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"From the Shadows"Written By: Honor Disclaimers: The boys are not mine (curses!) however all the other characters are, and the story, and the idea, and my evil muse. You can have my evil muse. Pairings: 4x5 Spoilers: Nope Warnings: AU, soooo AU, maybe a hint of OOC, violence,
lemon, language, political scheming and fantasy elements. Oh, and
unicorns. ^_^ Rating: R Archived: Gundam Wing Diaries Betas: Velvet and Caitilin *emphasized* =thought= ::mental communication: :
" From the Shadows " Chapter 6 The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us.
Quatre had learned during his training stint with the Hearken that you could really understand a man’s character by traveling with him. There were just certain restraints that fell away once on the road, and a glimmer of the true personality would inevitably shine through. His first impression of Wufei had been of a very controlled man that rarely let his emotions show. And great gods was the man attractive! Quatre usually didn’t think of men in sexual terms, but anyone who couldn’t see how attractive the Chahiran was was cold in their graves. Whichever girl was destined to catch this man was unreasonably lucky. He looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Actually, being near Wufei like this made a little twinge of envy pulse in the base of his spine. He’d always wanted to look something like that—big and strong and darkly mysterious. Not short, and slender and juvenile. It was rare that Quatre was around someone who was so predominately male, and confident like that. He could see why Wufei was a general—he had this aura of power and authority around him that made people sit up and pay attention. He’d found himself almost deferring to him on several occasions this morning, which was very out of character for him. Duo maneuvered his elk closer so that he could poke Quatre in the ribs. “Hey Q, I wanna stop in the next village.” Ow. Damn, the kid needed to clip his nails. “And you felt it necessary to poke me because…?” “You were daydreaming,” Duo informed him with a smirk. Quatre drew himself up to his full height, looking down at the younger Hearken haughtily. “I was contemplating the greater and deeper mysteries of life.” “Yeah, like I said, daydreaming.” Having Duo around was like having a younger brother—you loved him to pieces, but still wanted to throttle him on a frequent basis. “I assume you want to stop so that you can terrorize the orphanage here to obey your new rules?” Duo lifted his hands to his face in mock surprise. “Hey, it thinks!” Actually, the only time that Quatre didn’t want to throttle Duo was when the kid was asleep. No smart comments when he was snoozing. Maybe he should just knock him out and tie him to the saddle of his elk—it’d be more peaceful that way, after all. “I vote we get lunch while Duo is terrorizing people,” Wufei offered calmly. “That is an excellent plan. Motion carried.” Quatre beamed at Duo. “Of course, we won’t wait for you.” Duo rolled his eyes. “Of course not.” + They traveled most of the day, stopping at an inn late in the night. There were only two rooms left vacant, which Quatre took without much haggling, even if the price was a little steep. Wufei came in with both of their saddle bags just as Quatre finished paying for the rooms. The blond turned with a wry smile on his face. “Two rooms left open. Who do you want to room with, me or Duo? I should warn you that Duo is a very active sleeper.” Wufei cocked an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t sure how well he could restrain himself, being close to Quatre all night, but he was willing to forgo any frustration to be near his life partner, even if it was only for a few hours. “I’ll share with you.” Quatre’s silent smile said he hadn’t expected anything different. “Right. I’ll tell Duo he’s on his own then.” They ate a simple meal of beef stew and biscuits before retiring to the room, and stripped down to just pants, getting ready for sleep. The bed was just wide enough for two people, in Wufei’s opinion, and looked very inviting besides. There was a tingling sensation building low in his gut from just the anticipation of sleeping in such close proximity to Quatre. He was setting his sword within easy reach of the bed when there was a soft hail. “Wufei?” Wufei looked up with a slight flash of surprise. Quatre had been pensive the whole day, so Wufei hadn’t been expecting any kind of conversation. “Yes?” “What is Sanguine exactly? You’ve explained a bit about your search, but why are you Sanguine?” “I’m not sure,” Wufei responded quietly. His attention was perked by these questions. Was this what Quatre had been thinking about all day? “All of my family is Sanguine. We’re not absolutely positive of the origin. Our records only date back two hundred years and this has been with my family much longer than that.” Quatre frowned at that. “But surely you have an idea?” “There