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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 8 The sole advantage of power is that you can do more
good.
"Kinda neat, ain't it?" Duo whispered next to Wufei. He was getting a kick out of the Chahiran's jaw-dropped astonishment. "You should see him play with rock sometime. Now that's freaky. It looks like liquid while he's playing with it." "Shh," Quatre hissed. "Move now, marvel later." Wufei managed to pull himself together enough to follow as Quatre led their way outside, but his jaw insisted on crash landing into the hard packed dirt under his feet when the wood-dust flew back into place to become part of the wall again. How in hell had Quatre done that? Granted, Wufei didn't know a lot about sorcery; considering that it was forbidden in his country that was rather understandable. But he knew that sorcerers needed spells and potions to do anything, and Quatre hadn't done anything but look at the wall before the wood was literally leaping to obey. The only conclusion that his stunned brain could formulate was that Quatre must be an extraordinarily powerful sorcerer—but if that were the case, why be Hearken? Surely his talents would be better used elsewhere. He bottled up such questions as they crept away from the walls, using every shadow, tree, and underbrush possible to cover the exit from the guards on the walls. When they were well out of sight of the city he finally let himself breathe easily. Lengthening his stride slightly he caught up to Quatre and asked in a hushed voice, "If you're such a powerful sorcerer, why are you Hearken?" "In the purest since of the word, I'm not. A sorcerer, I mean." Quatre gave him a rueful smile. "Actually, we're not sure what I am. I didn't have these abilities until I came to this planet." That threw Wufei for a loop. "But…I've seen you work magic." "Not so much magic…" Quatre hesitated briefly struggling to explain something he didn't fully grasp himself. "As Wyrack explained it to me, being a magician means that you can use tools and incantations to ask or manipulate certain things to behave in certain ways. I don't do that. I can see down to the smallest particle what something is made of, and with my mind and will alone can alter its shape. No real energy on my part is required, just my attention and my desire to see it done." Wufei felt his eyes grow large in his face. What Quatre was describing…was simply not possible. He defied every law of nature and science that Wufei knew. Hell, it defied a lot of the magical laws as well. "That's…not supposed to be possible." "I know," Quatre answered quietly. "There are only two beings in all of this planet's history that was supposed to have my ability: fairies and unicorns. Humans are supposed to be intolerant for this kind of power. It tends to burn them out, or drive them crazy." Shrugging, he turned a wry smile on the dazed general at his side. "I think Wyrack is going to drive himself crazy trying to figure me out. As for me being Hearken…why not? I can do just as much good here as elsewhere, can't I?" Wufei considered that, and found that he couldn't disagree. Quatre was only one man, and even with such extraordinary ability, he could only do so much. Being Hearken was probably the best use of his talents. "True." "So Q…" Duo started grinning wickedly. "Can you turn lead into gold?" "Don't know. Never tried it. And before you ask, I never will try it either." The brunet pouted, glaring up at his boss. "Killjoy." "You'll live, Duo. Hard work is good for you. Keeps you out of mischief." Quatre's head abruptly snapped around. "Odd…do you hear that?" All three men stopped, ears cocked as they strained their hearing. Ever so faintly were the sounds of voices and metal striking metal. Wufei pointed towards the west, head cocked. That direction? Quatre nodded slowly. The sounds did seem to be coming from that direction. He nudged Wufei ahead, having him play point. The blond was fairly sure that Wufei would be better at sneaking around in a night shrouded forest than either city-boy Duo or himself. Even in the dark with only a pale moon for lighting it was easy to see where the lumber mill was. It was at the base of a rather steep hill, almost seeming to huddle in place. There was a rapid stream somewhere flowing through it, the sound of rushing water audible in the still air. Even this late at night there was still some activity in the area. Quatre grabbed at Duo and pointed at the mill. "Can you get close enough and sneak around?" he breathed beside the boy's ear. "Is grass green?" Duo breathed back. "Gimme an hour, and if I don't come out, come rescue me, got it?" "Got it. Scoot." Wufei stayed low and quiet as they watched Duo dart forward, and neither of them breathed easily until they saw his form disappear inside the mill. "He's sneaky," Wufei murmured in approval. Quatre had brief flashes of various pranks Duo had pulled on him and smiled ruefully. "Don't I know it. Come on, I want to scale this hill and see the full layout of this place." What with the recent downpour, the hill was a little slippery with mud. It made being quiet and sneaky a little challenging at points. Wufei kept an eye on Quatre the entire time, unable and unwilling to curb the protective instincts threatening to strangle his common sense. They were only hundreds of yards from an enemy encampment, Wufei felt entirely justified in being overly protective. It's just as well that he was. The sound was what alerted him, a sloshing noise of wet mud as it impacted against trees, coming down with ferocious speed. He jerked his head around, and by pale moonlight was just able to make out a large wave of something dark and solid heading straight in their direction. With a curse he jerked Quatre by one arm to the nearest tree (thankfully rather wide) and put the blond's back to the trunk. Quatre stuttered out a question that died as his ears caught the same sounds, then it changed to a hiss of panic. Wufei didn't think—pure instinct moved him until he was pressed tightly against Quatre, acting as a living shield against the landslide. He grasped two branches above his head in a tight grip and held on as the first wave hit. Despite his desperate grip he would have been torn free if it weren't for Quatre twining both arms around his waist and yanking him back. The rough, grasping tide battering at his legs abruptly slowed. Wufei blinked his eyes open, looking