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"To be King "Written By: Dentelle_noir Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing AC or the
characters, GW belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. This
is a work of fiction and written for fun, not profit Rating: R Warnings: Shonen-ai, Revenge, Tribal-war, AU,
Adventure. Pairings: 3x4, 1x2 Summary: The Barton tribe was exiled from their
home, forced to live in the bowels of the jungle by the usurping Winner
Tribe. But they will get their revenge. The successor of their tribe
will grow strong and hard, and he will take back their homeland. " To be King " Part Three
Heero wouldn’t be moved until Wufei leant into Heero, cupping his hand around him mouth so no one else could read his lips and said, “I want him to come so that we can keep an eye on him. I don’t want to leave him here with only the women, children, and a scattering of men whom he could take down in moments. That’s asking for a siege.” Heero insisted Trowa join the hunt.
Trowa had hunkered himself down against an ancient tree, sitting against it with one arm dangling off his knee, and the other holding his dagger ready to attack. Arms was curled around front of him, her head resting against Trowa’s foot so that if she so much as twitched, he would know. It looked almost like he was sleeping, but Quatre knew better. He also knew that Trowa hadn’t dared to get his share of the meat. Trowa was easily sitting apart from the tribe, comfortable in his isolation. But Quatre wouldn’t let that happen for long. Quatre folded himself onto the ground beside Trowa, his body facing the handsome warrior, and laid the large leaf holding the berries and fruits on his lap; open for sharing. “I got your share of the leopard here, Trowa.” Quatre said as he offered a large hunk of meat to the warrior. Quatre neglected to mention that it was obviously smaller then what was allotted to the other hunters, since Heero was the one who divided up the meat. No one said anything, of course, happy to have a little bit more to share with their family. Trowa looked at it, then at Quatre, “Would you like it?” He offered, surprised at his own generosity. Trowa had never offered his share of anything to any of his family. A few times he had given his share to Catherine, one of his cousins, who was often mistreated because of her kindness. Sometimes he wished he really was her brother, as she called him when none of the elders were around. She was also the only one in the tribe he might have even considered marrying, although his mother had made it clear in anecdote that she would die a slow and painful death before she would allow her prize son to be shackled with the ‘weakest’ woman in the tribe. And while the opportunity to lie with Catherine had come up several times, he had always found a way out of it. It was his duty to reproduce the Barton tribe, and he had, but he could not bring himself to take her. Watching Quatre quietly tend to the sick today had reminded him of her, in a way. Quatre had the same patience, caring, and love about him that Catherine did. And Quatre the same fierce determination and bravery that no one but he seemed to see in Catherine. Quatre took a berry from the collection on his knees and popped it into his mouth, gently sucking on it to savor the flavor. Trowa’s eyes were locked on him, on every move he made and every breath he took. Trowa’s throat went dry and his muscles tightened, watching with rapt attention as Quatre chewed daintily then swallowed, the blonde’s Adam’s apple rolling down then up again with the motion. Trowa felt his blood pooling in his groin with the display. Quatre was certainly NOT like Catherine. “You know that Heero, Duo, and Wufei are going out on the hunt again tomorrow. They have invited you to come too. I think they could use your help.” Quatre said after finishing his berry, delighted to tell Trowa of his inclusion in the plan. Trowa internally scowled. He had heard that the three most capable warriors were going to be gone. He had hoped he could alert his tribe, slit Amar’s throat, and have the village well controlled before they got back and he had to fight them. Being invited along stopped that cold. But to not take the invitation would look extremely suspicious, perhaps even suspicious enough for the three hunters to stay back and watch him from the shadows. Quatre picked up another berry, and this time, instead of giving Trowa another show, he