is a legend,” Wufei admitted. Silently he was cheering. This was the perfect opportunity to give Quatre the information he needed to know. It amused him when Quatre plopped onto the bed next to him, crossing legs and settling in like a child awaiting a bedtime story. Unable to resist the mood he drawled, “Once upon a time, in a land not so far away—” “—will you please be serious?” “What? You’re the one wanting a bedtime story.” The Look he got for that statement told him that teasing was Not Permitted. “Hm. Okay, fine. Legend has it that there was a young goddess, Celestia by name, who was set as a protector of this world. She grew lonely by herself up in the heavens and descended to walk among men. With her great beauty and gentle nature, she drew people to her and began forming friendships. One of those friendships was Chang Lin. Over time, they fell in love and were married. It was upon their wedding day that Lin was told of the true nature of his bride. He was delighted as well as surprised. They lived happily on earth for the duration of his mortal life, and then ascended to the heavens to live happily forever.” Wufei took in a deep breath and released it slowly. “Parts of that legend might be true. The Sanguine are beautiful, talented people. Some say Celestia’s divine blood still flows strongly within us. It’s both blessing and curse in my mind. We have many gifts—but that strong craving for companionship is passed down to us as well. Celestia’s blood inheritance has almost changed into a curse over the generations. When we reach an age of maturity—somewhere between eighteen and twenty-five—we are seized with the compulsion to find a mate. It is not something we can ignore. It is a hunger that we must sate, no matter the lengths that we must go through in order to do so.” “Has anyone ever failed in finding their partner?” Quatre didn’t like the dark twist to this particular fairy tale. “One that we know of. My great-great uncle. He searched for ten years without finding them. It literally drove him insane.” Quatre winced. “Surely if this is Celestia’s doing, she would temper the side effects. I mean, isn’t this whole thing a little extreme?” “Yes, I think so. However, I’m not sure if Celestia even really married my many times great grandfather. If she had, and they really did have children, then I imagine that things were very different then. Their children were at least half divine. I am human—I doubt my body has the ability to really cope with any magic blood. It could just be my human intolerance that is twisting things so badly out of proportion.” “Hm. Maybe.” What Quatre knew of magic and human anatomy suggested that this explanation was certainly plausible. “Wufei, you’ve searched for two years, right?” “Yes.” “Agh.” Dealing with that kind of compulsion for two years would not have been fun. Quatre would have been very irritable in Wufei’s position. “That wasn’t any fun, I’m sure. You said that you would know on sight whether that person was your mate or not. How will you know?” “How do you know that something is blue and not green?” Wufei retaliated with spread hands. “It’s not something that you can explain. I just know.” “Hm.” Quatre still felt a little vexed by the whole notion. “I guess…I guess what I’m really trying to ask is if this bothers you. Are you alright with being divinely fated to be with this one person, without any choice in the matter?” “A little,” Wufei admitted honestly. Or he had been, at any rate. Now he couldn’t imagine being with anyone but Quatre. “It was the driving need to find that person now that really grated. But you must understand, Quatre. I’ve been surrounded by Sanguine my entire life and never once have I seen a couple unhappy with each other. Usually they are blissfully content with their spouse.” Quatre watched him carefully, weighing every nuance of expression and tone. There was something in his eyes, in his voice that gave another meaning to his words. “And you want it. You want to find that person, that kind of happiness,” he murmured slowly. “Aa. I want it.” Wufei clenched his hands hard, knuckles becoming white. It was so very hard to hold himself in check at that moment, when every instinct he had screamed to reach out, gather Quatre against him and never let go. Quatre looked away toward the window, trying to see himself in his friend’s position. “If I were in your place…I’d probably dig my heels in and stubbornly refuse to do anything about it until I had no other option.” “You are obstinate,” Wufei agreed. He managed to keep the frustration out of his voice by sheer willpower. That strong will was one of the things he admired about Quatre—but in this particular case, it was working against them both. “Noticed, have you?” Quatre shrugged slightly, unable to deny it. It was that obstinacy that had enabled him to survive being kidnapped by pirates, after all. “Come on, let’s turn in.” Wufei bit back frustration, settling himself