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"Lasting Impressions"Written By: Dragonmistress_7 Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Wing Boys.
Lasting Impressions Lasting Impression 12 Once outside Heero leaned against the wall, deep in thought. "I never knew that," he said to nobody. "What did that marking mean? It's obviously an Earth thing," Trowa asked. "That was a tattoo. I'm not sure Hilde would appreciate me telling you guys about it, but on the other hand, she could have waited and shown it to Dorothy when they were alone." He considered a moment, nodding to himself. "There's a story- almost a legend, really- about a king who got pretty nervous about a branch of his family. He had been the first cousin of the previous king but he hadn't been first or even fifth in line for the throne. Knowing he'd never get it any other way, he killed the king and all of this brothers, sparing the women and children. In time, the boys grew up some and he worried about their revenge. So, he had every single male in the family who was not of his direct line killed, even those who were only related by marriage." "That's awful. It isn't true, is it?" Duo asked. Heero nodded. "At least to some degree it is. The women who were left converged into the largest estate, afraid to be alone but afraid to take husbands lest the same thing happen again. The former queen, who had lost two husbands and three sons, became a hard woman. Her sisters and nieces and cousins would have probably starved without her. Without batting an eye, she turned them all into top-quality courtesans. Men paid handsomely, and the women chose nobility to father their children. Years later, some of those children would inherit estates when legitimate heirs could not be found. The crown on Hilde's shoulder was the symbol of royalty in that country. The queen had hidden it when he husband was killed. She made its image synonymous with her new business venture, saying that if she didn't make it a symbol of whoredom the kin slayer would. That business has lasted a thousand years or more. Today those women have a reputation as being the most skilled, refined, and intelligent in the trade. They've taken in some outsiders, but only members of the family get the red jewel. The rest have a plain black crown." Heero kicked off the wall and gestured them toward some stairs that led downward. "I'm not saying Hilde is or ever has been a prostitute. As she's still pretty young and already a Bard, I doubt she was, but she'll know all of her family's tips and techniques and probably has a pretty relaxed attitude about sex. Dorothy's in for a wild ride." Nobody replied to this as they reached the bottom of the stairs. This area was obviously used to store things that were scavenged from crashed spacecraft. There were crates, machine parts, and other odd items everywhere. In the far corner the Drakon sat, reading a book. Heero was a bit nervous, unsure what to expect. Drakons were the first space travelers and they had integrated themselves into every other known society long before those societies had reached the stars. It was their rather spectacular defense mechanism that had him worried though. The Drakon looked up as they approach. "Finally, someone who doesn't run away screaming at the sight of me. What can I do for you?" "Actually, it's what we can do for you. Dorothy says you're looking for a way off of this rock. We crashed too, but the damage is repairable, as far as I can tell," Heero explained. The Drakon looked at each of them, considering. "Each of you is different. What are my people where you come from?" "Draanos" Quatre replied, "the sea people, just, but fierce and wild." Trowa liked this format, so he used it as well. "Driisiir, the flyers, a proud and beautiful omen of luck." Seeing no reason to break the pattern, Heero added, "Dragons, like winged serpents, ancient, powerful and wise." Bowing his dark head, the Drakon nodded, almost absently. "Yes, I see. I guess I wouldn't hate me either, were I any of you. There are cultures where we were not so well-liked. Well, no matter. I would be honored to accept your offer. I am Wufei." They introduced themselves as well, except for Duo. He hung back, not speaking to or even looking directly at the Drakon. The others were too busy planning how to make good their escape from the planet to notice, so he wandered off to sit in the well-lit corner of the room and read the old hand-written journal again. It had gotten quite boring after the story of the wedding night, being filled with nothing but her small cares which she faced each day with unfailing optimism. To be honest it had grown a bit wearing. Still, he persevered, wanting to know something of what had become of her. He flipped the page and something caught his attention. For the first time, she mentioned someone besides herself or her husband