The Knights' Chronicles Part 12
"Something terrible?" Heero repeated, a deep frown on his face. "If you are not sure what is in the future, how do you know there is something to be worried about?" Seated at either side of him, Wufei and Anna exchanged a glance before they turned their gazes back to the seer across the campfire.
Understanding that her friends were not gifted and so did not grasp what she was trying to convey, Relena explained patiently, "It is the very fact that I do not know what it is that has myself, and every oracle, absolutely terrified."
When not only the knights-in-training but Wing and Nataku lying behind them seemed all the more lost, she leaned forward and continued, "You see, there is only so far in the future that my gift... my third eye can see. Any time beyond that, there is absolutely nothing but darkness. And it is not only the same for me, but for every seer in this world that has been contacted and replied to Romefeller."
At that, it was as though a door to realization was opened to the soldiers across from her as they suddenly sat upright, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "Y-you mean... there is a certain future that your ability will be closed off from?" Anna breathed.
"Yes," the blonde girl nodded firmly with a soft sigh. "When I attempted to see your knighting, I was unable to see beyond the black veil that has fallen. Hard as I tried to push through it, there was no way around. At first, I thought that I may have done something wrong in calling for the vision. But that night when I met with Dallion, her gift came up against the same blackness."
Shifting, Relena went on, "Messages were sent to all of the lands, magically sealed so that only the seers stationed their could open them. They were notices of what had been discovered and they were all requested to report back if any one of them could see beyond."
She bit her lip before whispering, "Not a one of the hundreds could. Even those who may have once been able to see no longer could and their past visions were completely wiped away."
More glances, much more concerned ones this time around, were passed amongst the young knights-in-training. Shifting forward so far that they nearly fell off the large rocks that were the seats beneath them, their full attention had been captured.
"Is there any insight to the events that lead up to that... darkness?" Wufei questioned, his voice so low that it was nearly carried away on the breeze that blew past them.
Physically shuddering, Relena wrapped her arms against a deeper chill than what had fallen that evening. "Even that is hazy to us," she replied, her skin paling. "We have reason to believe that magic is what is causing the troubles with our sight. We cannot pin down the source, or why it would be causing this. I fear that we will not want to know what is behind the veil that they have placed. It is difficult to believe that any good was intended with this spell."
Quatre sat closer to his partner when her shivering worsened and pulled her close against him to fend off her growing fears. Swallowing roughly, he met the frightened stares on them and told them sincerely, "Again, I apologize for keeping all of this from you for so long now."
Shaking his head, the empath's eyes revealed a fine hint of circles beneath them in the light of the fire as he frowned, "But I do hope in your hearing of this that you understand why I thought it best to do so. We do not yet know what we are up against here and I did not want you to be alarmed beforehand. However, you are our friends and Relena was right in her insisting that you deserve the right to know."
His hand raising, Heero noticed that the fine hairs on his arm were standing on their ends. "No need to apologize, Quatre. I can only assume what a burden this has been on you to have to keep this secret for so long."
"No kidding," Wufei muttered under his breath. Running a hand over his hair in his usual nervous gesture, he sighed deeply, "How long do we have before we move on in life unseen by this blackness?"
Hesitant, Relena chewed on the inside of her cheek before answering, "We can clearly see for the next fifteen years before our visions begin to cloud. The events beyond that and before the block on our gift takes hold are a giant puzzle that we are trying to piece together as best we can."
"Fifteen years from now," Anna murmured. Turning to her 'brothers,' she computed aloud, "We would be just shy of turning sixteen by then... knighthood is bestowed at eighteen, when the training is completed. That is well beyond the time when the darkness would fall." Which all made sense to why the seer could not envision the event. [1]
Once again, cold waves of fright rose up around the lot. Wing let out a sharp snort while Sand Rock and Nataku stewed the information over beside him with a look of resolve crossing their features.
There was still one point hanging in the air that no one was exactly willing to bring up. That was until Heero could no longer hold back. Swallowing, he leaned further forward and questioned in a rare nervous tone, "Magic of this sort, one that blocks and covers in darkness... is it safe to say that the Keeper could somehow be involved?"
Even as the words left him, he felt himself shake involuntarily. Both Wufei and Anna hissed in sharp breathy gasps and stared in disbelief at the knight between them that he would ever bring up such a notion.