against the outer edge of the bed as Quatre claimed the portion near the wall. The position was one he chose on purpose—if any trouble came during the night, it would have to go through Wufei first. Quatre didn’t think like a soldier, so the possibility of danger probably hadn’t occurred to him. If it had, he would certainly have argued with Wufei over who was near the wall. He lay there, breathing deeply and evenly, eyes closed to give the impression of having fallen quickly asleep until he was sure that Quatre was asleep. Then very carefully he slid a hand up, gently touching just the tips of Quatre’s thick blond hair. It was soft under his fingertips, bouncing back into place when he withdrew. The sensation lingered on his fingertips. When all of this had started, Wufei had only known one thing for certain: the person he would find would be the one he could live happily ever after with. He hadn’t tried to imagine anything beyond that. Now, knowing Quatre as he did, he knew that ‘happily ever after’ couldn’t begin to cover it. Such a phrase couldn’t begin to describe the joy, frustration, and humor that living with Quatre was bound to entail. Letting out a deep breath he closed his eyes again. It would take a while longer, but progress was being made. Surely, he could tell Quatre the complete truth soon. + “Hey Quat, why are we investigating Renge Province?” They were back on the open road, traveling south. The wind was a bit more brisk today, but not entirely unpleasant. It took the edge off the hot and heavy air. Wufei was riding slightly ahead of them, eyes alert on their surroundings. Duo, being Duo, was talking to fill up the silence. Since it was a valid question, Quatre didn’t mind answering this one. Quatre turned a little to look at Duo while he answered the question. “Well, for one thing they are acting extremely innocent. While Chaelane’s father was ruling, a lot of the Doms became corrupt. It’s hard for me to believe that every Dom in that province stayed squeaky clean while everyone else went bad. They’re too innocent. And there’s something else that bothers me…” he trailed off, brow furrowed a bit. “And that would be…?” Duo prompted. “In the past five years, they’ve had numerous disasters. Forest fires, mudslides, storms, that sort of thing. I checked the statistics and it’s been higher in the last five years than it has been in the last fifty combined.” “String of bad luck?” Duo suggested. But his tone was slightly doubtful. “Maybe. But why wouldn’t the bordering provinces be affected as well? Renge isn’t so large of a province that it can bear the brunt of one storm without Nisbett being affected as well. And the forest fires should have spread past their boundaries too.” From ahead, Wufei had heard the words and his eyes narrowed slightly. Turning slightly he offered over his shoulder, “A few years back, there was a case in Chahir where a nobleman purposefully burned his house down to collect the insurance on it. He was in serious debt, and it was the only way to keep from going bankrupt. Of course, the investigator for the insurance company figured it out, which is how I know the truth. Do you think Renge is doing the same thing? Faking disasters to collect money?” “Not just from some insurance company,” Quatre disagreed thoughtfully. “But from the government as well. We’ve used quite a bit of tax money over the past five years sending them ‘relief’ and financial aid. Maybe I’m just being too suspicious, but something about this doesn’t sit well with me.” “It certainly is worth investigating,” Wufei agreed. “Hm.” Quatre tried to keep his face bland, but his eyes were sparkling with subdued humor. “Duo, I want you to go in ahead of us. Look sweet and innocent like you usually do, and see if you can’t get one of the common people to fess up. Maybe I’m wrong about the disasters, but I’m fairly sure that something is going on in that province.” Duo casually saluted him. “Aye-aye Captain. You want me to meet you guys back at the inn come nightfall?” “If you feel it’s wise. Just try to stay out of the seedy side of town? I don’t want to have to worry about finding you dead somewhere.” Duo rolled his eyes. “Like that would ever happen.” Quatre just Looked at him. “Okay, okay, sheesh. Stop being a mother hen. I’ll come back. Where will you be?” “In a tavern somewhere along the main street. I’m sure,” Quatre’s tone was sardonic, “that you’ll find us somehow.” Duo batted big blue eyes innocently. “What? It’s perfectly legitimate to pay for information, right?” Quatre wasn’t fooled in the slightest. “Your fees in finding out such ‘information’ are abnormally high, and always goes to some orphan child. Amazing coincidence, isn’t it?” “Yes, it is,” Duo retaliated blandly. Wufei shifted slightly in his saddle. “And what will we be doing, while he’s digging up information from the common people?” “Terrorizing the noblemen, naturally.” ~*~*~*~
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