his right arm flashing upwards and from right to left, cutting through the thick fur.
All movement seemed to slow down as the jaws snapped closed just millimeters from Heero's face. The one visible enraged eye met the Enforcer's cold look. Blood burst from the beast's neck, where the sharp knife cut through the layers of fur and skin, a new wound appearing just hair width from the old scar.
The wolf tumbled to the ground, blood seeping through his tightly clenched teeth. The Old One got back to his feet again, barely standing, but the rage in his eyes didn't diminish.
"Get back, Shinigami!" Heero snapped at the dog that started forward to finish his job, without taking his eyes away from the wolf. Shinigami stopped, visibly torn between his instinct and his need to obey an order. He settled for growling quietly.
Heero backed up a couple of feet and reversed the position of his knife again, gripping the handle, which was slick with blood tightly in his right hand. "This is something I should have done years ago," he whispered to himself.
Then the man and the wolf charged forward. Both hit their target and crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of white puffy snow. When the white curtain finally settled down, Heero was lying on the ground, face and arms marred with claw marks, but his knife was buried deep in the wolf's chest. The animal was covering him partially, pressing his body deep into the snow and staining the white cover with dark red blood. It was over.
Heero lay there for a moment, looking up at the steel grey sky. The snowflakes were settling down on his face. He was breathing hard and his head ached. Finally, he clenched his teeth and pushed the cooling carcass to the side. Suddenly, he felt exhausted. Sitting up, he closed his eyes, feeling a little dizzy for a moment. He reached with his right hand and touched the back of his head, where the pain that throbbed through his head centered. The fingers came back covered with blood. He didn't even realize he hit his head in the fall.
Suddenly, Shinigami's desperate barking tore through the buzz in his ears. He turned around in the direction the bark came from and his eyes went wide. Dark grey and black smoke was rising to the sky, filling the air with an acrid smell. The hut was on fire.
Duo!
~*~
Duo tried to lift the door but couldn't. He had slipped into the hole Heero used as a storage cellar, to get away from the wolf, but now the door seemed stuck. He pushed against it with all his strength, but it didn't budge. The hole wasn't even big enough for him to stretch out. It was only hip deep, thus giving him no room to brace himself and apply more pressure against the door. He started to hammer against it with his fists. His hands were bleeding from the impact on the rough wood.
He tried to cry Heero's name, but every noise he made simply vanished in the snapping and sizzling hum of the fire that was raging above him. Something must have happened. He had heard Shinigami's fight with the wolf, which meant that Heero couldn't be far behind. But he hadn't heard him. He heard nothing. Did the wolf hurt Heero? Was Heero lying in the snow now, dying? Was he already dead?
Duo cried out Heero's name again, his voice full of desperation. The smoke filling the hole was burning his throat, causing him to cough violently, his lungs spasming.
Giving the stuck door one last push, Duo curled up on his side, hugging himself. He coughed again, tears streaming down his face. He didn't know if they were tears of desperation or if it was only the smoke burning his eyes. It didn't matter. It was all his fault anyway. Everything in his damned life was his fault.
The lifebearer coughed again, his whole body shaking. He was growing dizzy and his head hurt. Desperately he clung to consciousness, for if he fainted, everything would be over. He would never wake up again.
Heero...
The darkness spun behind his eyelids, and he remembered another wolf, lost memories surfacing again.
"What are you doing here?!" asked the twelve year old Heero, his brows drawn together, as he plopped down on the river bank next to Duo and tucked his warm jacket closer to his body. It was autumn already, nature was a palette of colors, but even though the sun was shining, the wind was much too cold already.
The young lifebearer quickly wiped the tears from his face. He didn't want Heero to see him crying. But the quivering lower lip gave him away.
"Are you crying?" Heero's voice was full of concern. "Did something happen?"
Duo sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve, and hugged his legs to his chest. He hid his face in his knees and didn't answer.
"Duo? Please tell me what's wrong?" Heero asked again, laying a gentle hand on Duo's shoulder. "You can tell me anything, you know that," he whispered, moving closer to the distressed lifebearer.
"'m bleedin'," Duo mumbled.
"What did you say?" Heero asked, bending his head closer.
The lifebearer lifted his head and looked at the other boy with red, swollen eyes. "I'm bleeding."
Heero straightened in alarm. "Where? Is it bad? Should I call the healer?" He touched his back, then his arms, looking for an injury.
Duo's cheeks colored. "I'm bleeding from... you know... there."
