The Knights' Chronicles Part 6
(Flashback)
Night was quickly falling over the Sanq kingdom with the darkest hues of the skies painting themselves over the forest surrounding the land... and there was no sign of Heero since the knights-in-training were dismissed from their classes for that day. With so many trainees spread throughout the encampment, none of the officers were yet aware that any of their charges were missing.
However, there were two individuals who knew that something was amiss. Sticking together to search for their 'brother' before anyone else noticed his absence, a very worried Wufei and Anna made their hurried way from the stable. "I do not want Heero to be in any trouble," the archer began in a near whisper as they kept a hurried pace through the base, "but this is not like him to be away this long. We should go and talk to Odin so that a search party can be formed before it gets too late."
Sighing, the young swordsman prospect came to a halt to face her and with a resigned nod he replied, "Right. This is very out of character of him to disappear like this."
The thought that something could be terribly wrong with Yuy had the pairs' stomachs turning, but they had exhausted all of the resources that they had in locating him to no avail. Reluctant as they were to tell the Commander that one of their own seemed to have vanished into thin air, they firmed their resolved and headed quickly for the officers' quarters.
Just as they ran through the clearing at the center of the encampment, one of the guards standing at the high walls now lit by torches shouted, "Dragon moving in quickly!" Practically screeching to a stop, Wufei and Anna turned to see the flame-lit soldiers on watch over the encampment lowering the weapons that they had drawn at the first signs of movement towards their location.
In the glow that filled the ring that was the clearing, the dozens that happened to be present stared up with wide eyes when the great shadow of the beast came into view and then spiraled down to the earth to reveal its white-silver scales.
Keeping a safe distance from the dragon as it came to a landing, the knights-in-training and officers around stared in disbelief when the huge head lowered to reveal Heero perched between its horns.
His hair mussed more than usual from the draft of his flight, the swordsman jumped to the ground and cheered to Wufei and Anna when he spotted them running towards him, "Hey!"
That was as far as he was able to manage before Anna threw her arms tightly around his neck, pulled back and proceeded to hit him on the arm with a fierce glare. "You had us worried sick over you," she gritted, though the relief that she was experiencing dampened the frustration in her tone. Heero just smiled and accepted the hug that she offered next.
Whatever mild anger there may have been was quickly forgotten completely when Chang and Fraise stared up at the amused dragon that was watching them closely.
Chuckling, Heero waited for the archer to step back again and lightly patted the end of his steed's muzzle. "Wufei, Anna," he began, "This is Wing. Meeting the dragon's blue eyes, he held his free hand out to his 'family' and introduced, "Wing, these are my best friends, Wufei and Anna."
Thrilled to finally meet the pair that he had watched over as much as his rider during the last few days, the white steed wiggled all the more with a brilliant smile as he pressed his large face closer to them. Breaking out in a wide smile, the redheaded girl ran her hand over his snout and said sincerely, "It is a pleasure, Wing." She was rewarded with a quick lick to the side of her face that had her laughing.
A smirk tugged the corner of Wufei's lips as he stepped up to pat the dragon as he commented, "So, you must have been the strange thing following Heero around." Wing's tail flapped against the ground and he snorted in response. The raven-haired boy met the cobalt eyes of his friend and chuckled, "Good to see that you have not been losing your mind."
"I see that you found a way to bring your shadow out of hiding," Odin's voice broke in as he made his way through the gathering crowd that had moved in. Shoulders back in pride, the Commander slapped his adopted charge on the back and grinned, "Congratulations on becoming the first dragon rider of the class, Heero." He gave the beast a full look over and complimented, "He is quite the magnificent creature."
Not quite used to all of the attention and praise, Wing lowered himself completely against the ground and rolled around a bit with his bristling excitement. Laughing at his steed's antics, Yuy nodded to his mentor, "Thank you, sir. I had to take a bit of a drastic measure to lure him out, but it was worth it."
Odin frowned at the choice of words and peered back to the dragon that continued to roll in the dirt. "We will have to discuss how you managed tomorrow," he decided aloud. Looking onto his pupil, he smirked, "For now, I will leave you to having your steed seen to the stables so that he may be assigned a stable of his own."
