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"Magic, Mischief, and Miracles"Written By: Honor Disclaimers: I've contracted some guy named Doctor
Draken to steal the boys. It's part of his mad scheme to take over
the world. Nifty, huh? Pairings: 3x4, 1x2 already established Warnings: AU, violence, language, supernaturalness,
LEMON, yaoi, etc. Spoilers: nada Author's Insane Ramblings: Okay, this is the result
of watching too much Inuyasha. I was sick, and to keep myself entertained,
I bounced back and forth between watching Inuyasha and writing GW
fanfiction. This...is the result.
" Magic, Mischief, and Miracles" Part 1 The first thing that really penetrated in Quatre's mind was when he tripped over the edge of the mirror and landed on his knees. The wooden floor under him was not very forgiving. Wincing, he looked up again at the man standing in front of him. He was very attractive, and the amethyst eyes were especially eye catching. Quatre wasn't sure if it was because of their color or because of the soft glow in them. His sense, usually erratic, was much stronger today for some reason and was telling him that this person was a powerhouse of energy. Strange. The stranger extended a hand, which he took, and climbed onto his feet. He stretched his sense out, hoping it would last a little longer. There were two other people here -- even stronger than the person in front of him. One was to his side, in the corner. Another was muted, probably hurt, located in the back of the house. He rubbed at his forehead absently, feeling it ache a little. Using power like this was strange to him. "Who are you?" "Duo. Why did you come through the mirror?" Quatre opened his mouth to respond, and closed it again. "I'm not sure. I just glanced at it, and saw you. It was so strange to see someone else instead of my reflection, I touched it to see if it was a picture or something." Duo's confusion eased. "Ah. You touched it. Well, that explains how you came through. You used my power to get here. I'm not quite sure why my search gave me you, though...what power do you have?" "Eh?" "Power, power! You must have some kind of ability; otherwise I wouldn't have found you." Quatre was becoming more confused, not less. "Well, uh, I can feel people." "Just people?" "What do you mean, 'just people'? I can't feel animals very well, if that's what you mean." "No! I mean, how do you fair with demons?" Quatre shook his head. "Demons don't exist." Duo abruptly started laughing. Turning to the person in the corner he grinned. "Hey, you don't exist!" "This was a waste of time," the figure in the corner grumbled. Duo stopped laughing. "Naw, I don't think so. The kid's got enough power to light the house up. Tell you what, blondie, why don't you sit down and I'll explain the situation. Then maybe we can figure out why you're here." That sounded like an excellent idea to him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quatre had one hand on his forehead to keep his head from splitting apart, and the other one was up to forestall the rest of Duo's faster-than-light explanation. "Wait. Let me get this straight. I've been pulled into a parallel world, that doesn't necessarily follow the same rules as my world, and whatever natural ability I have is enhanced here. Demons do exist -- so do dragons, ogres, and evil sorcerers and one of these demons is a friend of yours and you called me to help him." "Well, I didn't mean to call you. I was just trying to figure out where Terandl went so I could tell him where to start looking." Quatre blew out a breath. "Okay. Why is he looking for this person?" "Terandl stole something -- a rather destructive family heirloom. Now, it's been gone for a while, but he was told that it was being kept safe by someone, so he didn't worry about it. It wasn't until Terandl did some damage with it that he realized he was lied to. So now he wants to hunt it down." "Ah." /And why should I involve myself in this?/ Granted, his life at home wasn't all sunshine and daisies, but it was better than being in an unknown land, surrounded by strangers, with the possibility of running into dangerous creatures...wasn't it? "How destructive is this thing?" "Depends on the wielder. Terandl took out a village with it." Quatre stood up, pacing the length of the room, in deep thought. As Duo had explained it, when he did a mirror reading, it told him what he wanted to know or it gave him a means to find out the information for himself. Duo had asked a question...and the reading gave him Quatre. Why...? "Duo. On my world, I had the talent of feeling people. Not necessarily their emotions, although it was that to a degree, but just knowing they were there even if I wasn't in the same room with them. It was erratic, there. It's much stronger here." "That's gotta be it," Duo agreed, snapping his fingers. "That's gotta be why the mirror showed me you. If you can just sense where Terandl is, then it doesn't matter where he goes, you'll know." "I was afraid you were going to say that," Quatre grumbled. What were the facts, really? He had the ability to save lives, here, or at least help save lives. And on his world...he went to school. Right now, getting