Beyond All Doubt Part 11
It was late in the afternoon when Heero and Duo woke from their long sleep upon returning to the encampment. After crawling out of their bed and changing into fresher clothes, Duo plopped down to sit on the edge of the bed as he sighed deeply, "Well, I'm sure Trowa and Kumi will be over soon. Better to get this over with."
Heero tilted his head slightly in concern and reassured, "You don't have to do that if you're unsure it's the right thing. If you're having doubts-"
The fey cut him off, shaking his head and saying, "No, it's not that. I agree that she should know what I am. What I'm nervous about is her reaction to finding out that I'm the reason you were lost in the woods and nearly killed at Treize's hands." Cringing at the memory of that, he mumbled, "Well, we'll leave the last part out." At Heero deep chuckle, Duo threw out, "Then again, it was your choice to chase after me when I was after Zechs."
With a light fit of laughter, the Japanese boy replied, "It wasn't my fault that I was entranced by your wings. Besides," he shrugged, "I was merely seeking out my protector."
Duo rolled his violet eyes and sighed, "Great. Keep talking like that and I am dead." His face became morbidly serious as he stated, "You do realize that she is going to kill me, right?"
Heero walked up beside him, smirking, "You never should have given her that dagger that I noticed on her this morning." At Duo's eyes widening in surprise, he pointed at him with a wide smile, and all but shouted, "I knew that had to have come from you! Kumi never owned a blade like that before."
Smacking his head, the fey moaned deeply, "You had to remind me that she's armed now, too." With a small slouch forward, he explained the other boy's unanswered question, "That dagger is one of my prized weapons. It never misses its mark. If it senses an oncoming danger, it will guide the hand of the person holding it to strike."
Both shock and disbelief filled Heero's wide cobalt eyes as he blinked, saying quietly, "That's... impressive. Does my sister know that?"
"No," Duo grinned. "She'll figure it out for herself, though I don't think that she'll need to rely on its magic too much. Kumi reminds me a great deal of the warriors in the fey army."
The uncertainty clear in his voice, Heero asked, "Will you tell me about the fey, when we have the time?"
It was Duo's turn to blink in surprise. Giving the other boy a warm smile, he nodded, "I'd like that, Heero." His partner returned the warm smile and before he could respond, Trowa's voice called for them from outside the tent.
As Heero opened the closed front panel, Trowa and Kumi stepped inside, and he closed the seal behind them again. After a brief greeting between the four of them, the young girl asked with a cheeky smile, "Did you two sleep well?"
Recalling the memory of falling asleep in each other's arms, Duo grinned nervously, "Yes, thank you." Heero was very grateful for the shielded light to conceal the faintest sighs of a blush on his face.
"I'm glad to hear it," Kumi replied sincerely. "I find it hard to sleep too well in these places." Taking a seat beside her lover on the vacant bed, she commented, "Trowa said that you had something to tell me."
Rising to his feet, Duo looked over to where Heero was standing at the entrance, making sure that the room was concealed. At his love's nod, the fey took a deep breath before looking back to the couple sitting before him. "First off," Duo began with a deep frown. "I have to apologize because it was my fault that Heero was missing. I found my friend that I've been searching for, Zechs, and he wasn't exactly thrilled to see me. I chased after him and I ended up getting us both lost."
Both Trowa's and Kumi's eyes widened at the news. "You found Zechs?" Trowa managed to ask first.
Duo nodded, "And Heero stumbled on something that got him involved." At that, he removed the loose, deep purple shirt and Kumi's eyes filled with confusion. Closing his eyes, the braided creature could feel his back arching up and his wings pulled themselves free to expand to their full mass.
Hearing the sharp gasp, his violet eyes opened to find Kumi sitting stiffly with Trowa's hands on her shoulders as he told her gently, "It's all right."
The girl's cobalt eyes remained wide at the sight before her. Finally, after a long silence, Kumi whispered, "You're... You're a..."
"Fey," Duo finished for her in a small voice. Heero bit his bottom lip, watching his sister intensely.
Kumi opened her mouth to say something. Unable to find her voice, she closed her mouth. Looking over to her lover, she stated more than asked, "You know this."
Without flinching, Trowa nodded, "Yes. He healed Heero from a wound that would have killed him. I witnessed it and he showed me his wings after."