"Yes, sir," Heero replied. Smiling to Wing when he righted himself, the boy told him, "This way." Standing back up, the beast followed after his rider and his friends while the others standing around rushed in for a closer look at the newest member to the recruits.
* * * * * *
It was a unanimous decision for the Terrible Trio that they would spend the night in the stables that evening. Taking their sleeping bags, they gathered up extra straw to soften their 'beds' in Wing's new stall lit by a single candle hanging high above to set the room aglow.
Curled up in his space, the white creature watched as his guests settled themselves for the night before turning back to face the other dragons in the stable to exchange grunts and rumbles in conversation.
Anna lay herself out on her back with her arms folded behind her head as she stared up at her brother's steed. "I do hope that we all will become dragon riders eventually," she mused. "I would love to know what it is like to fly and fight on one of them, not to mention have their companionship." Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she looked up to the ceiling and frowned, "I wonder if a dragon would ever recognize a female knight?"
"If they had any wits about them, any dragon should consider themselves honored to have someone like you as their rider," Wufei reassured while he stretched himself out a few inches beside her.
Nodding, Heero pulled his sleeping bag over himself and replied, "I hope we will all have steeds as well." he turned to watch Wing as he stated, "I still cannot believe that I was chosen... to have something that I have wished for actually come true."
Blushing, Anna met the onyx eyes on her and smiled warmly, "Thank you, Wufei. That... means a lot." Chang just grinned back with a firm nod. Reassured, the archer shrugged, "Hopefully it is not in human genetics to what makes a dragon choose their rider, considering how my father does not have one."
"No one is really sure how dragons choose their rider," Heero responded, "however, I doubt that such a thing would be based on family genes. And I do agree with Wufei, that there is a better chance that one would want to be linked to a female knight. But whether you have one or not, that would not make you a lesser soldier by any means."
The redheaded girl's smile grew as she snuggled herself more tightly under her covers. "I appreciate that, Heero," she replied sincerely. Focusing back up at the occupied steed, she inquired, "How did you manage to get Wing out of hiding, anyway?"
Yuy shrugged, "Well..."
* * * * * *
"You jumped from a cliff?!" Odin shouted as he shot to his feet behind his desk. Eyes wide and jaw slack, the Commander shook his head, "You could not come up with something... less dangerous?!"
Wincing, Heero sighed at having to hear the same beratement for his actions that his friends had given him the night prior. While he could understand their concern and fear, he reasoned aloud, "A dragon steed would never allow harm to befall their rider. That has always been the way. I never really was in danger with Wing watching."
The air taken out of his sails with that response, the officer's arms fell limply at his sides when words failed him.
His gray eyes narrowing, he placed his fists against his hips and shook his head, "It was still a dangerous stunt to pull, no matter how sure you were that it was your dragon watching you." Swallowing roughly, he frowned deeply, "Had we... had I been wrong in that conclusion, you would have been killed."
Yuy blinked at that, surprised by the dread that had filled the voice of the man that had helped raise him.
In hindsight, yes, there would have been other ways of bringing Wing from hiding that would not have resulted in his death as a possibility. And in the end, Odin was well aware that if he had not mentioned the whole notion of a steed in the first place, Heero would have gone on thinking that he really was losing his mind.
Doing his best to reassure his mentor, the boy smiled and shrugged, "I suppose that I could have tried smoking Wing out another way." He bowed his head of unruly hair and offered sincerely, "I am sorry and I promise to not willingly put myself in what could potentially be a harmful situation to myself again; or anyone else for that matter."
Satisfied with that, Odin grinned and sighed away the last of his concerns. "Very well," he replied with a firm nod. "I accept your apology as well as your word." Tilting his head, he said, "A bit of advice..."
He waited to have his pupil's cobalt eyes locked on him again before he stated, "Even officers can be wrong. So, be sure to keep that in mind whenever you receive a suggestion or even a command from us."
It was the humblest of lessons ever passed on to a knight-in-training, especially one who saw those brave men as fathers just as much as his superiors. But as the Commander was reminding Heero, they were all human and so by no means were they infallible.
Taking this particular advice, Yuy responded, "Yes, sir." Unable to help himself, he peered over his shoulder to the closed door behind him.