offered it to Trowa, perching the bright red berry between his thumb and forefinger. Trowa had to resist the urge to take it from his fingers with his teeth so he could taste Quatre’s fingers with his tongue. Instead, Trowa reached out slightly shaky fingers to take it from him, his fingers lingering on Quatre’s a few moments longer than necessary. “OW! Heero!!!” Duo bellowed at the stone Heero had been using to sharpen his knife swung right into him. Trowa and Quatre looked up to see Heero glaring thunderously at the two under the tree, completely oblivious to just missing his blade in favor of Duo’s thigh. Quatre sighed, and pointedly turned his attention onto Trowa. “Heero isn’t the easiest to get along with, but he is a good person.” Trowa’s eyes narrowed as Quatre praised his enemy. Jealousy bubbled in the pit of his stomach, “Oh? And you know this?” Quatre giggled merrily, the sound that same light tinkling that had attracted Trowa the very first time they had met, “Of course I do. I know everyone here, and I know he may seem especially prickly, but it’s because he’s worried about me. Heero is our best warrior; the protector of our tribe. And he’s very close to my family. He thinks he needs to protect me.” Quatre sighed at that and absently handed Trowa another berry. “I wish that he wouldn’t so much. I’m not as weak as I look. I choose to be so trusting and compassionate because I can’t even dream of living life callous and suspicious of everyone I meet.” Quatre finished with a warm, open smile for Trowa. “I get to meet so many wonderful people this way.” Trowa slowly ate his share, thinking, while Quatre munched along happily, letting the silence overtake meaningless babble comfortably. “That Duo is loud.” Trowa commented, breaking the quiet between the two as Duo’s voice, again re-telling the fight of the hunters and Trowa’s subsequent appearance (already far exaggerated), bounced across the jungle. Quatre smiled again, fixing his attention back onto Trowa, “I quite like the story, myself” he said. Trowa noticing that Duo was animating Trowa’s daring grapple against the cat and his throwing it into the tree. Although Trowa certainly didn’t remember having it almost tear his arm off, nor how the one leopard he had fought had multiplied to be three, no four opponents at once. “Duo’s stories are always the best. He never lies, you see, he says right at the beginning that he’s telling a story. You can tell how he feels about people. He’s making you quite a hero to the younger ones, you know. That’s his way of saying thank you for the help. He’s making you a legend. He is a very good person.” Quatre said and turned a warm smile onto Trowa, his affection for the braided tracker evident. Trowa felt his stomach tighten, “You would be sad if something happened to him, wouldn’t you.” Trowa had seen the two of them talking and laughing together, and he remembered it was Duo whom young Quatre had been playing hide and seek with when he got lost and stumbled into Trowa. Quatre’s face tightened; obviously trying not to react too harshly to Trowa’s callous words. “I would be very sad, Trowa. He’s closer than a brother to me. I would be very sad if something happened to you, too.” He answered before Trowa could ask. Trowa chewed thoughtfully, simple watching Quatre watch the people around the fire. “You should go and join them.” Trowa said quietly, realizing that Quatre wanted to go, but was only staying for Trowa’s sake. “Only if you come with me.” Quatre answered smoothly, as if he had been waiting for Trowa to ask and had the answer ready. Quatre turned his smile on Trowa, big eyes begging. Trowa never had a chance. And that was how he found himself around the fire, eating dinner with the people he hated. But as each faceless Winner began to talk, and laugh, and tell about themselves, Trowa gave each a name instead of a Tribe. They were Kale, and Jean, and Sora, not just one of the Traitorous Winner Tribe. Trowa never said more than a word, sitting himself on a log far from the action. But when Quatre took a spot on the ground in front of him, leaning comfortably against his legs, people flocked to the blonde and soon everyone else moved in and around to hear and tell tales and jokes. A few of the young begged Trowa to tell some tales from his home or his hunts, but he refused each time with a shake of his head. Heero watched on, his suspicion growing as the outsider declined to say a word about himself yet again.