Heero stepped toward his sister, fear clearly in his eyes as he spoke quietly, "Kumi, please... He saved my life. He protected me. Please don't... don't..."
She turned to face him and found the words he was afraid were true. "Hate him?" Shaking her head, she reassured him, "No, I wouldn't hate him. I couldn't." Turning to face the winged creature before her, she stated firmly, "I don't."
Tiny tears began to form in Duo's eyes as he smiled in relief and whispered, "Thank you, Kumi." She rose from her place on the bed and walked up to hug him tightly. As his own arms wrapped around her, his wings did the same.
At the sweet scene, Heero and Trowa gave each other a small smile of their own relief. When the embrace ended, the Captain stood and suggested, "We best leave this between the four of us. As much as I respect Quatre, Wufei and Sette, it would be wise to leave them out of this for some time. The more people that know, the easier this could slip out."
Heero nodded, "I agree. So it's business as usual from this point forward."
Retracting his wings into his back, Duo replaced his shirt and grinned at Trowa. "Well then, where will you need us to report, Commander?"
Trowa thought out loud, "Well, we have enough on watch right now. But, I'm sure that we could use some extra hands in looking after the supp-"
From outside, a shrill cry interrupted him. "We're under attack!" With wide eyes, the four within the tent turned quickly to the door as the sounds of soldiers shouting became deafening. Another heartbeat and the four were running outside, unsheathing the blades at their belts.
Outside, there was a great deal of mass confusion as a swarm of Shay soldiers ran towards the outer edges of the encampment. At a quick look to the trees surrounding the large field, the dark-clad enemy was hiding and firing on the exposed targets below. As soon as a wave of young Shay soldiers would rush to make it to the archers that were picking off, they would soon fall along with their comrades before them.
Watching his men as they were cut down in their attempts to storm into the woods to kill those archers, Trowa growled deeply and shouted, "Goddamn it! We have to get them to fall back! They would have brought more than archers to hit us! They're looking to make an opening past our defenses!" At that, they broke in pairs, Heero with Duo Kumi with Trowa, and ran to the opposite ends.
Quatre was running off, panic in his eyes as he searched frantically through the running soldiers and arrows flying from both sides. "Sette! Where are you!?" he cried as he pushed through the armed soldiers looking to defend themselves.
As he passed the center of the camp, he heard a young woman shout, "Quatre!" Turning quickly, he found Sally Poe, helping an injured young warrior with an arrow shaft sticking up from his leg. The healer had his arm slung over his shoulders as she helped him walk as best he could.
With one hand covering the deep, bleeding scar on the boy's head, she watched as Quatre ran towards her. "We need more hands in the infirmary tents. We can't get to all the casualties at this rate."
Swallowing hand, Quatre nodded, "All right." Quickly, he pulled the free arm of the injured soldier over his own shoulder as the three moved towards the infirmary tents.
At one of the far ends of the camp, Sette growled deeply, the panther paw that Duo had given her already over her right hand and arm. Slicing one arrow down with a bat of her armed hand, she yelled at her comrades, "Don't you get it!? They want us to come to them!?"
Over all of the shouts and confusion, there were none to hear her as the desperate race to breach the woods continued. Along with the agonizing moans and screams of the dying and injured, it was impossible to hear anything else. Spinning around in attempt to dodge the arrows that flew from both armies, the tomboy ran back, further from the line of fire.
In the midst of her flight, Sette was knocked to the ground after two soldiers ran past without even seeing her. Looking up with wide eyes, she gasped in terror at the sight of a wave of frantic men stampeding towards her. Someone suddenly took hold of her wrist, pulling her onto her feet before she was trampled at the last moment.
Gasping heavily at how close she was nearly smothered, she looked into dark eyes that showed as much concern as frustration. "Wufei!" she all but wept with relief as she threw her arms around him.
Briefly, he returned the embrace before they pulled away as he asked, "Are you all right?" Sette nodded and quickly got her bearings again as she scanned the nightmare around them.
"They're not experienced enough for this kind of attack," Wufei explained in a loud voice as they stood amidst the sea of men running in all directions. "They think that by reaching the trees to take out the archers, this will be over. We can't organize them now so all we can do is sit here and wait."
