Beyond All Doubt Part 5
It was just over a month since Duo stumbled into the lives of his newfound friends, he had been serving as an official soldier in the Shay Army for nearly a week. In that time, he and Heero were stationed throughout the city, taking shifts on guard as they silently wondered when the impending battle would begin. Trowa had told them that Treize was never on to strike when it was expected. He also said to enjoy their time in the city while they could, since there was no telling when the first attack would come.
After having their breakfast, Trowa, Heero and Duo each gave Kumi a peck on the cheek as they did each morning before leaving to start their shift. Each taking to their own horse, gifts from Quatre and his wealthy family, they rode down the tall hill towards the city to learn where they would be asked to stand watch. As always, they each carried a pack filled with equipment and necessities that might be expectedly needed. Since more than eight hundred strong several days before to survey the surrounding woods, they were all on their guard more than usual.
Heero kept a few paces behind Trowa with Duo at his side. Gripping onto his reigns with one hand, he held the hilt of his sword with the other as if he was seeking a bit of comfort from holding it. Duo looked over and smiled at him, "It's okay to let your sword go every once in a while, Heero. Your hand will fall asleep soon at that rate."
Blinking at him, Heero looked down to gaze at his hand on the hilt as if just realizing that it was there. With a nod as he looked ahead again, he released his sword. Smiling sadly at him, Duo reached over to pat his back reassuringly.
The Japanese boy flashed him a small, grateful smile as he relaxed both his hands on the reigns as he gazed ahead again, following Trowa down the road. Sitting up in his saddle a bit, the braided fey called forward, "Hey, Trowa, how much longer to our station?"
Gazing back over his shoulder, the tall Commander answered, "We have to stop at the castle first to meet up with my commanding officer. Our station will be decided on there, since we're short quite some soldiers now."
At the sound of hurried horse hooves pounding the ground ahead of them, the trio looked up as Wufei rushed towards them with a frightened look on his face. Seeing his three friends, he shouted, "Trowa!" As they stopped their horses, Heero and Duo shared a quick, concerned glance, neither one ever seeing Wufei look so nervous before.
When their friend stopped before them, panting, Trowa's face became serious as he asked, "Wufei, what's wrong?"
Swallowing hard as he caught his breath, the Captain straightened in his saddle and frowned grimly, "We just received word from our of our scouts that many of our men were killed by the Clan in their sleep two nights ago. Their numbers have been cut and many of the higher rank officers sent with them are dead."
Trowa cursed harshly to himself as Heero and Duo listened with wide eyes. Their tall comrade turned his head away and chewed on his bottom lip in thought for a brief moment before nodding to himself. Looking back to the Chinese Captain, he instructed, "I want you to head the rest of the way to the castle, where the rest of my troops will be meeting. Lead them along with your own men under the orders to meet me in the field where our first army was sent."
Gesturing to the soldiers behind him, he stated, "I'll ride ahead with these two to check on the damage. We'll see what we can do there until you arrive." Looking to the sky to judge the time of the day, he thought aloud, "We'll have to stop for the night in our travel... but there should be enough time to spare to get a few quick hours of sleep."
His eyes widening, Wufei replied, "Trowa, to arrange that large of an army along with supplies, we will be at least three days behind you."
Nodding at that, Trowa said, "Well, we'll just have to hold out that long until you catch up. It's not safe to just leave our men out there without any assistance. If the situation is as bad as you say, they might not have any living officers to give them guidance."
Straightening himself at that, the Captain nodded back firmly, "Right. My forces along with yours will be out as soon as I am able to organize them when I reach the castle. I'll see about getting as many supplies as we can get our hands on as well." Looking to the three of his friends, he said quietly, "Good luck, all of you." Turning his horse quickly, he raced for the castle.
Watching after him for a moment, Trowa then turned his own horse down the other fork in the dirt path, leading into the thick wood. Without hesitance, Heero and Duo steered their own steeds to follow him. Frowning to himself, the tall young man muttered. "Looks like we'll be there sooner then I'd expected."
Behind him, Heero asked, "Trowa, is it safe to stop for the night if they were ambushed? Don't they need us right away?"
