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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 Four The second night of the hunt the four set down to bleeding and preparing the four antelope for travel back to the village the next morning, the usual five night trip cut short since they had already gotten the most meat they could handle. As it was they would have to hang two antelope together on the same pole to cart it back across two overtaxed shoulders. Trowa simply laid down, his back to the fire and the others that night, knowing that if Heero chose to open up to him again that Trowa would spill everything to him. The visit of his brother that afternoon was jarring. He knew he could not betray the Winners, But he could not betray his tribe either. As it was, Trowa took the time to plot his course of action. He wanted to stay with Quatre, God did he want to, but if he stayed he knew Leia would attack sooner or later. The only way to keep him alive was to leave now, tell his tribe that they were found out, and warn them against ridged resistance should any of them set foot on Winner ground, and hope to hell they were smart enough to back off. The trip back to the village was far too quick for Trowa’s choice. It seemed like they were breaking the underbrush and being met by three of four anxious children before he was even remotely ready. Trowa knew leaving like a thief in the night would break Quatre’s heart. But he knew the blonde would try to talk him out of going, alert his tribe, and then when the Barton’s finally grew sick of waiting they would attack a fully battle ready Tribe. All of Trowa’s tribe would be killed, because all of the tribe would fight, women and children included. Death for his Tribe or Death to the Winner tribe. Either alternative was grave. The heavy prey was lifted off of the hunter’s shoulders by very amazed Winners, all babbling excitedly about the speed and bounty of the hunt. Trowa was praised over and over again, but he heard it all blankly, his mind plotting out his escape and trying to silence the screaming tightness of his heart. Arms stayed behind the procession for most of the trek, watching their backs fro predators. But she emerged from the jungle too, moving to circle her human and scare off the multitude of well-wishers with a few hisses and yeowls, giving him a chance to leave unnoticed. Trowa silently made his way to the very edges of the Winner keep and, with a heavy heart for not even saying good bye to Quatre(for he knew if he did, he would not have been able to go through with his plan), he broke through the jungle line and disappeared into the forest. Trowa got only a few feet before he had to stop, knowing without a doubt that he was being followed by not one, but 4 Winners. “Why are you leaving?” Quatre’s voice whispered, the hurt rolling off the breath of sound. “Because he’s leaving to tell his clan mates to attack. He’s a spy!” Wufei snapped, his accusations bouncing off the trees around them. Duo said nothing, his silence speaking volumes of his feelings of betrayal, and Heero stood stonily beside him, holding his lover back. Trowa knew all this without even having to turn and face them, the people he had come to be close to so ingrained in his head. Trowa couldn’t bear to turn. “Trowa?” Quatre begged, his voice only inches away from Trowa and his hand found a way to land on Trowa’s shoulder in a comforting way. Trowa didn’t deserve comfort, he didn’t deserve Quatre’s compassion. He shrugged Quatre off briskly, his heart shattering as he did. “You TRAITOR! I can’t believe I trusted you, you BASTARD! We TRUSTED YOU!” Duo exploded. He would’ve taken a swing at Trowa had Heero not held him back tightly. Frustration boiled and Trowa exploded. “Why would you do that!” Trowa screamed, his voice cracking under the stress and his carefully painted mask crumbling to leave nothing but a wretched tear-streaked face. “I’m an OUTSIDER! The heir of Dekim! Your tribe KILLED my FATHER and left us to DIE in the wilderness!” Trowa screamed, falling back on old mindsets to clear the emotional turmoil. “THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Quatre bellowed, his voice picking up a startling authority and wisdom that Trowa had never seen the boy display. “Dekim was a despotic TYRANT who starved his people and hoarded the riches! Your people CHOSE to leave! Leia and her followers were too haughty to accept being a regular person, she was desperate for power! We tried to get them to stay, but they pushed and pushed and grasped and stole for power until we had to exile them!” Quatre was fuming by the time he was done, his audience rapt. “That’s the real story of Dekim! He treated the everyday hunters and workers like dogs! He stole lands and foods, hoarded our riches and refused to trade with other tribes because he thought his trinkets worth exorbitant amounts! The tribe was dying! He had his hunters go out and pick the trees clean so he cold have feasts every night and let the food spoil for lack of appetite until their was nothing left. It’s taken years to fix what his greed and selfishness destroyed!” Quatre finished, his voice clear and factual. A spear flew past Quatre’s face by mere inches, landing so hard in the ground in front of Duo that it swayed viciously with the force. “You know nothing, you filthy lying little bitch!” Middie, one of Trowa’s many cousins, hissed as she aimed another spear straight for him. Trowa dove for her, grappling the spear from her hands with one mighty heave. Her appearance so close to the village could mean only one thing! “Leia has already led our best into the heart of the village! The Winner’s best warriors are out here, screaming accusations at you, little Trowa. Leia had you figured the moment she saw your little bitch. You may have come back much earlier than expected, but that won’t stop our revenge!” She crowed, her voice bubbling into a hysterical keen. She was mad. Trowa understood that exact minute how things had turned out this way. He delivered a sharp blow straight to her stomach, taking all her breath away until her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she flopped down to the ground like the dead. Trowa turned to move back towards the village, and noticed the four of them frozen in shock. “You killed your kin?” Duo gasped, always the first to say something. Trowa closed his eyes, “She is unconscious. But I will do what needs to be done if things come to that,” Trowa vowed. Heero turned on his heels, unsheathing his dagger and wrenching the other spear from the ground to arm his lover. Quatre too took up a formidable branch, swearing under his breath that he would get his sword proper when they made it to the village!
