Born in Chaos Part 9
Heero sighed as he surveyed the woods. As much as he loathed the violet-eyed boy... he knew he needed to find him. Quatre seemed to have a particular fondness for him and insisted that he was important to their quest.
"What the hell inspired him to run off in the night anyway?" He muttered to himself as he knelt.
Placing a hand against the cool earth, he closed his eyes and a soft glowed emanated from his hands. After a few moments, he raised his cobalt eyes and stared of towards the west. It seemed that the young thief was at least traveling in the right direction. Standing back up, he looked around him and then set off in the same direction that Duo had gone.
~*~
Duo came into a clearing and dropped beneath the limbs of one of the massive trees lining the edge. With a weary sound, he leaned his head against the rough bark and closed his eyes.
A sharp cry from somewhere within the woods on the other side of the clearing brought him back to his feet, knife drawn. Hearing the sound again, he took off running towards the sound of the trouble.
Partway into the woods, he spotted a young girl; tangled silver hair framed her delicate face, partly covering her wide blue eyes. She had her back pressed against a tree; a massive snarling dog advanced slowly. She clenched her eyes shut and threw out her hands as if to ward off its attack as it sprang.
But the creature never landed. Duo called on his newly found power and a bolt of pure light struck the animal and flung it to the side. "Run!" He cried as he moved warily towards the animal.
The beast sprang to its feet and leapt towards Duo. He threw up his hands and another bolt of light struck it, this time crushing its skull. Without a sound the animal fell to the ground. Duo walked up to it and nudged it with the toe of his boot.
"Man! That's the biggest dog I've ever seen!" He commented after making sure it was truly dead.
Then he turned to the girl, who still cowered against the tree, her sky blue eyes wide with terror. "Hey. You alright?" The violet-eyed boy asked as he walked towards her.
She nodded slowly, cowering away from him.
He knelt down in front of her, "I'm not going to hurt you." He said gently, checking a cut on her forehead.
She blinked and then reached out to touch him. "You're a human...." She spoke in a musical voice.
Duo laughed. "Of course I am. What else would I be, eh?"
"But everyone says that there are no humans anymore."
"No humans? What does that make you then?" He teased as he reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.
He stopped and stared wide-eyed at her ear. Then he pushed her hair back from her other one. She looked exactly like any person one would meet, maybe a bit delicately built, until one took a closer look. Once her hair was moved out of her face it showed that her eyes were slightly feline in shape, fine silver eyebrows drew up at the ends and her... ears... are... pointed.... Duo thought with wonder. They were like any other person's ears, except that the tops of them drew up into small points.
He leaned back and looked at her in question. "What DOES that make you?"
She ducked her head and then reached out and petted him curiously. Duo had to stifle a chuckle as her tiny hands patted the top of his head and then touched across his face, her eyes full of wonder. "You really ARE human.... You're real...."
He chuckled. "As real as you. Whatever you are."
"I'm elven."
Duo's eyebrows shot up. "Eh?!? How? But, I thought..." He looked at her. "Then again so did you."
He stood up and looked around him. "Do you live around here?"
"Yes. Just on the other side of the forest."
"I'll take you there. It's not very safe around here." He replied.
She looked up at him. "I'm sure that my village would like to meet you."
~*~
Heero broke from the tree line and entered a small clearing, his eyes scanning the area. How far ahead of him did that boy get? Looking around carefully, he saw a trail of broken grasses, as if someone had run through them not too long ago.
His eyes narrowed and he followed the trail into the woods where he found the remains of a huge dog. Kneeling down he looked it over; it reeked of Duo's magic. He frowned; there was something else.
Some other creature had been here too... and it felt oddly familiar.
~*~
"What is your name?" Duo asked the elven girl as they approached the edge of the forest.
"Awena." She replied as she led him out into the border of a large village.
"I'm Duo," He commented as he looked over the village.
Small stone cottages stood in neat rows, he could see several elven children playing in the... streets? He wasn't sure that's what you would call them... but he couldn't think of any other name. Moving between the buildings were adults of varying sizes... none of them paying much attention to Awena and him as they entered.
Suddenly one of the children looked up and spotted them. "Human!" He cried and ran to hide behind one of the adults. "Awena brought a human!"
The man looked up and stared at the girl and Duo, his bright blue eyes flashed. "Awena, what have you done?"
"Father, this is Duo. He saved me from a Moog in the forest." The girl explained to him.
He looked Duo over. "This is a fine mess," He finally said. "Coel, you go play with your friends." He said to the young boy behind him. "You, both come with me."
He led them to one of the small cottages, calling out as he opened the door. "Seirian! Would you collect the children and send them to your sister's."
A woman with the same silver hair as Awena came around the corner and gasped, her leaf green eyes widening. She turned and ran back into the room that she'd come from, calling out various names as she did so.
As Duo heard another door in the building slam, the man motioned for him to sit down at the table in the center of the room. "My name is Olwyn. I'm grateful for what you did for my daughter, but you have to understand. There are only a few of us that knew humans still existed... we've tried to keep ourselves separate from your race."
"But, why?" Duo asked quietly.
"All your people have ever done is hunt us. What I want to know is how you got here. No one is supposed to be able to get past the wall at the foot of the mountains."
Duo leaned forward and told him the story of how they had gotten into the mountains and that they were looking for medicine for their healer... along with other supplies.
"So, there are more of you here?" Olwyn said thoughtfully. "That wall was supposed to be impenetrable. We should have been keeping a better watch on it. It never occurred to us that someone would find a way through."
As a knock sounded on his door, Olwyn stood and looked down at the chestnut haired boy. "I'm very sorry," He said as several armed men came into the house. "But we can't allow you to leave here... it would mean destruction for our people."
"But... wait!" Duo cried as one of the men grabbed him and dragged him to his feet.
He struggled against them as the pulled him from the house. He would not use his power... he refused to do anything that might harm these people. Realizing that he was not going to be able to escape at the moment, he finally stopped struggling and allowed himself to be lead down the street.
~*~
Heero crouched just inside the tree line and watched as four strange men dragged Duo from one of the cottages and escorted him down the street. "Leave it to him to find trouble." He growled as he stood up. "I'll have to go get him after nightfall."
"I don't think that will be possible."
~*~
Back in the Sanq Kingdom, young Queen Relena sat on her throne as a young blonde girl was shown into the chamber. She came to stand before the platform on which the throne sat, her blue eyes grave.
Bowing deeply, she spoke. "Milady, my name is Dorothy Catalonia and I'm afraid I have terrible news about your brother and his party."
Relena gasped and jumped up. "Are they alright?"
"I'm afraid not. The situation is most grave right now." She said straightening back up.
The Queen rushed down to the floor, "Please... come to my chambers where we may speak privately." She said as she hurried across the floor.
Dorothy's face took on a strange smile as she followed. "Of course, my Queen."
TBC...
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