"It's a risk better taken," his sister's mate answered as he peered over his shoulder. "Better to have fresh men arrive, then to ride into battle when we can barely keep our eyes open. Unfortunately, the bad timing can't be helped right now."
Duo grinned slightly, "Well, it had been a while since I've spent some time camping in the woods at night. Sounds like fun." Heero smirked the smallest bit as he looked to the braided soldier beside him.
Snorting, Trowa rolled his eyes but graced Duo with a tiny smile and a shake of the head, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood for what it was. "Let's get as much riding in as we can before the sun sets," he suggested. With that, he looked forward and kicked his heels into his white mare before riding quickly for the wood.
Following his example, Heero and Duo rode just behind him. Turning to peer over his shoulder, Heero looked over the small cottage on the tall hill over the city they passed. He watched the cottage for as long as he could see it before the thick cover of trees concealed it, silently wondering if he would ever see it again.
As he looked forward again, he noticed that his friend to his right just turned his own head from the same direction as their eyes met. Blinking his violet in surprise, Duo smiled slightly at him before winking reassuringly at him, silently telling him everything would all right. Strangely enough to Heero, he believed his silent reassurance. They both looked ahead without a word between them as they prepared themselves for what they may find, and what they may need to face.
* * * * * *
At the last signs of sunlight fading through the already dark woods, Duo blew on the fire that he built after he and his comrades made camp. While they had small tents of their own along with the necessities that they always carried, they decided against them as to be able to move at first light. Taking up two spikes lanced with rabbit meat, he laid them over the flames. Sitting back as he watched the fire silently, he heard the distant hooting of an owl. 'You're not one of them.'
Smiling to himself, Duo looked in the direction of the call and hooted back, 'No. And I know the sound of a mother owl searching for food.' There was stillness at that and Duo chuckled deeply to himself, suspecting that to be on the account of surprise.
The hooting returned, this time closer and with a strange tone of curiosity. Trowa walked into the small camp area after finishing with his own tent. Sitting by the fire, he remained quiet as he watched and listened the exchange between Duo and the owl. Finally, the large foul flew down from its hiding place, perching on the rock beside Duo. Smiling warmly, Duo held out a handful of seed that the owl eat gratefully.
Folding his arms, Trowa smirked, "A warrior and a ranger, that's quite a bit of skills you have." Duo grinned back at him, almost nervously, in response. Heero walked into the camp area with a pile of woods in his hand. Watching the scene he stepped into, trying not to disturb the owl, he carefully began setting the wood near the fire.
Taking out a small pouch of seeds from his own personal pack that he always carried, Duo looked back down to his companion. Holding out the pack to the owl, he cooed quietly. 'That should be enough to help you and your little ones." She hopped forward and nuzzled his hand gently before taking the pouch in her beak and flying off as Duo's eyes followed.
Looking back to the Captain as the light from the fire cast dark and light splashes over them, he shrugged, "Where I am from, we actually learn a lot from the birds and animals in places like this. They can be very resourceful when they're helped as well."
With understanding clear in his eyes, Trowa nodded. Frowning slightly, Heero tilted his head slightly and questioned, "Helpful? How so."
Grinning at him, the fey replied, "Would you believe that if they were helped when in trouble, they would return the favor to the person who aided them?"
Heero blinked at him and gave him a strange look. "I've never heard of that before," he said honestly.
"It's the same concept as training a dog to help you hunt," Trowa explained. Looking back to the braided soldier, he asked, "Though what you're referring to is more of a partnership than ownership, am I right?"
Duo smiled brightly and nodded with enthusiasm, both out of relief that he did not give Trowa any reason to become any more suspicious of him and just being grateful that he was understood. "Exactly," he answered. "Most people never consider the same of other animals, sadly."
Again, the tall Commander nodded before rising to his feet. "You two get some sleep," he instructed as he walked towards the edge of light made by the fire. "I'm going to keep watch and check out the area some more."
Stretching, Duo yawned, "I'll take the next shift. Just wake me when you get back." Trowa nodded back and walked off into the trees, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he disappeared into the darkness.