Heero looked at him in confusion, before his eyes widened in understanding. His cheeks colored a little bit too, but he smiled at Duo in reassurance, squeezing his arm. "It's normal, Duo. Your father must've told you..."
The lifebearer shook his head sadly. "It's much too soon! I'm just eleven. There must be something really wrong with me," he whispered, more tears appearing in his eyes.
"Trust me, there is nothing wrong with you," Heero said reassuringly, his voice soft. "You're just an early bloomer, that's all," he smiled and petted Duo's shining hair.
Duo frowned. "An early what? What does..." His head turned to look at the other boy, but the words froze on his lips as his eyes moved behind Heero's sitting figure in time to see a large wolf step out of the bush. The beast was crouching low, lips curled in a snarl. "He-ero..." Duo stuttered, his cheeks paling in horror.
Alarmed by Duo's terrified look, Heero's head snapped around. Seeing the beast coming closer, ready to attack them, he jumped to his feet. He pulled the young lifebearer to his feet too and tucked him behind himself. He then unsheathed a long hunting knife that was attached to his belt and faced the beast, ready to protect his friend.
"Heero, what'll we do?" Duo asked quietly, clearly frightened.
"Don't worry," Heero whispered back, not taking his eyes away from the wolf. "I swear I will protect you!" Heero took a step back, then another one, feeling Duo moving in synch with him.
And then the wolf lunged forward. Heero pushed Duo to the side and out of harm's way. The lifebearer stumbled on the rocky ground, his feet slipping. He lost his footing and the last thing he saw before tumbling down the riverbank was Heero, his best friend, the one he hoped to spend his life with, falling to the ground, the wolf slashing his claws down the boy's exposed back. Then everything went dark.
A heartbeat passed, and Duo realized the darkness was different, and he was still in a cramped space, with smoke filling his lungs.
"...uo! Duo, do you hear me?"
The lifebearer groaned, then gasped for air, his lungs filling with burning smoke immediately, causing another coughing fit. Duo pressed his head against the ground as the bone-jarring cough wracked his body.
He felt fuzzy. Still, he heard the faint thumping sound over his hiding place. It was as if somebody was trying to lift something heavy, but it kept slipping from his hands. He wasn't sure if it was reality or if his imagination was playing tricks on him.
And then the door lifted and his dark hole was filled with more smoke and flashing orange light. He tried to turn his head, but he was too weak to even open his eyes. Somebody jumped down and landed next to him in the narrow space. He was being lifted out of the place he thought he would die in, then placed on the floor of the hut. The wood was hot under his cheek and it was smoking. He was being lifted again and then rapidly moved away from the orange light he could see even through his closed eyelids, from the smoke and the hot air.
The cold outside felt so good. He breathed in deeply, his lungs deprived of fresh air for too long. But he was seized with yet another coughing fit, his whole body hurting and shaking from the strain. He pressed his head into the chest of his savior as the coughing didn't seem to end.
He was being lowered to the ground again, but instead of feeling the cold snow through his clothes, he was seated on something warm. Between coughing fits he managed to open his watering eyes and saw Heero's face, covered in blood and soot. The Enforcer was kneeling on the snow-covered ground, his back to the raging fire, Duo resting on his thighs.
Their eyes met and held each other as Heero lifted his bloodied hand and caressed Duo's cheeks, his mouth, his eyebrows, his nose, as if trying to memorize every feature of the elfin face. "I thought I'd lost you again," Heero whispered, his voice surprisingly gentle. "I couldn't take losing you again." He brought the lifebearer to his chest, hugging him tightly.
Again? Losing me again? Duo wondered as he hugged Heero back just as fiercely.
And then he remembered the dream he seemed to have had. "It was me, wasn't it?" he asked softly. "Back there, on the riverbank. It was me whom you protected from the wolf the first time, wasn't it?"
Heero froze for a moment, then relaxed his grip and let Duo lean back just a little, so that he could look him in the eyes. There was so much wonder in the Enforcer's look. "You remember?" he said hesitantly, as if not believing his ears and when the lifebearer nodded, eyes shining, Heero enclosed him in his arms again, as if not wanting to let him go ever again. "When you fell down, I thought you were dead and I thought nothing could ever hurt so much, not even the wounds the wolf caused. But when the villagers found you on a bank down the river and you didn't remember me..." his voice trailed off.
"I'm sorry, so sorry, so sorry," Duo repeated over and over again, tears stinging in his eyes. It wasn't his fault that he had forgotten but he still felt as if it was somehow his doing that they lost so much time. "If I could help it, I would've never forgotten you. I loved you, I thought we would spend our life together. I'm sorry. I love you so much..."
