Born in Chaos Part 6
Duo leaned sideways as he heard the young, blonde healer stir, his violet eyes filled with concern. Quatre had slept for hours without a single movement and Duo had started to believe that Milliardo had been mistaken about his condition. With a rush of relief, he smiled as the healer's blue eyes drifted open.
"Well, it's about time you woke." He said cheerily.
Quatre frowned as he looked around him, then suddenly, as if he'd had a realization, he flew up from the pallet. "That boy!" He cried.
"He's fine. You saved his life, you know."
"Then it worked?"
"Yeah, it worked." Milliardo's gruff voice broke in. "But you were foolish to attempt it."
Quatre watched silently as his teacher sat down beside the chestnut haired youth.
"I guess you had to though. He is the last warrior."
"Did he stay with us?" The blonde asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
"Aye." Duo answered. "Although he stays apart from the rest of us, he is here."
The healer let out a sigh of relief as he felt a heavy weariness wash over him.
"You need more rest," Milliardo told him. "Sleep and we'll talk about the consequences of your actions in the morning."
Nodding, Quatre lay back down and Duo pulled the blankets back up around him. After making sure the blonde was asleep, Milliardo returned to his own bed as Duo curled back up on the ground beside the healer.
A few hours later, Quatre rose from his pallet and, making sure that the others remained asleep, he walked slowly towards the outskirts of the small camp. Letting his senses guide him, he walked until he came upon a fallen tree just inside the dim circle of the fire.
Letting his eyes adjust to the dimness, he saw the slender form of the young man, he sought, sitting along the length of the twisted wood. His back leaned against one of the gnarled branches, his head leaning back and turned away from Quatre, one leg resting along the tree's trunk, while the other dangled from the side. His sword lay against the length of his stretched out leg, his arms cradling it gently, as if it were a cherished lover.
Quatre stood in silence, watching the young man... his mind a whirl of emotions and fears. This was the person, whose life he had saved... to whom he now shared a bond that went deeper than even his teacher realized.
"I know you are there... I can feel you." Trowa's voice cut the stillness, his head never moving. "You might just as well come out, healer."
The blonde caught the tense edge to Trowa's voice and swallowing heavily, he stepped forward. As he did, Trowa turned his face to him, his leaf green eyes catching Quatre's soft blue ones. "What do you want?" The brunette asked flatly.
"I-I wanted to see if you were alright." Quatre replied, stepping closer.
"As you can see, I'm fine. You did your work well."
After a moment's hesitation, the blonde moved to stand beside the brunette warrior, drawn to the loneliness he felt radiating from the slender youth. Overcome with a desire to banish the hurts that he knew Trowa had endured. With a gentle smile he reached out to the green eyed boy. "Trowa..."
As his fingers came in contact with Trowa's cheek, the brunette recoiled in horror. "Don't!!" He snapped, leaping from the tree. "Don't ever touch me!"
The healer stepped back, his eyes wide with shock and pain... he thinks I'm un-natural, his mind cried silently. He's seen my power and now he's afraid of me. This was the very reason that for most of his life, Quatre had passed off his healing skills as learned and not born. People were afraid of natural magic.
"I-I'm sorry." He whispered and turning his back, he walked silently away.
~*~
After the group had all risen, later that day, it was decided that they'd take one more day before moving on. Milliardo felt that his student needed more rest, despite Quatre's protests to the opposite. The tall blonde had given the boy a look that said he'd take no arguments from him and Quatre finally gave in.
During the length of the day, Milliardo had noticed that something was troubling the healer, but despite all his efforts, he could not get him to talk. He assumed that it had something to do with the healing and the effects that it had on him.
He had no idea how right he was.
During the afternoon, Wufei had wandered off on his own... saying something about meditating. Trowa and Milliardo set about hunting for food for the group, Duo went to gather more firewood, while Heero disappeared in the direction of the river, leaving the blonde healer alone at the camp.
After making sure that he'd be alone for a while, Quatre sat down on his pallet and closed his eyes, letting his mind slip free, he reached out.... seeking.
~*~
Duo wandered through the woods until he finally came out into the other end of the clearing, on the banks of the river. Approaching the crystal water, his breath caught as he saw Heero standing waist-deep in the flowing currents, his bare skin pale against the dim backdrop of day.
The chestnut haired boy stepped back into the cover of the trees as, oblivious to his presence, Heero dove under the water. He's never seen anything more beautiful than the sight of the cobalt eyed boy as he broke the surface, shaking the water from his hair. He leaned against one of the trees and watched as Heero raised his arms over his head and stretched, the lean muscles rippling under his skin causing the violet eyed boy to gasp softly.
Then, as if he'd sensed someone watching him, Heero turned and fixed his cobalt gaze on the spot where Duo stood, hidden in the shadows. Without a sound Duo slipped into the woods, his heart pounding wildly against his chest.