Sette looked to him and asked in a shout over the roar of voices, "Sit and wait for what!?" No sooner had she said that than an eruption of cries from beyond the trees were heard.
The tomboy's eyes widened as far as they could in shock at the sight of a large gap in the line of Shay defenders. Upon seeing that, soldiers from Treize and Gragon's forces came running from the tress. Armed with swords and many barbaric looking weapons, they moved to open the gap further as they fought the Shay soldiers hand-to-hand.
Beside her, Wufei yelled, "That!" Gripping his sword tightly, he ran forward to meet the enemy on foot. Sette's eyes narrowed as she quickly followed, slashing a few opposing troops along the way with the long claws of her panther's paw.
"They're breaking through!" Heero hollered over the noise as he and Duo spotted another gap in the defenses on the other side of the encampment. Meeting with those rebels and red armored soldiers of their enemy, the pair worked with their comrades to keep the offenders back, all the while trying not to be taken out by the archers overhead.
At the third opening not even near the other two, Kumi was in the middle of sword fighting a Gragon soldier as Trowa fought off two at a time on his own. Stepping forward after their blades met again, Kumi shouted loudly as she raised her dagger, capitalizing on the error her opponent made in stepping back. With a sickening thud, the shining dagger plunged into the tall soldier's chest. Blood poured from the gaping wound, covering not just the dead man's bode but the side of Kumi's face as well.
Panting, her shoulders fell for a moment so she could get herself together. Without warning, the dagger in her hand moved instantly, pulling her arm and body with it as it moved on its own accord, slicing the neck of a clan soldier that was about to stab her from behind. The look of shock in the man's eyes matched her own as he collapsed to the ground with one final gasp.
The silver-haired girl looked to the dagger in her blood-covered hand in awe. Quickly, she pulled the weapon to her lips, kissing it and whispering, "Thank you." Her eyes narrowed, she returned to the fight with her full attention and readiness.
The battle continued for another half-hour, the enemy taking their time in knowing that eventually, they would bear down on the Shay defenses. Heero and Duo working desperately from allowing the enemy to get far within the camp in their own corner of the battlefield.
"We're not going to be able to take much more of this if it keeps up," Duo cried over to Heero as their swords slashed about, taking out as many men as possible while defending themselves. All around, the soldiers of both sides collapsed in heaps.
After what seemed like an eternity, there was yet another battle cry of hundreds of men from the woods. Looking up to the forest where he and Kumi had been fighting, Trowa frowned deeply and whispered, "Dear God, not another wave of them." The shouting continued and it came from every edge of the woods surrounding the encampment.
For a moment, there was a pause in those soldiers from Treize and Grogon's forces as they looked back to the trees in confusion. Suddenly, the archers in the tress began to fall, taken out by other arrows that pierced them.
All eyes watched in shock and another massive wave of soldiers did begin to run past the forest, but they were running from something. Even in the midst of the confusion in the situation, the Shay forces moved to take out those frightened enemies as they ran towards them.
Wiping some of the blood that ran down to his eyes from the gash on his head, Trowa's eyes widened at the sight of the army entering the scene behind their foes. Noting the deep green of their uniforms, the Commander cried in elation, "It's the Prusian Army!"
The shout that broke from the Shay army vibrated in their air as their neighboring allies entered the scene to help finish destroying what was left of the rebels and Gragon men. Not one was left standing, nor shown any mercy.
At the end of the fight, as those left of the Shay army moved about to restore what they could, Trowa ran over to where Kumi was standing over a few of the dead soldiers that she managed to overtake. Gasping at the sight of the blood in her hand and on most of her body, his eyes widened as he whispered, "Kumi."
Looking up to him, he could see that there was a deep cut that ran under her left eye from her jawline to the bridge of her nose that was bleeding. From a quick inspection, he found it was the only blood on her that was actually her own. Her cobalt eyes widened the moment she saw him, taking in his own cuts and bruises as she sighed in relief, "Trowa." They threw their arms around each other in a tight embrace, both reassuring themselves that the other was all right.
An officer from the Prusian army, in full silver body armor, rode towards them on their white stead. The couple broke their embrace as Trowa walked up towards the officer, a determined look in his eyes once again. Dismounting, the rider removed their helmet and smiled warmly, "It is good to see you again, Commander Barton."