Lowering her head, the archer made a sign of the cross as the swordsman etched a small cross over his heart with his thumb in silent prayers to the Creator. Few dared ever bring up the dreaded Lord of Death and the Underworld of damned souls. For that unholy being to have any influence in their world of the living... it was too incomparable a nightmare.
"That cannot be," Chang laughed tensely. "Surely there would have to be another explanation." Focusing back on the gifted couple, he almost pleaded, "There is another answer... right?"
Another glance was exchanged between the pair, their delay in answering enough to make their friends hold their breath. Slowly, Relena peered back to the knights and forced a smile. "Though there would be reason to believe that it is a possibility as you had said looking at the qualities of the spell, Heero, there could be another explanation."
Just as her friends began to ease, she warned softly, "However, nothing is bring ruled out at this point. Nothing like this has ever been documented before in all of the existence of our world and so we are literally going into this blindly. Every possibility must be considered in solving this."
While what the oracle had to say was reassuring in one sense, there was still the great concern that she did not give them a firm certainty that the Keeper had no part in what was to come.
"For all that we know, there could be nothing wrong at all," Quatre said, waving his hand in the air. "Until we have more answers, there really is nothing more that we can do. I am convinced that we will have more figured out over time and all of this could end up being something that we will laugh about when we look back on how scared we made ourselves."
Yes, that was all very possible. But the empath was not exactly doing much to put himself at more ease, let alone the others gathered at the campfire. Regardless what the situation really was, however, he was most certainly right about one thing...
There was nothing that any of them were able to do at the moment to solve the mystery of the unseen future. Until there was more that they could actually play a part in to reaching a firm conclusion, no good would come out of their worrying for now.
Sighing, Heero rubbed the back of his neck and declared, "Well, we can get a good night's rest as something productive. We will have to make an early start back to the encampment and get Nataku settled into her new home."
The green steed's large head rose with a bright chirp at that. Smiling, her whole body wiggled from the rapid flapping of her tail. Wufei snickered and reached back to pat her snout. "Yes, you will actually have a bed of hay to sleep in. I have a feeling that will be quite the change for you." Nataku leaned into his patting as a deep purr rumbled from deep in her chest.
Relena reached up to cover the wide yawn that escaped her mouth. "Sleep sounds wonderful after all of today's excitement," she grinned tiredly.
"I could not agree more," Quatre seconded with a yawn of his own. Together, the couple moved for the blankets that they had stretched out as their bed for the night and began settled down.
Climbing to his feet, Yuy adjusted the blade at his side and announced to his 'siblings,' "I will take the first watch for the night." That said, he headed off into the darkness. "Come on, boy," he urged quietly when he passed his steed with a gentle pat to the long, white muzzle. Wing rose quickly and spun himself to follow close behind his rider.
Anna glanced over to see that the gifted couple were already safe under their covers, curled up together and blissfully resting. Shrugging when she met Wufei's gaze, she offered, "I will most likely be able to take the rest of the watch when Heero is ready to be relieved." Shuddering, she frowned, "I doubt that I will be able to sleep tonight."
Snorting, Wufei stared off into the fire and said quietly, "I highly doubt that I will be resting well for the next few months."
* * * * * *
The following morning, the vacationers returned to the knight encampment to the large gathering of trainees and officers alike to have a good look at the newest arrival. Lowering her head in the center of the ring of people that had formed, Nataku brought Wufei close enough to the ground that he was able to jump down from the top of her head.
"Welcome home, girl," the swordsman grinned as he patted his steed's muzzle. Like his 'siblings' joining him, he bore dark circles under his tired eyes.
Commander Lowe and Captain Fraise made their way past the excited teenagers standing around and appraised the green dragon. "You have a lovely dragon there, Wufei," Odin complimented, a pleased grin on his face. "We have been looking forward to meeting her since Heero rushed in yesterday. She will most certainly make a wonderful addition to the team that has been forming."
At the kind man's words, Nataku leaned in towards the officers to accept more pats with a wide smile on her face. His hand running over her smooth muzzle, Justin looked to his three charges and asked, "How in the world did you manage to free a frantic dragon of this size from the Sand Pits?"
Wincing, Wufei flashed a nervous look to Heero and Anna. The archer glared back and folded her arms while his 'brother' gave a shrug as his eyes bore his regret at not being able to help. Sighing, Chang peered back to his officers and answered, "I... I thought that if I was in danger, it would be enough to get through to her."
Quickly putting the picture together with that explanation, Odin gasped and shouted, "You jumped into the pit with her?!" The swordsman winced again and nodded. Shaking his head, the Commander met Anna's eyes and smirked, "You certainly have your hands full with these two."