The Barton tribe was out in full force, the women hurling spears from behind tree trunks and the children ducking through the underbrush to swipe at the Winner warriors. Even though the Winner force was mostly elders and women, they outnumbered the Bartons three to one, although the Barton’s viciousness was making up for the lack of numbers It was ludicrous! There was no way either side could win without completely obliterating the other until the very ground sang with blood. Trowa took the field with a powerful stride; half the Barton’s stopping their attack to cheer their warrior on. Quatre, Heero, Duo, and Wufei rushed the lines, joining forces with the front line of the Winners. The Winners quickly matched their lead, holding their weapons at the ready, but waiting. Silvia shrieked, falling down to the ground as Trowa violently wrenched her spear from her hands and held it up to show, “This is MADNESS” Trowa roared, shocking his tribe. “You will all DIE! For what? Revenge of a wrong over 15 years ago! Then what!” Trowa stalked down the lines, staring into the eyes of each and every one of his kin. “Perhaps you will have your blood,” Trowa snarled to his mother’s favorite confident, pummeling her with his gaze, “But you will not live to enjoy it! Do you expect to rule a bloodied ghost village!” Trowa paced down the battle lines again, hitting spears out of hands and kicking rocks away from the terrified children. They had never seen their Prince anything but cold. Quatre stepped out into the lines, his face turned towards his own people, “We are a strong tribe! We can help these people! Let those that want a peaceful existence come to stay with us!” Quatre pleaded. The Barton women began to put their spears down, looking with confusion to the person next to them and Trowa in front of them, standing between them and the Winner tribe. It struck Trowa then, how very young most of his tribe was. Trowa was the youngest of the originals, yes, but there had only been 6 women actually alive and adult when Dekim had ruled. 5 of them had died already. His mother was the only one left that had truly lived with Dekim, the rest were brought up with hatred. Nothing but stories and their circumstances to teach them. “Let us all put down our weapons.” Quatre’s melodious voice coaxed. Both sides began to lay their spears and knives at rest. A cackling howl of laughter rang from behind the Winner lines. The flap to Amar’s tent was flung open to reveal Leia. Her hair was bloodied and slicked back in her best warrior’s headdress, just as Trowa had seen her in his dream. She was just as frightening now as she had been then, and twice as mad. Following behind her was Alex and Muller, the beaten and bloody body of Amar strung up between them. Leia stopped, seeing her warriors were not engaged in bloody warfare. “FATHER” Quatre cried, breaking the ranks to rush towards Amar without a thought for his own security. Leia lifted her spear and took aim. Trowa jumped into action, his lighting speed getting his hands around his mother’s wrists only seconds before Heero, Duo, and Wufei were tackling her as well for daring to threaten Quatre. “KILL THEM!” Leia hollered from under the group of warriors, “STRIKE WHILE THEY ARE WEAK!” The Barton’s lifted their spears, the Winners picking their own up in defense. Trowa’s hollers were no use as he worked to restrain his mother’s wild outburst with force. The two sides began again, hurling their weapons against the other side with confusion, trying to defend but having no one to lead them. “STOP THIS!” A shrill no nonsense voice cut across the lines. It was so unexpected that Trowa let go of Leia completely to make sure he was hearing right. Out in the middle of the melee walked Catherine, her hair the same cropped bright red as Leia’s but blowing freely around her without a drop of blood. “Trowa is right, this is ABSURD!” Catherine bellowed, her voice for once being heard. She turned to look past the Winners, who opened their ranks for her to pass by. She leveled her glare at Leia, “You want your revenge so badly you will sacrifice the whole tribe for it! That is no revenge at all!” Catherine bellowed. Trowa was relieved to see nods of approval run through the ranks of both sides. Leia, no longer being held by Trowa, quickly slipped out of the Wufei’s underestimating grip and flew at Catherine in a rage. Silvia and five other girls ran to her rescue, fighting Leia off Catherine while Trowa pulled the women away. Leia tossed the girls off her easily enough, she was respected and feared because she was the best and strongest hunter in the tribe. She needed a wepon! If none of them would finish off Amar, then she would. Leia sprinted to the Barton side of the line, trying to break a spear from its grave in the dirt. She wrenched at the end, but did nothing but splinter it. Nothing but a useless foot of branch came off in her hand, but at least it was sharp from the break! Leia flew back towards Amar, as if the watching Winner’s would allow her near their king without a fight. Heero and Duo had long since incapacitated Trowa’s brothers, giving care of their king over to Iria. But the Winners never needed to intercept. The Barton tribe did it for them before the mad Queen could even cross the line. “You led us into suicide!” One shouted, grabbing Leia harshly and spinning her around to face her people. “You would have your