His green eyes widening, Trowa quickly lowered his head and bowed on one knee. Before he could speak, the tall woman chuckled deeply, "No need for bowing, Trowa. I am not the Dutchess of Prusia in battle. You can just refer to me as Noin."
Trowa rose to his feet, his eyes still wide as he commented, "I beg your pardon for my surprise, Noin. After all, we are good friends, but how is it that you have come to help lead your father's men?'
Noin replied in a determined voice, "My brother was killed at the hands of Treize and his men. When my father, King Noventa ordered that we joined the fight, I decreed myself a Commander of our army, just as my brother had been. I will be an instrument to avenging those killed by Treize. We also have a great mass of our army heading to your Eastern fields, to aid your armies there."
Smiling at that, Trowa nodded, "It will be an honor fighting alongside you in that cause." The two shook hands firmly, sealing the pact between Shay and Prusia in their mission at hand.
* * * * * *
That evening, once the hard work in cleaning up what was left from the battle had been done, those lookouts from Prusia offered to take watch to relieve all those Shay soldiers still standing. With the addition of the Prusian reinforcements along with their supplies that traveled with them, things were finally beginning to look up for the once small army facing the masses of two great forces.
Once the small clan of friends reunited, bruised, beaten and exhausted, there was little discussion of the day's events between them. While there was mention of how surprisingly well Sette and Kumi defended themselves, as well as the fact that their numbers just tripled in a few hours, the rest was left unspoken. There were too many losses, faces that they knew whether from seeing them back at Shay or during training. When it was dwelled on, it became overwhelming.
The next morning, Heero and Duo decided to relax in the lake just beyond the trees surrounding the northern edge of the battlefield. It was just close enough that should they run into any danger, it was a short run into the open field where the lookouts and archers would be able to spot and defend them, yet secluded enough to allow them their privacy.
Both down to only their cut off pants for swimming, they rested in the lake, half in and half out of the water as they lounged against the shore line. Sighing deeply, Heero rested his head back against the bank and closed his eyes. Duo smiled and watched from where he was laying much the same beside him. Sitting up, the fey swam over to stretch himself over his love, lowering his head to kiss his lips softly as his eyes drifted shut.
With a soft moan, Heero reached up and cupped a hand on the back of Duo's braided head, kissing him back thoroughly as his eyes remained closed. The kiss deepened quickly as the young soldiers wrapped their arms tightly around each other. When they broke apart only for the need of air, they gazed into their partner's eyes as they panted softly. "God, I don't think I'll ever get over how you make me feel," Duo breathed in an unsteady voice.
Smiling lovingly up at him, Heero replied just as softly, "Nor I you." He sat up enough to hold the fey against him with one arm. As Duo rested his head against his shoulder, the boy requested, "Tell me about your kind."
He could feel the creature in his embrace smile against his shoulder as he nodded and asked, "What would you like to know?"
There were so many things spinning in Heero's mind that he was not sure what to talk about first. Finally, he just picked one and replied, his intrigue clear in his voice, "Tell me about female fey."
Duo sat up a bit, but did not move to leave the gentle hold on him as he began, "Well, I would be able to tell you a great deal about them. After all, there are just as many, if not more female soldiers in our fey army than the males."
Heero's eyes widened as he sat up, gasping, "What!?" Shaking his head in disbelief, he questioned, "Since when were there women in the fey army?"
At that, Duo's head fell back with a loud fit of laughter. "You and Wufei," he managed to chuckle out as finally calmed himself. Looking into his love's confused and shocked eyes, he smiled, "I did tell you that the first born of every fey family is given over to fight for the protection of the Queen and their home. You made the assumption that I meant all firstborn males. But, I never said that and not all firstborns come out as males."
The Japanese soldier bit his bottom lip, thinking on what he was being told and then asked, "So they are given the same training as any male would?"
Nodding, the fey watched him with all seriousness in his expression as he answered, "You will never find a fiercer warrior than that of a woman protecting her kin. They would face death, themselves, before any harm came to their families, their home."
He pulled back a bit to swim before Heero, keeping their eyes locked as he continued, "That's another reason why I gave Kumi and Sette those weapons. I could see the same fire and determination in them. I knew they would come out to help in protecting Shay and their loved ones there." His smile returned as he shrugged, "And I was right. Look at how well they handled themselves yesterday."