"You have no idea, sir," the redhead huffed.
Captain Fraise smirked, "We will discuss the matter more with you privately later, Chang. For now, just have Nataku get settled in."
Wufei's shoulders sagged in relief at having time to defend himself. Nodding firmly, he responded, "Yes, sir. Thank you." Glancing back at his dragon, he grinned, "This way, girl." All but running off, he led the way to the stables.
* * * * * *
Chuckling, the head squire of the knights' stable brushed his hands together as he stepped out of the building. Just beyond the main door, he found the newest dragon rider amidst the trainees sitting by anxiously with his friends.
Once all eyes fell on him, the gruff, bald man smirked, "She is one of the most pleasant of steeds that my team and I have ever had the pleasure of saddling. You are certainly a fortunate one to have been chosen by her."
Still grinning following his private meeting with Commander Lowe and Captain Fraise, who had gone considerable lighter on him than expected, Wufei jumped from his perch atop the haystack. "Thank you," he replied. "Nataku is ready, then?"
"More than ready for a flight," the squire nodded firmly, his smile growing. "She has had her fill of food and water, so it is safe to say that your dragon is well out of the woods when it comes to her nourishment. Now, she is just as anxious for a ride as you are."
Unable to contain his excitement, Chang's lips curled upward as far as they could. Bowing at the waist, he rushed out another 'thank you' while Heero, Anna, Relena and Quatre rose to their feet behind him. Stepping aside, the man snickered to himself as they quickly walked inside.
Along the way to the back of the facility, the dragons around watched the guests move past. Onyx, Tiny and Lion were amongst the more recent additions to the knight-in-training's pack. Their heads craning forward, they smiled at the pats and attention that the familiar teenagers heading past offered.
Then, Wing, Sand Rock and Nataku's stalls came into view. His heart hammering in his chest, Wufei reached the door of his steed and opened it. Inside, his green friend was aglow with pride and anticipation when her rider entered. Wiggling, she turned her long neck around to look on the leather saddle secured to her back.
When Wufei remained locked in place, Anna snorted, "Well, are you just going to stand there all day, or are we going to have a flight together?" The others laughed when the swordsman looked back with a sheepish grin on his face before they went to collect Wing and Sand Rock.
Fighting the growing butterflies in his stomach, Chang walked around Nataku. Though he had flown with her before, now that she was saddled, this was would be his first official flight as her rider. Stopping himself before he climbed up, he looked back to the redhead and requested, "Would you join me for this?"
Stunned, Anna's jaw fell. "M-me?" she stammered, pointing to her own chest. Shaking her head, she grinned, "Oh, I could not intrude. This should just be between you and Nataku. I can sit this one out."
But clearly the decision was not hers to make, she realized, when the green dragon turned her head around to lift her from the ground by the back of her tunic. "Hey!" the archer laughed only to find herself lowered into the saddle.
"I do not mind sharing this," Wufei said quietly, a pleased smile on his face as he climbed up and patted his steed's face in appreciation. Giving Nataku a private wink, he sat before the redhead and secured them both in his harness. Tight as the arrangement in the saddle was without an extender, the pair found themselves quite comfortable regardless.
Relenting, Anna sighed and wrapped her arms around her 'brother's' waist. "Very well," she smirked. Slowly leaning forward, she rested her head on his shoulder and told him quietly, "Thank you for this. I am honored."
Once again, Chang felt his heart jump in his chest and he swallowed roughly. Reaching back from the handhold that he was gripping, he squeezed her joined hands at his middle. "The honor is all mine," he said so quietly that it was lost to the sound of hay rustling as Nataku rose up.
Wing and Sand Rock were already charging through the main doors and soaring quickly out of sight when the green dragon was out in the breezeway. Her crystalline eyes focused ahead of her, she snorted, lowered her neck and sprang forward with intense speed. Then, within seconds, she and her charges were climbing into the skies.
Laughing at the thrill of it all, Wufei and Anna looped through the air with their friends. Biting her lip, the archer turned her head to nestle it against the swordsman's back. Her eyes closing, she sighed and allowed herself to feel for him what she had been struggling with for some time leading to that moment.
And there was no question from that moment on... she was in love with him.
* * * * * *
A steady rain fell the morning that Quatre and Relena's vacation came to an end. Sharing breakfast with their friends, the couple finished packing their belongings and readied themselves to head back to their homeland.