to either side in amazement. The trunk, which had been rather wide and sturdy to begin with, was now shaped like a rather large bowl, sheltering both of them from the worst of the mudslide. "Wufei? Are you alright?" Quatre pushed him back enough to take a quick look at his face. "Fine. And that's my question, I know I was a little rough pushing you against the tree." How his voice stayed so steady, Wufei had no idea, for only one thought was racing through his head. Thank the stars you're alright. When I saw that mudslide, my heart nearly stopped… Quatre waved away this concern. "I’m fine. I’m so glad you saw it and reacted like you did, otherwise we'd be in trouble." Wufei just wanted a few more seconds of being close like this, of letting his body stay in contact with Quatre's, feel the solid heat of the man soaking into his bones. He took in a deep breath, pretending to think to buy himself those few precious seconds. "What started it? Can you tell?" Quatre's eyes went blind, head cocking in an almost unconscious gesture as he reached his senses out. It took quite some distance before he found what he was looking for. A feral smile curled the corners of his mouth up. "Several men." "They were aiming at us," Wufei concluded grimly. "Another 'natural disaster' to get rid of nosy Hearken, right?" "That would be my guess, yes. And here I thought I had my innocent mask perfected…" "Or they caught Duo down below," Wufei offered darkly. "…point," Quatre conceded unhappily. "I think we better get out of here, I need to make sure he's alright. Besides," the feral smile grew into a snarl. "They're about to discover just who they're tangling with." + Duo had indeed been caught. Unfortunately for him only adult men had been sent to this camp and he had stuck out like a sore thumb, instantly attracting all the wrong attention. When he saw Quatre and Wufei descend down the hill, muddy and cross but unharmed, his eyes lit up. “Hey guys!” he called from between his burly captors. They tried shutting him up, but he wriggled free and sprinted forward. Wufei stepped up, broadsword in his hands in a clear threat to keep the guards at bay as Duo sprinted toward Quatre. Quatre caught him in a quick, hard hug as he came within reach. “You’re okay?” “Yeah, I’m kosher. I was more worried about you two. I heard what they were planning.” Duo gave them both a quick once-over. “Anything I’m not seeing ‘cause of the mud?” “Just that,” Quatre assured him with dark humor. “Wufei fortunately saw it coming and jerked us both behind a very nice big tree.” “And then he tampered with the tree,” Wufei added quietly. “Stay there.” Quatre and Duo both blinked at the abrupt command, staring after Wufei’s back with something close to puzzlement. Whatever questions they had were quickly cleared up when Wufei reached the first guard. The general fisted the front of one man’s tunic and easily jerked him off his feet, slamming him into the nearest building. The wood actually splintered under the force, and the hapless man in the Chahiran’s grasp went white with pain. “By whose orders was that landslide started?” Wufei ground out between clenched teeth. It didn't even occur to the guard to stay quiet, not with those cold dark eyes pinning him. “C-captain Delian Forrest.” “And where is he?” “…I d-don’t know. H-honestly I don’t!” Quatre was mad about all of this, yes, but as he watched Wufei he realized that the general was more than that. He was enraged. Homicidally so. Quatre decided to spare the hapless guard in Wufei’s grip and stepped up to his side, laying a slightly restraining hand on one arm. “I can find him. Let him down.” The muscles in Wufei’s jaw flexed twice before he dropped the man. He was still nearly quivering with the urge to kill something, but he fought against it. Even though his bond was an incomplete bond, seeing his mate in danger like that had pushed him over into bond rage. It burned through his system, demanding justice, demanding blood, demanding that it keep what was his safe from all harm. Wufei screwed his eyes shut and fought it back, grinding it under a mental heel until he was in control again. He couldn’t afford to kill every man in this complex. The bond simmered into a cold burn with the promise that it could take out vengeance on the man truly responsible for this. Quatre saw the effort on his friend’s face, but he didn’t truly understand it. He extended just a small part of his senses to rest on Wufei and was astonished by what he saw. All humans held a bright light at their core, what Quatre thought of as their spirit or soul—Wufei’s wasn’t like most humans. It was brighter, for one thing, and there was another element that was mixed up in it, one that was dark red and pulsing. As he watched it slowly shrank, losing its vibrancy and becoming a more mute red. What…what under the stars was that? The Sanguine part? But why would that flare up now? This was something he would have to think about later. Blinking back into reality Quatre was relieved to see that Wufei was still upset, but not in danger of snapping. Oh yes, he was going to need to study this out later, but now wasn’t the time. Turning back to the shaking guard he enquired coolly, “If you were to guess, where might he be?” The man started to shake his head helplessly. “Let me rephrase—I will burn this place to the ground unless he steps forward, trapping all of you inside.” Somehow the guard didn't doubt that was possible. “I-I think he was h-heading back to town, L-lon.” “There, you see? You did have an idea.” Quatre’s genteel smile was almost scary. The guard gulped eyes wide in sheer terror. Quatre grabbed Wufei and Duo on the way out of the mill, and with thought alone made every tree nearby grow until they were tangled with each other, creating an impenetrable wall. Even Duo was impressed by the display and was staring at it in between being dragged toward the town. “Don’t dawdle, Duo,” Quatre growled in exasperation. “But Q! That’s so, so…man, I can’t even think of a word. How’d you do that?” “All living things like change, I just asked the trees to grow up a little faster than usual. It should take a while for them to break free. Long enough for us to hunt down a certain guard captain and lynch him.” The expression on Quatre’s face would have sent everyone running for the hills, if they had been able to see it. “I think we need to do a little clean up.” ~*~*~*~
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