Odin smirked, "Well, get a move on. I am sure that the squires have finished setting Wing's saddle by now and there is still daylight for you to enjoy another ride." Raising a finger, he ordered, "But I want you both settled back in before it gets dark."
Not needing to be told twice, Heero snapped to attention and gave a smart salute. "Thank you, sir," he smiled before all but running from the office, the door slamming closed behind him in his departure.
Laughing, the Commander lowered himself back into his chair and shook his head in amusement. "Kids," he snickered quietly and removed his log book to make a new entry of the day's most interesting events both in training and in the encampment in general.
* * * * * *
Heero rushed past the squires and officers that were standing about in the dragon stable, his focus centered on getting himself to the end of the line of stalls that fell just within the entrance.
When the space was in sight, he was not at all surprised to see a small crowd of his fellow knights-in-training gathered including Wufei and Anna. All whispering amongst themselves, the lot came to an abrupt silence to smile at the first dragon rider when they spotted him.
Heart hammering in his chest, Heero swallowed past his tightening throat and made his way for the door as a path was cleared for him. Peering over the top of the short walls to Wing's stall, the smile that spread across his face threatened to split it when he took in his steed.
The dragon's white-and-silver tail flopped rhythmically when his blue eyes took his rider in with a wide smile on his scaly face. Secured on the beast's back was a pristine saddle of dark brown leather fixed with a harness and straps that fell at its edges to carry anything that a knight would need.
With all eyes around watching, Yuy opened the door to the creature's stall and held out a hand when its large head leaned towards him. "We have an all clear to enjoy what daylight we have left, if you're up for a ride-"
It was as far as the boy got before Wing happily took the back of his shirt into his mouth to lift him from the ground. To the chorus of his friends' and fellow trainees' laughter, the rider was carefully lowered into his saddle.
Snickering, Heero secured himself with the harness that came over his shoulders from the back and gripped the handhold. "Ready when you are, then," he announced. More than ready, the steed walked himself from his stall and carefully navigated his way past the teenagers standing around.
The moment that he was facing the opened main doors of the stable, Wing let out a plume of smoke in a grunt and pawed at the straw-covered floor. His bearings gathered, he sprinted forward while his massive wings began to fan out at his sides. Cheering and yelling him on, the trainees ran after the charging dragon.
Out in the open, the white beast cupped his wings to take the wind that he had created and flapped to gain lift. Within seconds, he and his rider were circling the encampment from miles above as Heero let out an excited cry. Peering over the side of his steed, the swordsman waved to the many watching on the ground.
Both hands locking around the handhold again, he called over the sharp gusts blowing past them, "Give them a show, boy!"
Snickering deeply at that, Wing smirked and tilted his webbed appendages to send them into tall loops through the air. Far below, Wufei, Anna and the others continued to jump and applaud the pair as they watched on in sheer rapture and hope that they all may one day be able to enjoy the feel of such a brush against the heavens.
* * * * * *
Following the first couple of nights of sleeping in Wing's stall following his 'induction' into the family, the Terrible Trio simply headed there every evening when they were ready to settle down. Pillows and blankets gathered under their arms, they headed into the stables and curled up in the straw.
Secured in her makeshift bed, Anna stared at the ceiling with her arms folded behind her head as she always did when she was in deep thought. "So... babies are not exactly brought into the world the way that I thought they were," she commented out of the blue.
Heero and Wufei turned their heads towards her, noting the change in her mood at bringing up their discovery back in the infirmary days before. Clearly, what she had called her 'curse' was beyond her since she wanted nothing to be brought up over the matter whenever they tried to broach the subject.
And after having her ire spilt onto them in the heat of her cramping and bleeding once, they were not about to be the ones to bring it up again.
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Chang hesitated a moment before he asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks," Anna answered, her head turning to meet his gaze. With a wince, she told her 'brothers' sincerely, "Sorry for chewing your heads off before. Apparently, mood swings are one of the fun side effects of this... thing. I promise to keep myself more in check next time."
Heero grinned, "No harm done. We had been warned about that in advance." Wufei smirked and nodded.
Sighing in relief, the archer stared back to the ceiling and replied, "That is a good thing." A flash of discomfort coming over her, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself and grumbled, "Now if only these would hurry and grow so that my chest would stop stinging."