So when Heero emerged from Quatre’s tent a few minutes later, the boy quietly following him out with a worried expression, Trowa went ridged. If Heero kept being so damn close to Quatre, he may just look forward to slitting his-- Trowa cut that line of thought off quickly. He would later rationalize that it was because he didn’t want his expression to give him away, but the truth was that Trowa had never killed anything without a thought since Quatre and the mouse. Trowa had never enjoyed killing, despite his mother’s insistence that he should. Enjoying killing Heero would be murder, and Trowa was not a murderer. Heero motioned to Duo and Wufei and moved out into the forest, Trowa moving to follow behind them. He looked back long enough to see Quatre wave enthusiastically, and mouth “Be safe” to him. The warm feeling in his chest welled up again, seeing Quatre’s sunny smile for him and he managed a little raise and twitch of his hand to respond back. The four trekked through the wilderness for quite a while, Duo the only one really talking, until Duo got hungry and whined to Heero. Trowa was surprised when Heero made the party actually stop for a break. Arms seemed confused too, and began to pace around the area Duo had hunkered down in. If a man in one of Trowa’s hunting parties were to demand he stop and then sit himself down right there, Trowa would have growled at his childish behavior and left him. Heero, whom Trowa had figured as the leader, had capitulated at once, going so far as to apologize for pushing the group hard enough to bother Duo. It was mind boggling. Frustrated at having to stop when Trowa wasn’t even beginning to feel tired, he figured he would scan the area and catapulted himself up into a tree to look over. Hearing rusting above and to his left, Trowa turned to see Wufei having the same idea and breaking even with Trowa as they broke the canopy. Trowa felt a surge of ego at the fact that he was quicker than Wufei. The sight wasn’t promising. There was nothing but solid trees as far as his less then stellar vantage point allowed him to see. They would find antelope in the long fields and pastures. In the dense jungle all they would find were other hungry predators. Trowa dropped down to the ground like a stone, gracefully landing on the ground (as Quatre had been so impressed with, Trowa remembered with hidden delight) before Wufei had even gotten out of the canopy. Duo blinked, and blinked again, “That was cool. Ever really hurt yourself doing that?” Duo asked from his spot sprawled across an ancient tree’s roots and using them like a chair. Heero was busy unwrapping some food that they had brought, since that area of the forest was still relatively close to the village and regularly picked for food. Trowa saw Duo was going to keep pestering him until he answered so Trowa sighed, “No. I learned in the trees near the Barton keep. They are bare and brittle compared to these. It was easy to learn to avoid the obvious branches and go from there. Quatre was impressed with that, so I worked up to denser trees.” Trowa added without really thinking about it. Duo caught the subtest easy enough, “You practiced that so you could impress Quat, huh? You ain’t just acting, trying to get the chief’s son to like you. You really are sweet on him, aren’t you?” Duo stated. Trowa narrowed his eyes and quickly shut himself up again. He was embarrassed at being seen right though. Then the rest Duo said began to register: they had already suspected him of acting. Trowa felt his hackles rise even higher. And Quatre was...the Chief’s son! He was Amar’s child. Trowa found himself at a loss. Quatre was the blood of the traitorous backstabber himself! How could Quatre be so kind and honest? Trowa knew Quatre wasn’t lying or playing him. Quatre had not known who Trowa was or the danger he posed when they first met, so he had no reason to be false. The Quatre now was the same Quatre as before. But... Amar was such a horrible person...how could Quatre be his kin? Duo continued to try to get Trowa to talk the rest of the afternoon, but Trowa refused to even budge, claming up tighter than when his brothers were near (for Alex and Muller would twist every word you said to fit their needs and personal vendettas). Heero and Wufei still glared at him every time they looked his way, and neither of them spoke to him. There was an unspoken intensity around the group, the air thick with tension and suspicion. Only Duo seemed to want to break the unease, and he was not successful. They finally made it to the edges of the dense jungle; the grazing fields within sight, but too far for their scent to give away their location. Duo dropped down on the ground and rested (as he had done 3 times more often than any trackers Trowa had ever seen before) and Heero went into the bush to gather branches. When he returned he dropped his bundle at Duo’s heels and say down himself, letting Duo make the fire and keep it going. They ate the last of the food brought from the Winner keep, cooked deliciously by Duo, and shared mostly equally (since Heero divided it out again. But Trowa didn’t complain. He was used to getting far less portions since the animals in the Barton lands were much scarcer and leaner). But still no one but Duo spared Trowa a kind glance.