an education did not balance out to human life in his mind. Besides, this wasn't a long term deal anyway. Once he was done helping them, he could go back... "Duo, I can go back, right?" "Yeah, anytime." No problem, then. /I must be insane for agreeing to this./ "Okay, I'll help." "Cool." Duo turned expectantly to the very silent spectator leaning on the wall. "He's all yours. Try to be nice to the kid, he is helping you out." "Hn." There was a brief beckoning motion to Quatre. "Follow." The blond gave Duo an uncertain glance. Duo shooed him out the door. "It'll be fine. He's not much on talking, that's all. Actually, his people skills suck. But you'll be safe with him. I'll catch up with you guys in a week, when Heero is feeling better." There wasn't any other option. Quatre had already said he would help, he was committed now. He hurried out the door and down the path, catching up with the tall figure walking without apparent hurry. /What have I gotten myself into?/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, on a normal basis, Quatre was rather fond of quiet. With a family full of sisters, he rather craved it at times. However, there were instances when quiet was just a little too...absolute. Like now. After two hours of walking behind the demon, Quatre was more than ready for conversation, especially since he knew nothing of this world. He'd been polite at first just because this person was in a Bad Mood and he didn't want to ruffle feathers, but enough was enough. Quickening his stride, he caught up to the demon's side. It was hard to tell he was a demon, from the outside. His ears were slightly pointed, and there was a mark of power on his cheeks, but other than that he could have been human. Delectably human. "Um...what's your name?" Without looking at him, the demon replied flatly, "Nanashi." He really wasn't in the mood to talk...tough. "Where are we going?" "..." Growling, he spun in front of him. "Look, I don't read minds! Is it too much to ask where we're going?" Nanashi almost seemed to look through him. "Terandl struck near here not long ago." "Oh. You think we can pick up the trail from there?" He turned so that he was walking alongside the demon again. "Yes." Seeing that he had probably used up Nanashi's allotment of words for the day, Quatre went back to thinking. It was a beautiful day, and beautiful countryside. Rolling green hills, fluffy white clouds, trees along the road...it was a shame the person next to him was spoiling the scenery. An hour later, there was a change in the air. Quatre was ready to crawl out of his skin, the feeling was so uncomfortable. He stopped abruptly, looking around in alarm. Nanashi stopped and looked at him. "It's...revolting," Quatre offered, briskly rubbing his arms. "This feeling...what is it?" "Terandl." Quatre swallowed hard. "We're chasing something this evil?" "Yes." "Gods help us," the blond breathed. "I would know this feeling anywhere, Nanashi. We don't have to get closer to where ever he had been. Can we move on?" Without a word, he turned and walked away. Quatre didn't breathe until they were a good distance away. Then he relaxed with a sigh. He still felt like taking a bath, and scrubbing off a layer of skin, but at least he could breathe now without having the urge to vomit. Bringing his sense to the fore, he probed the area to see if he could find that feeling and aura again. There was a unique red tinge to the area Terandl had touched, almost like footprints but not quite. "Nanashi? We're heading in the wrong direction." The demon stopped, looking at him. "I chased him this way." Quatre spread his hands in a shrug. "Maybe it was a decoy or something, I can't explain that. All I know is that the evil aura goes toward the left." He sighed when the demon simply changed directions and followed where Quatre had pointed. This was going to be a very long journey. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They traveled all day, stopping late in the evening. Nanashi took care of dinner -- in other words, he caught a raw fish with a simple swipe of his hand from the small brook next to their 'campsite' and tossed it at Quatre. With a mutter about home cooked meals, the blond called upon all of his expertise as a Boy Scout and started up a fire. He didn't have any fancy equipment, but he remembered the rudiments well enough. After a day of walking, even the no-salt, no-ketchup fish tasted divine. He huddled into his blue jean jacket, thanking his lucky stars that he'd been something of a bum today when he was dressing. It was a Saturday, so he'd forgone his usual method of dress and chosen a pair of army fatigues, long sleeved black shirt, and a blue jean jacket. Maybe a little mismatched, but at least it was warm. Curling into a tight ball, he closed his eyes. The fire burned down some, and Quatre started awake with a violent shiver. Couldn't they have stayed in an inn or something? Or was that against demon policy? He shifted around, a little closer to the fire. When that didn't work, he scrunched up tighter into a ball. Ah screw it, he'd have to build up the fire again. Of course, that meant he'd have to go find some more firewood -- in the