by name. "I'm eating the breakfast that Raulis brought me while I'm writing. He's such a strange young man. I can never quite tell what he's thinking. Still, he does a good job for my husband so I shall not complain about him. My husband is away on business, so I miss him very much." The rest was more of the same boring crap. The next entry was at least about a somewhat more substantial concern than her husband being away or her problems with the servants: her inability to conceive. Her feelings ran so deep and were expressed so well that it was almost as though a different person had written it. It was sad that she wanted a child and couldn't seem to have one, yet this was the most interesting part so far. "Duo! We're going! If Hilde isn't done yet, we'll wait for her upstairs," Heero called. Duo glanced at the time to see that more than half an hour had passed. He scrambled to his feet and followed the others back to the throne room. Hilde was waiting for them there, stretched out comfortably on the couch. She'd changed into one of Dorothy's "goddess outfits", as she called them, and really looked quite stunning. "We should hurry, guys," she said by way of greeting, swinging her feet off. "Apparently, being really dirty on this planet means you don't worship Dorothy. Most of her rituals involve bathing, since the concept was foreign to them when she got here. It was one of the things that helped her achieve godhood. If they did what she did, disease didn't spread as much, so she must be a goddess. Some of them didn't see it that way, though." "Yes, I've met the rebels," Wufei said. "They attacked me not long after I got here. I scared most of them off, but I had to injure a few to make my point. That was when they started calling me a demon. Most of them aren't bad creatures. It's just that they're lost without someone more intelligent to tell them what to do. The rebels are too stupid to know they're stupid, and even more malicious. If they know Dorothy is helping us, they may cause problems just for spite." "Then we do need to go. Where is Dorothy?" Heero asked. "Rallying the troops, so to speak. She's sending a group back to the shuttle with us to cover us while we check it over, make repairs, and leave," Hilde replied. "All done," Dorothy said, slipping into the room just in time to hear this. "I've told them that you're an angel come to take the demon away. I don't know if they can help with repairs, but they won't let the little filthy beasts anywhere near you. Please be kind to them. They're a very simple race, but they are my responsibility. " "If they use this as an opportunity to attack, will you be okay?" Heero asked. Dorothy snorted. "They use everything as an opportunity
to attack. I've survived dozens of uprisings. I'll probably survive
dozens more. Besides, it's a very rare thing for anyone to be hurt
in these ridiculous coups they keep attempting. Mostly they run around,
trying to get to me. The others catch them and tie them up, or lock
them outside until they get hungry and apologize. They have no sense
of military strategy at all. In fact, if they attack here I'll send
They thanked her and headed back to the shuttle, flanked by about two dozen of the reptile men. The trip was much shorter this time, since they used the network of tunnels that wound through the dunes. When the arrived, their escort surrounded the ship while they looked it over. Hilde, being an angel, wasn't allowed to do anything more strenuous than stand between Wufei and the little people and smile. Trowa went to the cockpit and worked the controls while Heero stood outside and made sure it all looked right. Quatre was adept at digging out the areas around vents. Duo ended up under the ship, checking for structural damage and getting fantastically dirty. The job as also hot and tiring, not to mention the little bugs that lived in the sand kept getting into his clothes. He was never more grateful to finish a task in his life. No sooner had Duo stood and begun to brush off the sand than one of the locals, a female, ran toward them. She had a note in her hand, which she gave to Hilde. Then she gathered all of the men and they hurried back in the direction she had come from. "It's an uprising, as predicted," Hilde said, scanning the note. "She's not worried, but she wants everyone inside so she can close some tunnels off." Heero looked up from patching the only major damage Duo had found. "We can go now, anyway. This patch is only short-term, so we'll have to stop yet again." "Big surprise," Duo muttered, hot, tired, and a bit cross because of it. "Let's go, please?" He dove into the shuttle and immediately sank down onto
the floor, not bothering to get out of anyone else's way. They all
had to step around him. Heero got them off the ground. Duo cheered
faintly, still resting. He was just glad to be going again. They all
were. ~ * ~ |