"I do wish that I could stay longer," Relena said sincerely as she pulled back from hugging Anna. In another couple years, when you have more allotted time for leave, we will all have to travel around this world together."
Beaming, the archer nodded, "That would be fantastic. I hope that the two of you have a safe flight back home." Sand Rock snorted and craned his head towards her. Laughing, she reassured, "Oh, I know that they are in safe claws with you, boy." The golden steed grinned widely and leaned into her hand running over the end of his snout.
Wing swooped into the stable gracefully and almost soundlessly. Removing his wet, hooded cloak, Heero jumped from his saddle and informed the gifted, "This front is passing over quite low. You will be able to punch through the rain pretty quickly to have clear skies for your flight."
"Very good," Quatre smiled. Extending his hand, he smirked, "It was wonderful staying with all of you."
After exchanging handshakes with Yuy and Chang, he leaned in close and to the three knights and whispered, "Of course you all know how important it is that you do not say anything beyond our ring here of what we discussed before. If word of what had been discovered were to spread, the storm that would rise up from the fear of the unknown..."
Shaking his head, Wufei held a hand up and stated, "No need to worry about that. You can trust us." Heero and Anna gave their silent and solemn vows by placing their fists over their hearts.
The empath chuckled, "Of course I can. And I do." That said, he turned to the archer to give her a tight embrace.
Odin stepped into the space and told his guests kindly, "I do hope that you enjoyed your stay this week. We always look forward to seeing the two of you."
"It never seems to be long enough, our visits here," Relena smiled to the Commander. "Thank you for the wonderful hospitality that you and your officers always show us, Odin." Quatre nodded in backing of the sentiment.
Snickering, the tall man appraised his charges and commented, "Well, I can see that you all have been having fun late into the night judging by how tired you three appear." Heero, Wufei and Anna glanced to one another and only then had a truly good look at how pale they had grown and how dark the rings under their eyes had gotten from their restless nights.
With the corner of his mouth curling up, Odin placed his fists at his hips and stated, "It will be back to business for all of us tomorrow, so hopefully you get a decent night's sleep for a change tonight or you will be dragging in your classes tomorrow." He completely missed the sheepish expression that flashed across the empath's face behind him.
Clearing his throat, Quatre grinned, "Oh, it is amazing how late the hour can grow on you when you are talking and reminiscing with friends. But not to worry."
His aquamarine eyes scanned over the gazes of his friends as he declared, "I have a feeling that they will be sleeping soundly once we have gone."
Though they felt no different, the knights-in-training knew that the blonde had used his gift on them. Up until then, not one was ready to have him use his empathic talents after being kept in the dark for as long as they had been by his hand. No doubt Quatre was aware of that and so had not intervened until now.
Following nearly a week of restless evenings and nightmares, the thought of sleep was all too welcoming for any reservations to arise. And as such, the trio smiled warmly in appreciation.
Quatre gave a smirk and a wink before he moved to his fianc¨Ĥe's side and wrapped his arms around her waist. Kissing her cheek, he asked, "Ready to go, my love?"
Relena leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed, "I suppose." Pulling their hooded cloaks around themselves, they bid their farewells once more to their host and friends. Then, climbing into Sand Rock's saddle, they waved as the great steed charged ahead and flew from the stable.
The moment their visitors disappeared, Anna's mouth fell open in a wide yawn that was echoed by her 'brothers.' "I could almost go for a nap right now," she mumbled with heavy eyelids.
"Me, too," Heero replied as he stretched his arms overhead. Leaning against the closed door to Nataku's stall, Wufei nodded.
Shaking his head in amusement, Odin moved back for the stable entrance and called over his shoulder, "I am glad that you all had fun. We resume our sessions bright and early tomorrow, so get all the rest that you can now." And with that, he pulled a hood over his head and stepped out of the stable.
Of course, the Commander was completely oblivious to there being any kind of magic involved in his pupils' sudden wave of exhaustion. There were many things that he and countless others were unaware of, Heero, Wufei and Anna thought to themselves.
Any other time those realizations would have left them unsettled. But at that moment, they were far too tired to worry about anything.
By the time they opened the divider between the stalls belonging to Wing and Nataku and laid down in the hay with the steeds, they were already half-asleep.
The moment they were settled, they instantly drifted off until just before sunrise the following morning feeling more rested than they had in a long time.
TBC...
[1] Remember that here it takes nearly a decade for anyone living there to actually age one year.
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