In another part of the woods, Milliardo sent Trowa back to the camp with their catch, his ice blue eyes scanning the dense forest. He'd felt a ripple of darkness nearby and decided to seek it out.
As he walked into the clearing, that Trowa had been fighting in the previous day, he saw Wufei sitting in the grass, his eyes closed, head thrown back, hair unbound and his arms outstretched. He had removed his shirt and his amber pendant glowed dimly against his golden skin, casting a feeble light.
"Wufei..." Milliardo spoke quietly as he moved closer to the boy.
Wufei started and lowered his arms, opening his eyes. Settling his dark eyes on the tall man, he raised an eyebrow in question.
The platinum haired man gestured at the pendant. "Can you tell me, has it always been like that?" He asked.
Wufei looked down at the orange stone. "No. Once it carried the symbol of my clan, but since coming to this land... it has faded."
Milliardo sat on the cool ground, beside him. "Do you know why?"
The boy shook his head. "I'm afraid that it may mean that the shadows have finally claimed the last of my people."
"May I see it?"
After a slight hesitation, Wufei removed the necklace and handed it to the other man. Milliardo bit back a gasp at the cold that radiated from the stone... not the soft warmth that the others possessed. Closing his hand around the pendant, he concentrated, seeking the image inside.
While the tall man worked a simple spell over the pendant, trying to determine what had happened to it, in a stone keep many leagues away, a woman's head snapped up, her dark eyes searching the shadows around her.
Rising from her seat, she strode across her room, her robes swirling around her slender ankles. She stopped at a far wall, touching a stone and causing a section of the wall to swing inward. Stepping inside, she knelt before the altar, her brown eyes glittering.
"The mage has detected something wrong," Her voice flowed around the room. "I beg you, milord, grant me the power to throw him off until you can awaken and destroy them utterly."
~*~
Quatre's eyes snapped open as he heard a twig break behind him. He jumped to his feet, whirling around as Trowa walked into the camp. "By the light! You startled me!"
Trowa lay the small creatures, that he had snared, by the fire and straightened back up to stare at the healer. "It wasn't my intent."
The blonde walked over to the fire. "It looks like your hunt was successful." He said peering down at the small rabbit-like animals.
Trowa closed his eyes for a moment, trying to still the trembling that started every time the healer came near him. With sheer desperation, he fought the desire to touch the blonde, to feel the light and warmth that he knew Quatre offered. With a deep breath, he stepped backwards. "Aye."
Quatre raised his eyes to the brunette as he turned away, stalking towards the other side of the camp. He sensed the need in the boy... he'd felt it from the very moment they had touch minds. Why wouldn't Trowa take what he had so freely offered to him, the light that could heal him completely?
His eyes filled with determination, he started to follow Trowa only to be stopped by the sound of Duo's voice as the chestnut haired boy entered the camp. With a sigh, the blonde turned to greet the other boy, his mind all the while following the brunette's movements.
~*~
Night had fallen on the camp once again and along the riverbank, his only light the brilliant glow of his pendant, Quatre sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, staring out over the rushing water. He'd come here to bathe and wasn't ready to return to the others, enjoying the quiet, broken only by the sound of the rushing water.
Sitting there with all his senses clear, he felt Trowa walk silently up behind him and stand there. He could almost feel those clear green eyes staring at the back of his head as the brunette just stood there, wordlessly.
Trowa looked down at the slight form of the golden haired healer, his mind spinning. He was supposed to stay away... but he was constantly drawn to him. He was beginning to fell that he would never be whole again, unless in the presence of this boy.
"W-what..." His voice trembled.
Quatre turned and looked up at him, his soft blue eyes full of question. Seeing the confusion on Trowa's face, he stood and faced him. Trowa's hand shot out and grabbed a slender wrist.
Images flashed before Trowa's eyes... pictures of Quatre's youth... of the death of the boy's parents.... the alienation from his sisters because of what he was... the platinum haired mage taking him in and teaching him.... he felt the peace that Quatre had found within himself. The acceptance that this was what was supposed to be.... for both of them... for all of them.
Quatre struggled against the smothering sensation of despair that dominated all of Trowa's emotions... the loneliness... the knowledge that he'd been alone all of his life... people afraid of him... frightened of the things he could do, of what he was, of what he might become.... his constant battle to keep the shadows at bay and the terrifying cold that stalked him everywhere he went.
With a sharp cry, Trowa tore himself away from the healer. "What have you done to me?!?" He yelled, his voice breaking. "What did you do?!?"
Quatre raised his face to the brunette, his blue eyes swimming with his tears. "The only thing that I could do."
Trowa stared at him, his eyes a mixture of fear and confusion. "Better to have let me die then." He said lowly, turning and stalking off.
Quatre sank to his knees in the soft grass, burying his face in his hands.
TBC...
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