Removing his sleeping mat from the back of his horse, Heero rolled it out by the fire. Instead of lying down, he sat on top of it and just stared into the fire. Duo looked off in the direction where the owl had flown off and hooted again. 'The one that went off is my friend. Please see that he is looked after.' This time, three deeper-voiced owls responded before they flew over their heads and in Trowa's direction without the Commander's knowing.
Turning back to face the fire, Duo chuckled deeply, "Very resourceful." Looking over to his friend, he gazed into the cobalt eyes that had been watching him in curiosity. "What are you thinking?" he asked quietly.
Shrugging, his friend answered, "About a lot of things, I suppose."
"Not quite the life of a soldier you were expecting, I take it," the fey inquired as he leaned back with his hand planted behind him for support.
Frowning deeply, Heero admitted, "Now that I think of it... I guess I wasn't expecting to be this nervous about it." Lowering his head, he pulled his legs against his chest and sighed deeply, "The fantasy isn't nearly as unnerving as the reality."
Smiling sadly, Duo nodded, "It never is." Biting his bottom lip, he moved over to sit beside his friend. In silence, they both watched the fire before them as their thoughts continued to run away with them. After a long silence, the braided teenager whispered, "I'm sorry."
As he shook his head, Heero said, "Don't be sorry, this is what I want." His voice became firm again as he stated, "I'm not going to let a little nervousness get in my way of my duty. I'll be fine."
Duo sighed and frowned, "I'm not just sorry about that." The other boy watched him with uncertainty in his eyes as he lowered his head, his gaze on the flames, as he began, "I know you're not one to trust anyone easily. And with the little you know about me, I can only imaging how difficult it's been for you to trust me as much as you do."
Heero blinked, his features softening and his tension somewhat lifting as he watched his comrade and said quietly, "I just wish that there was more I could tell you, but.. I appreciate your patience with me more than I can tell you."
Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, the Japanese soldier shrugged and replied sincerely, "I know you have your reasons. There's nothing to apologize for." At the sight of Duo's relieved smile, Heero gave a small grin in response that faded quickly as he said quietly, "Just don't run off in the middle of a battle or anything, okay? It'll be nice to have a familiar face beside me."
Looking up at him, Duo smiled warmly and stated firmly as to clear any doubt, "I'll never leave your side." His friend back then turned to gaze quietly at the fire again. "You should get some sleep, Heero," he suggested. The other soldier grunted quietly in affirmation as he laid down onto his pad, pulling the top of it over his body and curling on his side with his sword lying before him, in reach.
As he watched the human sleep peacefully, Duo sighed deeply to himself. Finally coming to grips with his own conflicting emotions that he had been suppressing. A shiver ran through him and he pulled his legs toward him. Running a hand through his bangs, he turned back to the fire and frowned, "Now how am I going to get out of this?"
* * * * * *
The next evening, Wufei continued to lead the second wave of troops to the battlefield, a day's travel behind his friends as he promised. "We're moving faster than I had hoped," he muttered to himself. "At this rate, we should reach the others in about two more nights."
While moving such a large unit through the thick woods was proving to be more than a challenge, he and his fellow officers saw to moving their men as much as they could. It proved to be paying off since they were more than a day ahead of what Wufei anticipated at this point.
Having decided to stop before it became too dark, he gazed over the more than eight hundred strong that he was able to organize to see that their small camp was being set. From there, he scanned the woods around them for any signs of movement in caution that Treize's clan might have moved closer to the castle.
One of the soldiers rode his way towards the Chinese Captain with a concerned look on his face as he said, "Sir... we have a situation."
If it wasn't one thing...Wufei growled deeply to himself. Peering over to the older man, he frowned, "What kind of situation, soldier?"
Three soldiers were led to the Commander by two other troops. When they stopped before him, the three shackled soldiers had their helmets removed from their captors and their heads slowly lifted. Wufei's dark eyes widened in shock as he all but shouted, "What are you doing here?"
Kumi bit her bottom lip as she glanced from Quatre at her right to Sette at her left them back to the young man before them as she said, "We came to help."
Sighing deeply, the Captain raised his hand to the other soldiers and ordered, "Remove their restraints and leave us." Quickly, the three captors follower his command and rode back to the temporary encampment.