Quatre was standing there, smiling in that way that made Trowa’s knees weak and his own lips want to twitch upwards too. He never said anything, just smiled. He was beautiful. A rustle in the jungle leaves behind the blonde had Trowa’s warrior senses jumping. He grabbed out to Quatre, stealing his wrist and pulling him urgently to his side, away from whatever lurked in the trees. Trowa could feel the danger--a lurking, tangible danger that kept creeping up his spine and shivering out of his fingertips. Quatre gave a whispery moan and fell onto the ground, making Trowa let go of his wrist and focusing his attention onto the blonde. The place Trowa had grabbed him was black and blue; bruised horribly dark and sick. He did this. Trowa had hurt Quatre. But it was just an ACCIDENT! His mind screamed, but nothing seemed to make it past his lips. He was constrained by those eyes, Quatre’s eyes, Quatre’s accusing, screaming eyes! The bruises began to creep higher, growing from the wrists Trowa had touched higher and higher. His whole are was consumed and all the while, Quatre’s eyes condemned him! The rustling in the jungle emerged again, directly behind Quatre’s position, pin-wheeled weakly on the dirt, displaying his now bleeding wrists for Trowa to see. Trowa grabbed for him again, pulling him up to stand behind him, desperate to protect him. Leia emerged from the foliage, her short-cropped red hair matted with blood and adorned with her best warrior headdress. The closer she got to them, the colder he felt. That danger, that sinister danger was rolling off of her. He tried to move, tried to get closer to Quatre, but he could not move his legs! Could not even scream! All he could do was watch! She smiled. Trowa whipped his head around to see Alex with one hand viciously sunk into Quatre’s left arm while Muller wrenched Quatre with his left. They were both grabbing and groping at his limp body with bestial smirks. They decided together to pull him out towards the jungle, each holding their arm hard and dragging the unresisting body across the dirt. Shadowed by the jungle brush, Trowa could not see what was going on, just angered movements and sinister cackles from his brothers. Trowa tried desperately to go to him, to get there and kill both of them, but he still was frozen, unable to do anything! A little gasp of pain came from the brush, then nothing. Leia had come closer to him. She laid a gentle hand at his shoulder and brushed it down his arm, the same path Quatre’s hand had taken the other day. Then Leia touched her hand to his chest, right over his heart and leaned in close, whispering into his ear “Good work, my son.” Trowa wrenched his body hard, the force grinding his arms against the ground in fear. His chest heaved so fast and hard he felt that his lungs would burst out and his blood sang in terror through his veins. “Tro? You awake now?” A hand came near him. Trowa slammed his fist into the intruder and roared so that his war call made the very jungle shake in anger. He was in his battle stance, low to the ground as a leopard with his formidable hunting knife at the ready and continuous snarls rolling off his tongue. His chest kept heaving and adrenaline pumped through his system harder and hotter than blood or fire. Duo flung himself back, scuttling across the dirt with very real terror in his eyes. Trowa’s focus widened, taking in Duo curled up in fear on the dirt, Heero standing at the ready with his own knife, and the light of pre-dawn kissing everything in the clearing with dusty bronze. But where was Quatre. Trowa quickly dismissed the other warriors and turned to the exact spot in the clearing he had seen his brothers drag the bruised and broken Quatre into. Frantically, Trowa vaulted the short underbrush and wrenched vines and branches out of his way. There was no sign of Quatre! There was no sign of Quatre ever being there. Trowa’s chest kept heaving, his arms trembling all over from the residual terror of the dream. It was just a dream. It was not just a dream. It was what would happen if Trowa turned on the Winner tribe. Sure, Trowa may be able to save Quatre, but he would be broken, a mere shell of himself if his entire tribe were killed or subjugated. And his friends... Trowa turned to glance at Heero and Duo. No, they would never allow themselves to be subservient. His tribe would never let adversaries as strong as them live. They would all die. They would all have