The Knights' Chronicles Part 14
Wufei was livid.
Pacing back and forth beneath the cover of the trees bent together high over his head, the swordsman removed his cloak against the heat that was radiating from his body. His face reddening, he turned his head to watch as Anna missed the two arrows that she had successfully split by a hairline inch to the left.
With a frustrated cry, the archer's shoulders slumped and her head fell back. Drenched and shivering, she fought to keep her teeth from chattering as she waited for her father to remove the arrows from the target. At his cold, "Again," she reached back to remove another arrow from her quiver.
"How long has she been at this now?" Chang hissed under his breath when he stormed past his 'brother.'
Leaning up against Wing's leg, Heero glared forward at the Captain and rumbled quietly, "At least a half-hour by now. And still the closest she has come to her father's challenge is three arrows split in a row."
Finally coming to a stop by the other swordsman, Wufei leaned close and hissed under his breath, "She is shaking too hard to be able to split five without a miss! At this rate, she will catch her death of a cold. And that... so-called father of hers does not care at all!"
The boys nearly jumped when the officer peered back at them from under his hood and called, "You two better get to the mess hall before the kitchens are closed for the night." Just then, Anna missed the bull's-eye on her first attempt and slumped. Shaking his head, her father told her 'brothers,' "It looks like we are going to be here for quite a while yet.
"We will wait as long as it takes," Heero responded in a tone that he forced to keep flat lest he let onto his ire. Wufei nodded his head firmly, not trusting that he would have been as successful in that if he spoke up.
Shrugging, Justin smirked, "Suit yourselves." Slowly pacing behind his daughter, he folded his hands behind his back. "You cannot expect to have sunny, windless skies every time you use your bow and arrow, Anna. There are going to be times when you will be cold... wet... tired... hungry. And still you will have to be pin-point accurate with your aim. If you can split five arrows now, you will be able to hit your mark under any conditions."
The girl brushed away the slick hair that had fallen over her eyes and focused on the arrow that had splintered her first of this last go. Closing her right eye, she held her bow up and worked to keep her trembling hands still.
Slowly pacing behind her still, Justin watched her closely and continued, "If you can understand what I am saying now, you are not concentrating on what you should be. Nothing around you matters. The only thing that you need to be focused on is your target and what you must do to reach it."
Her eyes widening at that, Anna released her arrow before she was ready and watched in defeat as she missed the other arrows by a wide margin, nearly missing the top of the target all together. Shaking his head, Justin walked over to the canvas and removed the shafts, the first coiled like wooden ribbons. When he looked back at his charge, or ordered, "Start again."
For the next thirty or more minutes, it was the same. There would be progress then a miss. Further progress and another miss. And it started all over again.
By then, the boys were nearly shaking with fury as they watched their 'sister' helplessly. Wufei nearly sprang forward to wrap her in his arms when she fell into a fit of hoarse coughs. Had Heero not been there to catch him by an arm when he jolted, he would have ended the Captain's disturbing game.
Folding his arms across his broad chest, Justin stood before his pupil and bent at the waist until they were at the same eye level. "If you were in the thick of battle, the lives of the people that you are protecting including your fellow soldiers count on you being perfect in your strike," told her quietly. "So for them, forget what you feel and get. This. Right."
Like a wave hitting her, the Anna's eyes widened and back stiffened while her father stepped away to stand behind her. The lives of the people she had known and loved might very well one day be in danger... whether it came from the darkness of the unknown future or not.
Suddenly, she no longer felt the cold. The rain did not hit her skin the same way as it had up to that moment. Even the wind seemed to still though it continued to whip her wet hair around her.
Concentrating on the target ahead, the knight-in-training closed her right eye and raised her bow. Focused on the bull's-eye, she sent the drawn arrow sailing into it. Not allowing herself a moment to become distracted, she pulled a second arrow to send it off. It splintered the first right down its center.
A third arrow followed and ran down the second, making its remains curl at all ends. From their place beneath the natural shelter, Heero and Wufei watched in captive silence along with their steeds as a fourth arrow penetrated the third easily.
"That's it," Yuy muttered under his breath. "Just one more." Chang swallowed roughly and bit his bottom lip.
Hooking the next arrow to her bow, Anna raised it and drew back. Her full attention on her mark, she took a deep breath and released it slowly before opening her right hand to have the arrow sail off into the four before it. At the crunch and crackle of the blow, the air she had been holding in her lungs huffed out in a puff of condensation into the cold night.