"I love you too, Duo. I never stopped loving you," Heero whispered, rocking back and forth.
They didn't know how long they sat there, snow falling heavily from the sky, covering them both in white layers, the fire eating away at their home. It was Shinigami's bark that broke the serene scene, the dog standing nearby, watching them and wagging his tail.
Slowly, they got to their feet, not letting go of each other even for a moment, throwing little smiles at each other. Then the wolf's carcass caught Duo's attention.
"So, he is dead, huh?" he asked quietly, looking at the dead animal. "I'm really sorry that I went out. I was so stupid..."
"It doesn't matter. Maybe it was a good thing. He could have attacked me when I was coming back. And if he surprised me, I wouldn't have had any chance to stand against him at all."
Duo squeezed Heero's hand. "I didn't even hear him coming. He was completely silent..."
"I must have damaged his vocal cords back then," the Enforcer explained. "I didn't even know what I was doing. I just slashed with my knife upwards, then he got me."
They stood there for a moment longer, watching the hut burn and crash together. When Duo began to shiver, Heero brought him closer, the lifebearer's back to his chest and hugged him.
"What will we do now?" Duo asked, his voice silent and still a little cracked from the coughing.
Heero sighed and propped his chin on Duo's shoulder. "I don't know. We could go to the village, but they wouldn't accept you. And I'll never let you out of my sight again!" he said vigorously, squeezing the lifebearer tightly. "And we can't stay here, at least not before we build everything up again."
"So... where will we go?"
"With me," came a voice from behind them.
Duo and Heero turned around, seeing a snow covered figure step out of the woods, Shinigami dancing happily around.
Trowa.
~*~
Interlude
"But the villagers don't have any more money!" Wufei's voice was cold and stern as he faced the enraged Father Maxwell.
"I don't care. I need-The village needs the money!" the Father shouted, his eyes glowing with rage.
Wufei's eyes narrowed. Something really weird was going on, he thought as he watched the usually calm and collected chieftain pace the main room of the common house. Father Maxwell was trying to squeeze every copper coin from the villagers over the last couple of weeks. They gave him as much as they could, but now the only money they had left were the coins they saved for taxes.
"Why? Why do you need it? The taxes are not due until spring," Wufei demanded.
"That's none of your business! I'm the chieftain here and you will obey me!" Father Maxwell screamed again in the younger man's face.
Wufei was about to answer again, when they heard some commotion outside the house. With an annoyed "What now?" Father Maxwell crossed the room and tore open the front door. Wufei followed him in time to see the older man's red face pale horribly, gaining a ghost-like look.
On the main path leading through the village a procession of armed men, riding their horses in groups by three, was coming closer. In the lead, an old man, dressed in brightly colored expensive clothes, was sitting on his battle horse.
The Sweepers and Master Howard.
Wufei frowned. It was unexpected to see them here in the middle of the winter. They were mercenaries, usually accompanying merchants passing through their village, serving as their paid protection. There were no merchants in sight now though, and besides, no one visited this backwater place during winter. Wufei started to get a bad feeling about the situation.
The procession stopped in front of the common house, Master Howard getting off his horse. The grey haired man strode forward towards the chieftain.
"Maxwell, my friend!" Howard laughed in false amiability, catching the other man in a bear hug.
Wufei noticed the chieftain looking scared, terrified even. The old man was shaking like a leaf and Wufei suspected that if Howard hadn't been holding him upright, the Father would have slumped to the ground. Wufei was starting to get the nagging feeling that he should make himself scarce. The sight of the dozens of men, armed to the teeth, only fueled the feeling.
Howard pulled away, smiling at Father Maxwell. Wufei almost shivered, seeing the dangerous, wolfish smile that didn't reach the cold, calculating eyes.
"It's good to see you, Maxwell. I hope everything is ready," the mercenary leader said, his voice making it obvious that he didn't tolerate failures.
"Ready?" the Chieftain asked shakily as if he didn't understand.
"Yes, I came for the mate you promised me. Where is Duo?"
Even though Wufei felt his insides freeze in shock, he didn't wait for the answer the Chieftain would give Howard. He started pass the two older men and headed in the direction of his cottage casually, as if nothing had happened. Inside his head though, everything was screaming at him to run. Knowing what answer Father Maxwell would give the mercenary leader, and seeing the small army waiting to fulfill every order their leader would give them... Wufei doubted it would end well.
It was time to get Meiran out of here.
TBC...
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