to die. “Good work, my son.” whispered through his head. They would all be murdered, and it would be all his fault. Trowa ran further into the bushes, only getting a few paces before his legs gave out under him and pitched him down the to brush. Bracing himself from landing face down in the grasses with his shaky arms Trowa’s stomach lurched until he purged the acrid contents of his now-empty stomach. His entire body jerked and trembled from the exertion and fear as it rebelled against him again and again. A figure neared him and Trowa lashed out in his weakness, hissing like a leopard in a clear sign: Stay the hell away. The figure never came any closer then he needed to be noticed, though. “You can come back to camp when you’ve cleared your head of bad memories” Heero’s voice said, and then the figure moved away and left Trowa to his shaky privacy. Trowa felt the familiar touch of Arms, running her head against his legs and sides to reassure him of her presence. In her teeth was a canteen of water. Trowa wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her coat, indulging in her comfort and warmth where no one was watching or judging his love as a weakness to be exploited. Arms rubbed her throat across her human’s neck and shoulders, trying to calm the harsh gasps of breath coming out of him. He was as venerable as a kit until he could calm himself, so Arms watched for him. Trowa took the canteen and drank greedily, noticing after a few long draughts that it was Heero’s canteen. But it was too late to be worried about poison, and if Heero was planning to physically harm him he would’ve done it already. Trowa ran his hands over Arms some more and began to tighten the strings of bone armor around her ankles, the repetitive motion helping to centre his haywire emotions. Trowa stood and moved back to camp slowly, Arms at his side every step. The fire had been woken up and was burning hotter that before. Heero was sitting upright, but was pinned to his position by Duo’s head cradled in his lap. The braided tracker was fast asleep with one hand loosely encircling the lead hunter and his nose brushing against Heero’s stomach. Trowa flopped down into the spot he had vacated not long ago, all his usual grace gone under the exhaustion from the residual adrenaline rush. Arms curled protectively around her human, laying her head in his lap as well, but keeping her eyes and ears out for danger. Heero was loosely running his fingers through the tracker’s bangs, moving them away from his sleeping face, gentle as a baby. Heero was reclined against a tree, his posture relaxed. Trowa had never seen Heero looked relaxed, at least not during the time Trowa was present. “I was an assassin.” Heero said, still running his fingers through Duo’s hair, “I grew up in the Fang tribe, and they wanted the Winner tribe’s lands. They sent me in when I was 12. They thought that I was young enough to be underestimated and let into the tribe for pity. Then I was supposed to kill Amar’s son and get out. Just a reminder of the power Fang had. It was Quatre, and he had tried so hard to be my friend. Duo...Duo was with him. I couldn’t do it. “ “The Winner tribe took me in, despite my treachery, although I lived as an outcast to everyone except Duo and Quatre.” Here Heero moved his fingers to brush against Duo’s ear, never ceasing his gentle ministrations. “The Fang’s were decimated only months later by another bordering tribe that they had ‘warned’. Sometimes I can still feel those eyes on me, the Winners that still think of me as an Outsider. Despite all that I do for them, for the tribe, I will always be different from them. But so is Duo, since he’s an Outsider too. And so is Quatre, different, because people look up to him so much that no one knows him anymore; just their idea of him. Quatre and Duo are very special to me.” Trowa could not answer, Heero’s tale hitting too close to home. On too many levels Heero locked his eyes on Trowa, really looking at him for the first time, “What do you wish with Quatre?” “I want him to be my friend.” Trowa’s tongue said, his brain trying to tell his mouth to stop before he gave away everything, “I want him to be a friend who really sees me, and still wants to be my friend.” He whispered, the deeply guarded secret let out into the air for the first time. Heero let his mouth pull into a small smile, seeing the sincerity in Trowa’s words. Heero leant down and dropped a kiss on