revenge at the cost of our LIVES!” Another shouted, roughly shoving their former leader. Leia howled in rage and brandished the stick, slicing at them madly and dancing backwards further and further from them, violently jumping forward to strike out and back to safe ground. She jumped to attack once more, growling like a wild beast at her mutinous tribe. They didn’t even fight her back, just moved in closer. Leia threw herself back once more. And stopped. A howling scream of pain echoed off the walls of the jungle as blood began to flow. Trowa desperately tried to wade thought the masses to get to her and help, but she was still fighting off imaginary foes, pushing the broken end of the spear deeper and deeper into her back until she stopped altogether. “Hang her head on a STAKE!” one of the warriors cried, although Trowa did not know if it was a Winner or a Barton. Something flew through the air, coming to impact on Leia’s still warm body. Someone else took up a rock and hurled it, delivering vengeance to the dead war-queen. Trowa feared they would have her strung up in a flurry of hatred if he didn’t get there in time, but the mass amounts of people in his way was slowing him, despite his strength. “Get out of his way!” A strong voice demanded from the Winner line. It was Amar, being held up on one side by Heero and the other by Iria, the healer. The people froze, looking to their miraculously still-breathing leader. Trowa didn’t spare him a glance, pounding his steps through the crowds to make it to her body. He surveyed the damage and gently set an arm on either side of the spear and lifted her off slow and steady to place her on the blood-stained ground. There was no way she could survive her injury. Trowa had thought she was already dead. A hand came up to grab his arm, digging in with her nails because her grip was so weak. She looked straight into the eyes of her son. “You are weak! You failed me!” She accused, her waning breath wasted on hatred. This was what he had been so desperate to please? She was consumed by her hatred until there was nothing left of her. She had never been a mother. She was the one who was weak! “You are Wrong.” Trowa said with conviction, locking onto her still-alert eyes. “I am strong. Stronger than you, because I have learned to surpass my hate. You would sacrifice your people; A good king sacrifices FOR his people. You can move on now, safe in the knowledge that I will take care of our people as they SHOULD HAVE been.” Trowa vowed, watching as she hissed and fought for breath. He couldn’t help her. No one could. And soon her breath stopped coming altogether, her body saved from humiliation by the son who she thought failed her. She may have gone mad, but she was still his mother, and a Queen. She deserved respect. Trowa closed her eyelids and sent up a prayer to god for the cleansing of her soul. It was all he could do. He had said his peace, and meant every word. He would guide his tribe right from now on. The Barton tribe crowded round Trowa, anxious to hear his orders. He was their king now. Despite wanting to stay with his friends and Quatre, he knew that he could not. i A good King scarified for his people /i , he told himself again. He needed to bring them home. Trowa hefted Leia’s body up into his arms, carrying her like a loving mother should carry her child. “We will go home and mourn for the death of a Queen.” He said with confidence, leading his people back to their homeland, all following his step with unwavering loyalty. He would miss Quatre...and the Winners... so much. But he knew where he needed to be. If he learned anything from Leia it was the danger of selfish pursuits. He knew his duty.
Quatre was well within the ranks of the Bartons, applying salve and bandages to the warriors as they trekked closer and closer to the Barton keep. Trowa noticed Quatre had healed almost half of the women before he had even noticed his presence. And Arms, instead of taking up stance behind Trowa, as he assumed she had, was instead following Quatre around, bearing Quatre’s medicine bag as if she were a packhorse. No one said an unkind word to him. The tribe took him into their ranks as one of their own within moments. Quatre was not about to leave Trowa to watch his broken little tribe on his own, and Trowa knew that Quatre could help teach them the right ways to do things. Quatre would not leave him. He never would. That warm feeling of happiness welled up in his stomach again, that same feeling he always felt whenever Quatre was around. But this time he didn’t need to worry about being seen, or closing off his emotions. He had learned what was important and what was simply selfishness. Quatre, and Catherine (who was acting like Quatre’s nurse and cleaning minor wounds as the blonde instructed) would help change the mind of his people and show them the correct way to live. They all needed to learn to be like Quatre. Himself most of all. Quatre looked up and caught Trowa’s eye. He smiled. Letting go of the last of his reservations, Trowa smiled back.
For those of you sad to see this end, like lorelai barton (aka ichia) was, you don’t need to panic. ichia was good enough to give me a truck full of GW doujinshi! And for it all I promised her an Epilogue for this fic! It may take me a while, BUT there will be an epilogue...sometime... THANKS FOR READING!
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