Wing lifted his head to lightly nudge the end of his long muzzle against the girl's side in a sympathetic gesture. Chuckling, Anna ran a hand over his snout and said quietly, "Thank you, friend. Apparently, this is all part of the fun of growing into womanhood." The dragon grunted in response, his head tilting in confusion as the trio laughed.
"My only concern is that the officers and the others will start treating me differently once it becomes more obvious that I am not a boy," Fraise thought aloud, not realizing at first that she had voiced that concern.
Pushing himself up to stay propped by his elbows, Wufei reassured, "Well, you know that you have myself and Heero to watch after you if there are any problems. But, I really wouldn't worry too much about there being many issues."
Heero nodded firmly, "Wufei is right. I think by now you have earned enough respect that there should not be any change in the behavior towards you..." A thought crossing his mind, he shrugged and added, "that is, besides the obvious."
Frowning, Anna turned to face him and frowned, "The obvious?"
Suddenly put in a spot that he had not meant to step into, Yuy sputtered with wide eyes before he stammered, "W-well, you are likely to be a lot more... popular, all things considered."
"Oh," the redhead replied, her own blue eyes wide. That notion setting in, her face grew the same shade of her hair as she repeated quietly, "O-Oh." Instantly, her gaze turned down at her currently flat chest.
Like a bird of prey ruffling its feathers in preparation for a fight, Wufei reaffirmed in a near growl, "As I said, you will not have to worry about that with us here. If anyone makes you uncomfortable, we will handle them."
Smirking at his 'brother's' well disguised jealousy that had flared before there was anything to be jealous of just yet, Heero gave the archer another nod to the sentiment.
Anna pushed herself up and pulled her legs to her chest as she giggled, "I have the best family ever. Thank you, both." Raising a finger, she threw in, "But you know to only step in if I cannot handle the situation on my own first. Much as I appreciate any and all help from you two, I do not want to lose face in front of anyone here in the encampment."
"Fair enough," Heero grinned.
The sound of footsteps approaching the closed off stall had the trio working their way to their feet just as the face of their Commander peered over the door. Backs straightening stiffly, the lot placed their right hands over their hearts as they chorused as one, "Good evening, sir."
Chuckling, Odin shook his head in amusement, "Of all of the places where you could sleep, I knew that I would find you here." He broke into a full laugh when he noted how Wing had brought the end of his long tail around to fall against his chest in his own form of a salute. "At ease, all of you," he snickered.
While the group relaxed, Lowe informed, "We have another escorting assignment coming up in the next couple of days." Nodding to the white steed, he stated, "We will take that time to bring you all up to speed on the details in securing the area for the arrival of our honored guests that will be arriving."
Intrigued, the three friends exchanged glances before Heero met the stare of their leader to ask, "Would we be able to inquire who our honored guests would be?"
"Yes," the Commander responded. "They are a handful of visitors from Romefeller who will be staying at the castle by personal invitation of the king and queen. As of this time, that is all I know."
Romefeller. The Land of the Gifted.
It was enough information for the knights-in-training that whoever their visitors were that they were most esteemed, indeed. And it also explained the advanced notice of the information as all needed to be at top order throughout the ranks.
Swallowing roughly, Heero's eyes had widened along with his friends'. The first to break from his surprise, he straightened himself once again and declared, "We will be certain to get all the rest that we can for tomorrow, sir."
A pleased grin on his face, Odin said, "Very good. we wake before sunrise." That said, he turned on his heels and headed down the stretch. Along the way, he took a moment to pat Peacemillion's head when she craned it out towards him.
Turning towards his 'family', Wufei breathed, "Romefeller. I have yet to ever know anyone from that city, let alone ever seen the kingdom."
"Nor have we," Anna replied just as quietly. "The officers are going to be on us to be at our best, and rightfully so."
Heero suggested, "So, we best try and get some sleep, as promised to Odin."
Not about to argue with that, Chang and Fraise sank back into their blankets and pillows to rest their heads. Once his rider was safely in his own 'bed,' Wing stretched his neck up to blow out the candle hung high in the rafters to have the darkness settle in his stall.
And though they had promised to rest on the eve of what surely would be a demanding stretch for them, the three knights-in-training slept little that evening, their minds racing with the possibilities that circled the information that they had received.
TBC...
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