dark. Maybe he should just forgo sleeping. Nanashi was resting with his back against a tree, eyes closed. When Quatre rose to his feet he asked quietly, "Why aren't you sleeping?" "Because I'm freezing!" Quatre's usually even temper snapped. "Maybe you don't feel the cold, but if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly covered in excess weight so I feel it when it gets cold! I don't have anything to sleep with to keep me warm, and I'm tired and irritable from putting up with your surly company all day, doing something that I don't have to do in the first place!" Nanashi's eyes opened and looked at him calmly. "Come here." "Why? So you can cold-clock me and put me out of your misery?" "Come here." Giving up, Quatre walked to him. The demon caught his wrist when he was close and pulled him down. Quatre squawked as he landed on the demon's lap, about to protest the manhandling. The dark cloak that had been covering Nanashi's body flipped over the both of them. Quatre twisted to stare at the demon with wide eyes. "Go to sleep." Nanashi's eyes were already closed again. Sleep? Up close Quatre realized with absolute embarrassment that Nanashi was gorgeous -- in a really supernatural, kinda dangerous don't-touch-me-and-live way, but gorgeous nonetheless. He was curled up to that body, and next to a person he wasn't entirely sure he could ever trust, and the demon wanted him to sleep?! Was he kidding? Quatre yawned and let his head rest against that very firm chest. Granted, he was much warmer, but the idea that he could ever -- geez, why was he yawning like this? -- be comfortable enough to...actually sleep...damn, he smelt good... A pair of green eyes studied the young human curled up in his arms, sleeping so peacefully. There might have been a slight softening to them before they closed again, but if so, no one witnessed it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If Quatre had possessed any aspirations that the demon would treat him better because they'd slept next to each other the night before, the hope was immediately dashed upon waking. They started walking without breakfast, early when the sun had risen. Animals had better sense than to be up at that time of the morning. Quatre's stomach started rumbling after an hour of travel, which Nanashi ignored. Fortunately for the blond, there was an apple orchard alongside the road. He turned toward it without a word to his silent companion. "Quatre?" "If you won't feed me, I'll have to feed myself." The lowest branches had enough fruit on them so that he didn't have to hop up and down to get something. Three apples in hand, he strode back to the road, munching as he went. Nanashi watched him, then walked on without saying a word. Once he had a little food in his stomach, Quatre's disposition improved drastically. He matched his pace with his companion's. "So tell me more about Terandl." "You know what you need to." Frowning at him, the blond shook his head stubbornly. "No, I don't. What does he look like? Is he a mind player? Does he like to set traps or does he face his opponents face to face? Does he have lots of henchmen we have to keep an eye out for? Is he after the world, or is he just a power hungry loon? How did he steal your family heirloom without you knowing about it? Why --" Nanashi growled slightly. "Enough. You've made your point." "I still want all of those questions answered," Quatre stated with a stubborn light in his eyes. The demon gave a soft sigh. "Terandl has many faces -- I have only seen him once. We cannot go by appearance." "I doubt we have to worry about it," Quatre reflected thoughtfully. "I'll know instantly if it's him or not. Okay, so maybe that first question wasn't necessary." Nanashi snorted. "As for the other questions, I know little of him. From what I've seen, he discards people easily. I doubt anyone is loyal to him." "And the weapon you're trying to get back?" "Trivoxor. Most know it as Vox. It was sealed -- he broke the seal and stole it." "Who lied to you about it? Duo said you thought it was in a safe place." Nanashi remained silent. "Okay, fine, I won't ask about that. So is Terandl a sneaky enemy or does he like confrontations?" "Both." "An unpredictable enemy," Quatre sighed. "Great." Inwardly, he was delighted to see that the demon was actually talking to him. He wasn't giving him irritated glances anymore, either. Maybe he was getting used to an inquisitive blond as his traveling companion. "Can I ask a more personal question?" When there was no response, he decided to forge ahead regardless. "Can you change forms?" "Yes." "Ah. You've got to be a really big cat when you do switch." Nanashi stopped, tilting his head to search his face intently. "No one told you what I am." "That you were a cat demon? Well, no but your spirit looks like a cat, so I kinda jumped to conclusions." "It is an unusual Sight you have." "I didn't used to," Quatre grumbled. "Like I said, my ability has really enhanced ever since I came here." Accepting this, he moved forward again. Quatre, resigned
to the fact that the demon would be quiet for a while, followed without
another word. ~ * ~
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