Dismounting from their horses, his friends waited with stern faces as he approached them. They were each dressed in dark trousers and pants under the uniforms that Wufei quickly recognized as the spare armory and uniforms from Trowa, Duo and Heero. "Of all the stupid stunts to pull," he ground out as he shook his head. "Sette I would expect something like this from, but you, Quatre and Kumi?"
"Hey!" Sette shouted with an indignant look on her face. "I resent that statement. Whoever's idea this was doesn't matter anyway- you need us."
His eyes still narrowed, Wufei turned his head sharply to Quatre and snapped, "I am the most surprised with you... of all people. You hate even the thought of fighting. What made you decide to go a long with this?"
Quatre glared back and explained firmly, "My father has many dealings with authorities in the castle. He knows of the graveness of this situation and told me that if there even with the reserved soldiers that have yet to leave the Shay Kingdom, we still may not have enough to defend it. I may not be one to support warfare, however, what we are engaged in is a more than that. A massacre has been ordered on our people, and I won't stand back to let it happen."
All of his friends straightened with wide eyes at the sternness on his voice and posture. Clearing his throat, the Captain lowered his head and ran a hand over his smoothed hair pulled back in a short ponytail. There was nothing he could say to retort that argument.
Kumi's cobalt eyes softened, but her hand remained gripped to the hilt of the dagger hitched to the belt of her trousers as she said, "Wufei, you know that we'll only find our way to the fight if you send us back to Shay now. You can't stop us from wanting to defend our home." Her voice drew quiet as she asked, "Please just let us go with you."
Looking up to them, Wufei gazed into each pair of eyes. Seeing a determination in each that could not be swayed, he sighed deeply at last, "Fine. Better to have you with us to make sure you're not harmed on you way back to the kingdom."
He began to walk past them beck to the rest of the army. Turning back to his friends, he pointed at them and concluded for good measure, "But Trowa is not going to like this at all when we catch up with him."
At that, he made his way back to the temporary encampment. Each grinning at each other in their victory, the stowaways relaxed their shoulders. Without a word between them, they went to help set of their small colony for the evening.
* * * * * *
That same evening, Trowa, Heero and Duo arrived at what remained of the Shay encampment in the wide-open field. Several tents remained tattered on the ground as they had collapsed others still remained in charred remains. There were only a few soldiers in plain sight patrolling the outer edge of the camp, while the rest were clustered in the many, large 'infirmity tents,' either wounded or taking care of their wounded comrades. Trowa led the group quickly to the edge of the clear field, dismounting as one of the scouts ran up, ready to attack as he raised his sword.
Trowa remained still as the boy, who could not have been more than eighteen, slowed in his steps when he neared enough to recognize him. His green eyes wide with shock, he yelled as he ran to him, "Commander Barton!" Stopping before him, he panted, "S-sir, w-we were hoping you would come soon." Duo and Trowa dismounted from their own horses and eyed the area as they wait patiently at each other's side.
Nodding reassuringly, Trowa asked, "What is the current situation?"
Biting his lip, the frightened soldier answered, "Sir, most of our Generals along with almost half of our men are dead, or in poor condition. Several men are missing and the injury toll is growing. The area, however, is secure for the time being." His frown deepened as he said gravely, "You're the highest ranked soldier that we have had here in four days."
Looking to the tents that had belonged to the ranked officers with wide eyes, Trowa listened as the young boy continued, "They attacked us in the middle of the night after killing our lookouts surveying the boundaries of the field. We had no way of being able to defend against their numbers without their warning."
His became panicked and his eyes wide as he recalled, "Before long, many of our supply tents had been burned to the ground. And just when we swore it wouldn't end, it was over as quickly as it started." His head began to shake frantically, "I never saw anything like it, sir, people were screaming and dying all around."
Smiling reassuringly, Duo walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder gently as he said soothingly, "Easy, soldier. You all did a good job in seeing that it didn't end much worse than this. From what I can see, you all managed to protect half of what you were sent here with."
Breaking from his terrifying memories from that night, the smaller redhead blinked up at him. Taking a shuddering breath, he gave him a small smile of gratitude as he replied, "A lot of my friends and I are new recruits in this unit. We did the best that we could."