For a brief moment, all was still aside from the raging storm. Then, finally, Anna let out a loud cheer and jumped into the puddles around her in elation. All but collapsing, her brothers joined in on her laughter. Quickly removing his hooded cloak, Wufei led the charge out into the rain with Heero and their steeds right behind.
Seeing the others running for her, the soaked redhead all but knocked Wufei over when she launched herself at him to wrap her arms around him tightly. "I did it!" she cried as the swordsman chuckled deeply and held onto her shaking form.
Lightly kissing the archer's head before he pulled the hood of his cloak over it, Chang wrapped her in the rest of the fabric and whispered, "You did great, Anna." Heero smiled widely as he came up and hugged 'sister' from behind.
The moment was broken when the Captain stepped up to them. Waiting for his daughter to pull away from the others and meet his gaze, he smirked, "You know how it needs to feel to hit your mark every time, then?"
Instead of answering with words, Anna reached into the shroud around her to remove another arrow. Hooking it, she pulled on the bow string and looked to her target. With a hiss, the arrow shot through the wind and rain to destroy the last shaft right down the middle.
Chuckling deeply, Justin turned back to the girl and nodded firmly, "Excellent job." His hand moved before his stunned charge even saw it coming to lightly grip and rub the top of her head. Biting her lip, she threw herself at him to cling on in a fierce hug around his torso as her eyes closed tightly.
Taken aback, the Captain's own blue eyes widened. Quickly recovering, a small smile tugged his lips as he ran a hand over her drenched hair and squeezed her back with a quiet, "Very nicely done, Anna."
Stunned by the rare compliments as well as the affectionate gesture, Heero and Wufei both shared surprised looks. For the first time since Anna had enlisted, her father actually looked like a proud father to her... holding her and rubbing her head the way that he was. It was a bittersweet image of how things always should have been as far as the two boys were concerned.
Gripping his daughter's shoulders when she started to pull away, Fraise bent at the waist to be on he same level with her again and told her gently, "Go get a hot bath to warm up. You are shaking like a leaf. I will have a healer come see you in the stables with some food and to see that you did not catch anything."
"Okay," Anna replied through her chattering teeth. Her arms shaking as they reached up to wrap around her waist, she turned to her 'brothers' as they hurried up to flank her. Heero and Wufei wrapped an arm around her and led her off with Wing and Nataku following closely by.
Before they turned a corner for the stables, Chang peered over his shoulders to shoot the retreating Captain's back a fiery glare.
This was not over as far as he was concerned. Not by a long shot.
* * * * * *
Stripped of her soaked clothing, Anna sighed deeply in content as she sank into a porcelain tub of hot water. Lowering herself as far beneath the surface as she could, she rested her head back along the rim behind her and closed her eyes while a raspy cough escaped her.
Far beyond the veiled off room, Wufei had resumed his anxious pacing back in the entrance way of the wash station. "It never should have gone that far," he grumbled under his breath. "Successful in her lesson or not, that bastard should not have put her through that."
Leaning against the doorway, Heero frowned deeply, "What can we do? Any act of defiance against a superior officer, whether their orders directly affect us or not, is considered insubordination and we would be discharged."
Wufei spun on his heels to level his 'brother' with an enraged glare and snapped, "Spoken just like a damned perfect soldier! Some things are more important than becoming a knight!" The moment that the words left his mouth, his eyes widened with regret and the only sound to follow was the ever-pounding rain outside and the occasional coughing from the back room.
His shoulders dropping, Yuy lowered his head with a rough swallow. The 'Perfect Soldier.' The nickname that he had apparently earned amongst his other peers based on overheard conversations that he and his siblings had picked up. And while he was embarrassed to admit it... it did hurt.
The way that the others spoke of him, it was as if he was without any feeling beyond following his training by the book. Yes, he may have been the best of the class, but apparently it came with a price as far as most around him were concerned.
Wufei bit his lip and looked at the floor between them. "Heero, I... I am sorry for that," he said quietly without any question to how sincere that apology was in his voice. Shaking his head, he sighed, "I am being rash and taking my anger out the wrong way. I did not mean what I just said about you."
A sad smile curving the corner of his mouth, Yuy shrugged, "I know." And he did know that his friend did not hold any weight to his prior words. Still... he could not help but think that perhaps there was a bit of truth to the stigma that stuck to him. Quickly pushing those thoughts aside, he raised his head and asked, "What are you planning on doing?"