Duo’s forehead, the Tracker waking long enough to turn his head to offer Heero his lips for another kiss. Trowa felt his heart stop. Seeing, really seeing, Heero and Duo’s relationship for the first time. “I wish you all the best, then, Trowa.” Heero said, his eyes moving up to meet Trowa’s, “I found Duo. And he’s the only thing that matters to me. He is my heart. I hope our happiness onto anyone.” Trowa felt his throat go dry with emotion, the gentle kisses Heero dropped onto his lover to wake him again making Trowa’s heart ache. He had never before thought of having Quatre by his side; of being able to drop soft kisses on his blonde hair or dare to touch his lips to Quatre’s. But now Trowa yearned for it. He needed Quatre to be his lover, too. The sun peeked over the horizon, infusing the little red-gold fog with brilliant clarity and warmth. Wufei dropped down from his tree (where he had slept the whole night through, high above their heads) and Duo cooked a delicious breakfast (his talent at the fire far making up for Duo’s constant breaks and slaking style), over which most of the tension dissolved (although Duo was incredibly nervous around Trowa now, constantly speaking in soft tones so as not to startle him the least). The group of four emerged from the jungle into the fields, ready to hunt for the tribe.
“Baby Brother.” Trowa heard whispered with a condescending lilt far behind him. He was aware of only one of his brothers nearing him from further in the brush, the other no where close enough to be a threat to Trowa right now. It was Alex that was talking to him though, and Alex was the smarter of the two. “Mom sent me to check on you and give you a message.” Alex said, his voice making obvious his distaste for playing page boy to the warrior 6 years his junior. Trowa grunted an affirmation, his eyes watching now for Heero, Duo, and Wufei instead of the prey. They could not hear this. “She said that Yuy is the Adopted son of odin, the warrior who stuck the final knife into Dekim’s heart. She wants him alive when she gets there so she can kill him herself.” Alex whispered with glee. Trowa clamped down hard on his emotions so Alex could not read the fear in them. “When do you want us to in position for the strike? We’re waiting!” Alex related, eagerness and disdain at Trowa’s apparent dilly-dallying. “They suspect me too much to allow me anywhere near close enough to Amar right now.” Trowa hissed back, turning his eyes from the other 3 hunters to glare at his brother with force. Alex curled his lip up in distaste, “I knew you wouldn’t have the balls to do this job. Mother should have sent me. I wouldn’t be spending my time with a little winner whore.” Alex was on the ground within moments, Trowa snarling so hard that spit flew onto his prone brother’s dirty face, “Watch your tongue or I will slice it out of your mouth with delight, Alex” Trowa hissed, asserting his power and strength over his Brother. It was like old times, forever snapping and hissing and growling like a bunch of animals instead of asking or caring about the other! Trowa had seen the other side now, and he was desperate to keep the Winner tribe free of Leia’s greed and apathy. Alex growled back and pushed Trowa back far enough that he could stand and walk away, his brother glaring all the way back into the forest and out of sight. An Antelope careened past him, two spears bobbing out of his haunches bearing the feathers of Wufei and Heero. Trowa took off after it, quickly vaulting anything in his way and using his speed to come upon the wounded animal with bone-breaking intensity to deliver the final blow. Trowa was panting from exertion, and the anxiety of his brother’s words, when the other hunters caught up and congratulated him on such a speedy catch. Usually they had to track the damn thing until it died, Duo revealed. Soon two more were bagged in the afternoon, the Winner hunters absolutely astonished at how much easier it was to hunt when Trowa was able to catch up to the prey within minutes and finish it off instead of having to trek across the jungle for hours to find one animal they hoped had been given a deadly hit. Trowa had gained their respect. Heero and Wufei didn’t
slink away at the idea of having their backs to him anymore. Trowa
was exactly in the spot he had wanted for his mission. But now, he
was desperate to find a way to save them all.
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