Trowa gave him a stern nod, stated, "You all did well. Just take a moment to relax." At the sight of the young soldier's shoulders falling, he asked, What is your name?"
Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat and answered in a shaky voice, "David Grayson, sir. I was under Commander Zari's lead before he had been killed."
Taking a deep breath at that, Trowa lowered his head. Zari had been a good soldier and comrade to him as long as he had been enlisted in the Shay army. Recalling all of those officers sent out to lead this young army, he remembered how that all had fought hard along with him to capture Treize. After all that, they were still cut down by him. His teeth gritted and fists clenched tightly at that the unfairness of that. Now, he was the one to be in charge in their absence until the next unit caught up with them.
Looking back to the small recruit as he straightened himself, he commanded, "I need you to round up everyone you can to increase the patrol of the camp. Any outlining tents that are not being used should be collapsed so that we have less of an area that needs to guarded and defended. Leave only those with ample knowledge of healing to take care of the wounded. Our main concern right now is to make sure that we aren't ambushed again. Let all those soldiers you come in contact with know that another wave of our army will be here in a matter of days so we have to hold out until they arrive. "
Saluting and straightening himself, clearly relieved at the news of support on the way, the boy answered excitedly, "Yes sir." Quickly, he ran off to the camp to carry out his orders.
Duo sighed deeply and looked to the sky as he announced, "We will only have the sun up for another two hours at the most." Looking back to the Captain, he offered, "I would like to see if I can help in the infirmary tents. I do have knowledge in medicines."
Trowa nodded, "All right. But as soon as you're finished, I want you to join Heero and stand guard with him. I'd like you two to stay near the main tents gathered in the center. If there was no way of telling where the attack came from, we'll need to be at the center of it all to reach the point of the next strike as quickly as we can. I'll patrol the eastern side; you both take the west."
Heero nodded, "No telling when those bastards will decide to show up again. I'm surprised they haven't been attacked in four nights since the last strike."
Growling deeply, Duo commented, "Treize and his army are playing a game with them. They want them to be too scared to move anywhere into the woods since that's where they're hiding. They want to strike when it's not expected to make their prey nervous."
"Exactly what I've been thinking," Trowa agreed. "I'll see that we're relieved in the morning but for tonight, I want the three of us on our best guard." At that, quickly mounted his horse and rode to the camp with Heero and Duo following in suit.
* * * * * *
Despite the tension in the air, it was a beautiful night when the sun had faded to reveal wave after wave of stars amidst the deep blue ocean of the sky. A little warmer this evening than it had been, there was no need for long sleeves or blankets to be comfortable. The only sounds were those of an occasional howl from a wolf far off in the woods surrounding the open field.
From where he stood watch just beyond the main tents where he was stationed, Heero took a deep breath and looked up to the sky. "It's too quiet," he frowned to himself.
His braided friend walked up silently beside him, obviously having done all he could in looking after those injured. The sad look on his face faded when he neared and smiled warmly, "Hey. How are you faring?"
Shrugging, the Japanese soldier replied, "Fine. A little nervous... it's hard to keep an eye on everything."
Duo nodded, "You're doing fine. We can only do so much in a situation like this." His right hand lowered to grip the hilt of his sword as he gazed around the surroundings.
After a long pause, Heero peered at him from the corner of his eye and asked quietly, "How are the others back at the camp?"
Frowning deeply, the sadness that had been hidden returned as the fey answered, "A few won't make it to morning, but most of the injured will make the ride back to Shay." Heero's own frown deepened at the news, his cobalt eyes still scanning the area around them.
Seeing the slight fear that his comrade was trying so hard to conceal, Duo said reassuringly, "You don't have to worry, Heero. I meant what I said about not leaving your side if anything should happen."
Glancing back at him, Heero blinked. At the sincerity in those violet eyes, he gave a small smile and replied softly, "Thanks." At that, he turned back again to scan their surroundings.
The silence lasted for another couple hours, nothing stirring. Suddenly, a loud cry pierced through the quiet from the east side of the camp as it shouted in a shrill voice, "Ambush!"
TBC...
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