Taking a deep breath, Chang stared out into the darkened encampment and answered quietly, "I am going to confront the Captain. I just cannot let this go with my letting him know exactly how much I appreciate his treatment of Anna." From her place hidden in the shadows of the halls, Nataku slowly crept out and kept her brilliant crystalline eyes on her rider in readiness to follow through with whatever he wished.
"It will crush her if it leads to your being sent away," the other swordsman frowned deeply. "And I am not particularly thrilled with the possibility of losing my only brother, either."
Wufei swallowed back the lump that formed in his throat at that. Clearing it away, he turned back to meet his friend's eyes and nodded firmly, "It is the last thing that I want to have happen as well. However, I have to follow my emotions." Tilting his head, he grinned, "That is the greatest lesson that Commander Lowe has been getting through to us, after all."
Reluctantly peering down the long stretch of the hallway, he requested, "Keep a good eye on her for me while I am gone." He was not only speaking in regards to his time away from the meeting, but beyond if things did not go well. They were both well aware of that.
Saddening all the more, Heero nodded firmly, "Of course. Good luck, Chang." he offered, holding his hand out in the process.
Exchanging a firm handshake with him, the Capricorn native replied in little more than a breath, "Thank you." He looked up to his steed as he tied the fresh cloak around himself all the tighter and raised the hood over his head. "Come on, Nataku." At that urge, the green dragon grunted and followed the knight-in-training into the rain.
As he watched from the doorway until they disappeared from his sight, Heero sighed and shook his head. Still bothered by the conversation with his 'brother,' he turned and headed back down the hall to the bathing rooms. As he neared the only stall closed off by a thick sheet, he called, "Anna?"
"You can come in, Heero," the archer replied. At that, the swordsman pulled the veil back to find his friend comfortable in the tub that was at that moment being heated by a thin stream of fire that his steed was blowing along its edges.
Her eyelids heavy, Anna turned her propped up head to the white dragon and smiled, "Thank you, Wing." Grinning, her scaly guardian's tail flapped against the floor where he curved around the basin.
Slowly lowering himself beside the beast's large head, Heero patted the end of its muzzle and leaned his back against the tub. "Is Wufei around?" Fraise asked in a tired slur.
There was one answer that could be given that was the truth without worrying her. Turning his head to meet her gaze, Yuy told her, "He and Nataku went off for a walk to blow off some steam." The redhead hummed in understanding, a brief flicker of worry crossing her face before he looked away again.
Companionable silence fell for a time in the room before the sound of water sloshing filled the air as Anna shifted to fold her arms over the side ledge and to prop her head on them to watch her 'brother.' "You look like something is on your mind," she said quietly, much more alert now.
Biting his lip, Heero turned towards her and asked, "Do... do you think any less of me by my not defending you against your father tonight? I just do not want you assuming that I did not have strong feelings against what he did to you, whether it was part of a lesson in your training or not."
Realization filled the blue eyes on him as Anna quickly spun away to give way to a coughing fit before she shifted to lean in until their foreheads were nearly touching.
"Heero Yuy, that is by far the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard you say," she stated, her expression serious and warning against any argument. "I know that you have feelings and wanted to step in. And I appreciate you and Wufei for refraining and giving me the chance to prove myself, as hard as I am sure it was for the both of you."
When the doubt had not completely faded from the other knight-in-training's gaze, she smirked, "You are my big brother, and one of the best people I know. The others could learn a lot from you in compassion and feelings in general if they were not so busy passing judgment instead of getting to know you."
Taking that in, Heero smiled in relief and appreciation. Quickly raising his head, he pressed and held a soft kiss against the archer's damp forehead before resting his own against it. "Thank you, sis," he whispered. "I needed to hear that."
Anna giggled and pushed herself to lay her head back against the headrest again. Sighing, the fatigue set in once again. The wide yawn that she released was broken with another round of coughs. Her eyes closing, she sniffled and mumbled, "We really need to find you a great guy."
Snickering, Yuy watched her with a fond expression and shook his head in amusement while she dozed off. Reaching up, he gently brushed back the wet hair stuck to the sides of her face and kept a silent vigil over her whilst waiting for the healer to arrive.
In the silence, his thoughts returned to Wufei and he wondered how things were fairing at the officers' quarters at the other end of the encampment.