In recalling the gruesome events of the previous morning, Heero recalled how calmly Sette returned to the others alongside Wufei. She laughed carelessly when Quatre ran up to hug the life out of her in relief of finding her to be fine. And really, she did not have any more scars or bruises on her than even those men that had been in the Shay army for years. Even Wufei was dumbfounded at the tomboy's abilities to handle herself in such a battle. The Captain had mentioned several times to his friends that he would gladly fight by her side again. Coming from Wufei, to say that was a compliment would be a great understatement.
From there, he recalled how Kumi returned along with Trowa and instead of nursing the deep wound on her own face, went to the infirmary tents immediately to see if she could help. After having to fight in such a heated attack, her only concern was in protecting those who needed help. That night, she finally took a break to have the deep cut on her face stitched. It would obviously scar her permanently, but she never paid mind to it. Heero remembered how she cleaned her bloodied dagger that evening as they all sat for dinner. Thought she had no training in how to care for a weapon, she was as precise and careful with her blade as though she held it all her life.
Duo sighed deeply, breaking Heero's thoughts as he smiled wistfully, "The female fey are much like the women here. They're beautiful and very soft spoken, even those in the army." His smile saddened a bit as he said quietly, "The Queen is especially radiant."
At the mention of the Queen, Heero swam out to his love, watching and listening intently as he silently asked to learn more. The fey lowered his head slightly as he explained, "Queen Dorothy has clear, blue eyes and long blonde hair."
Heero smiled slightly and gestured to his partner's braid as he asked, "Longer than yours?"
"Yes, even longer than my own," Duo chuckled lightly. "It almost touches the ground when she stands." The awe in Heero's eyes returned as he tried to imagine such a creature. "Her wings are like those of a butterfly," the fey went on to describe, "only they are transparent and filled with much more color."
A sad frown fell on his lips as he whispered, "I miss her... She was the closest thing to a mother that I had, as her Blade."
"Mother..." Heero frowned and questioned, "What happened to your mother?"
Duo shrugged and replied, "I never knew her, or my father. Once the oldest is given to the fey army, all family ties are cut as the devotion of every soldier is only to their duty."
Tilting his head to the side slightly, the Japanese boy took everything in, processing it and admiring the creature before him all the more as he got to know him. The things that he had to endure as a soldier and with the additional great burden on his shoulders as the Blade, Heero couldn't even begin to fathom how anyone could be so strong. "Your Queen... she treated you well?" he heard himself ask in a concerned voice.
He won a deep chuckle and a warm smile as Duo nodded, "As well as anyone with so much on her own shoulders can do." At last, he looked up to meet his love's eyes as he said, "She gave me a home and as much support and affection as she could give."
With a slight blush, he snickered, "As long as I've been her Blade, she would tuck me in every night and she always gave a kiss on my forehead before I went to sleep."
"Duo the Blade getting bedtime kisses," Heero smiled in wonder. "Is that what you miss?"
Nodding, Duo admitted, "One of the things. Just knowing that there was someone who actually loved me is the main thing."
As they continued to swim in the middle of the lake, Heero reached out and took one of Duo's hands in his own, squeezing it. Pulling his partner towards him, he kissed him soundly. Pulling back, he kept hold of the hand in his grasp. "Well, I love you," he said in a quiet but firm voice. He smiled shyly, "And I could give you a kiss every night... if you wanted."
The fey blinked his wide violet eyes in shock at him. He then smiled lovingly and squeezed Heero's hand as he nodded, "I'd... I'd really like that." His voice was filled with emotion then as he whispered, "Thank you."
The air was cut as an arrow soared out, flying just over their heads and embedding itself in one of the trees behind them. Instantly alert, the pair quickly swam back to the shore, looking about to see any signs of the archer. Finding that all was still, Duo walked over to the arrow where it stuck out from the thick tree trunk.
Removing the rolled letter attached to the arrow shaft, he unrolled the paper and read quietly. Heero approached with a concerned, "Duo?"
His violet eyes narrowing, Duo growled deeply, "It's Zechs. He wants to meet with me." Looking up to the boy's eyes, he announced quietly, "Alone."
TBC...
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