* * * * * *
The Captain's station windows were aglow with flickering candlelight from within when Wufei and Nataku arrived. Looking up to his steed, the swordsman gave her a firm nod and climbed into her saddle. One powerful flap of the dragon's wings had them lifted into the trees housing the office.
Perching on branch as thick as the tree's trunk, Nataku lowered herself and Wufei descended to walk around her. "Just wait for me here no matter what happens inside, okay, girl?" he urged as he patted the end of her snout. Grunting an affirmative, she watched the knight remove his hood as he moved for the quarter.
Every step that he took towards the station, Chang allowed the years of frustration to finally work their way through him. His footfalls came down harder the closer he came to his destination. At his sides, his hands tightened into tight fists that clamped closed so tightly that they shook. Heat radiated from his reddening face as the words that he had wanted to say to the Captain rose up to wait on the tip of his tongue, anxious to be released at last.
In the end, Wufei was convinced that this moment would have come eventually. Yes, there seemed to be that breakthrough when Justin outright hugged and praised his daughter, but it was still too little too late. The bottom line was that what he put Anna thought never should have happened in the first place.
Someone had to make that point known. And if he had to take the fall for doing so, Chang was content with that.
Briefly pausing at the closed, wooden door, the teenage boy took a deep breath and gave it three loud, sharp knocks. "Enter," came the immediate greeting from within.
Quickly gripping the door handle, the swordsman pushed his way into the main office that was the first room of the facility.
The surroundings of that space were what one would come to expect to find of any high-ranking officer; from the flags on the walls to the displayed medals of honor aligning the mantel of the small brick fireplace in the far corner, to the rug of rich reds, golds and purples that covered the floor.
And in the center of it all rested a desk carved from oak with marble dragons flanking it at either side. Seated behind that desk, Captain Fraise appraised his visitor and leaned back casually in his chair. Folding his hands over his middle, he smirked, "Ah. Hello, Chang. I had a feeling that you would be stopping in."
Holding out a hand to the chair before him, he offered politely, "Please, have a seat."
Not the least bit thrown off by the fact that he was expected, Wufei held his ground as he removed his cloak and replied, "Actually, sir, I would much rather stand for this."
"Very well," Justin replied, his smirk spreading further across his oval-shaped face. Rising to his feet, he walked before his desk to half-sit on top of it while folding his arms and giving the boy a patient look that silently gave him the floor to speak first.
For just a heartbeat, Wufei paused, second-guessing what he was about to do. Then the picture of a certain archer shivering violently in the rain as she worked desperately to please her father brought all of his bottled rage back to the surface.
Before he could allow himself a moment to second-guess himself, the knight-in-training's eyes narrowed on the officer as he demanded, "Sir, I need to know if it really is your intention to break Anna down. After everything that she has accomplished over the years here in training, I would have thought that you would show her some kind of respect... not only as her superior but more importantly as her father."
Raising a red eyebrow over calm blue eyes, the Captain tilted his head and grinned in a taunting voice, "So you are questioning my order, then? Challenging my authority as a superior officer when you know the consequences of doing such a thing?"
Without hesitating, Chang's fists tightened at his sides as he shouted, "Yes, I am, sir! What you did tonight..." He stopped and shook his head as he continued, "What you have put Anna through all of these years is simply wrong!"
Pointing to the closed door, Wufei all but yelled, "Perhaps you have not noticed, but she outperforms almost everyone still enrolled in this training! You have pushed her more than any single one of the rest of us have been pushed, and she has yet to complain or refuse you! I would think that the least you could do is show her some appreciation for her efforts!"
Slowly bending forward at the waist, the swordsman growled, "I highly doubt that Commander Lowe would be thrilled to hear about what happened tonight, considering how he has acted more as her father than you have over the years."
That sentiment sent a physical shockwave up Justin's back, shooting from the end of his spine like a jolt to the back of his head as his deep blue eyes widened. And in that heartbeat of reaction, Wufei froze with a rough swallow in full realization that he had finally crossed a line that he could not return from.
Narrowing his gaze on the knight-in-training, the Captain ordered coldly, "Chang, have a seat. We have a serious problem on our hands here, and you will stay silent until I have said all that I need to say."
Wufei suppressed a shudder at the intensity of those words. Swallowing roughly, he obeyed his superior by taking the chair before his desk.
His head lowering, he hoped that his inevitable sentence would come swiftly and painlessly. Silently, he hoped he would have a chance to say goodbye to his 'family.'
TBC...
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