|
"Horse Tales"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Yaoi, Very AU, so very AU it's AD, another
dimension. The GW boys are horses. My apologies. Please heed the warning. Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 6x5 Summary: A few lucky stallion purebreds are given a second chance at the Horse Haven Sanc-tuary. A/N: In defense of my writing this extreme version
of a GW story… Waterlily and Snowdragon made me do it, heh, heh… " Horse Tales" Chapter Fourteen- Enter the Dragon's Test (o) Quatre's POV "Wait up!" Honestly, I could move faster, but I wanted to talk to Duo privately while the others ran ahead. "You're fast; you can damn well catch up with me." "I'm still recovering!" Pity sometimes worked. "Yeah, yeah, recouping- but from what?" That was oblique. He knew I'd been bitten by that awful Mustang mare. I wished he would simply come right out and say what was on his mind. He had been behaving foolishly for days, avoiding me, and I didn't know why. I could just kick the living daylights out of him at times, but I controlled my temper. If I kept my wits about me, I could get to the heart of the matter without resorting to violence. And I really wanted to get to enjoy the beautiful spring day outside! Howard had kept Wufei and me indoors all week while our injuries healed. To circumvent our resident escape artist from letting us all out, the human had posted a stable guard day and night. And he was deaf! Duo's wails hadn't bothered him a bit. Actually, I think Duo understood why we shouldn't overdo, because he didn't actually pull any stunts except the loud noise, and that was only the first night. Knowing Trowa wouldn't leave me alone in our stall meant he and Heero waited indoors too. It wasn't long before the stable hands separated us into the "outsider" and the "insider" horses and they'd leave us. Wufei and I knew it would only be temporary. We were allowed our stall windows open to smell the delicious spring air filled with the scent of fresh new meadow grass, flowers, and moist soil. As lovely as the indoor arena was and as appreciative of the moderate exercise it permitted us, I simply couldn't wait to taste the out-of-doors. It was so wet and exciting. Imagine me looking forward to wet! So, when the day came to breathe the fresh air and run, I couldn't wait. What I hadn't expected was Duo's standoffishness. Trowa, Heero, and Wufei were already grazing on the new grass of the close-in pasture. This was my chance to speak to him alone. I risked pulling the stitches, but I surely wasn't going to let him get away with talk like that, implying I hadn't been injured! I dashed around the corral, weaving to avoid the hurdles, which had been set up since I'd last been there. I felt that it might be too soon to test my shoulder with those. Duo took them one after the other. He must have been practicing diligently to have become that good so fast. I could run like the wind over the sand, almost as fast as Heero, but the stitches pinched, warning me to slow down. I rounded the next turn and cut him off. Once his path was blocked he stopped. "I was doing pretty good," he huffed. "Your jumping is splendid." That made him look up. This was my chance. "I want to know what's wrong, Duo? You've been acting strangely and I can feel-" I stopped. I could tell I was losing him, and started anew. "What did I do to make you feel ... to make you resent me? Ever since we got back from the wild horses-" "Look, it was just something 'Ro said, that's all. Something, ah, Spot told him 'bout you an' him, that's all. All. All of it." Oh, that's all, is it, Mr. Holding-it-all-back? I was certain to get to the bottom of the trouble if I came at him tangentially. "We're in love! It's a wonderful feeling, Duo. My heart flutters like pink ribbons against a blue sky. And when I'm near him I just melt and my legs go all gooey like honey." "Is that good? I mean, it is to eat, for sure; ugh, honey, that is." Either he wasn't following all my similes, or he thought I was just a mess around my true love. A sticky mess at that. "Love is good and at times messy." The moment I said that his eyes grew huge and I felt his emotions wash over me on a tide of angst. If I were to guess, I'd say his problems circled around sex, like his conversation. As I thought about how he'd acted around the wild mares, and what Trowa had shared of his few comments about Heero's "games", I'd come to the conclusion that Duo appeared very naïve about sex. I didn't know where he'd learned his facts of life, or if he even had learned them, but I had them ground into me by the harem. Nothing like having all the bloody details starting with conception and continuing with a redundant, even gratuitous thoroughness through the birthing process- something I was relieved never to have to go through- drilled into my brain. Later, after failing to do my stallion duty, I learned how the unmated stallions took the geldings. They never got near me. I could fight and did fight them off. I stood my ground, for awhile, but by that time they weren't interested in mounting, only mind games. I'd put that past me now. I was fortunate. I had Trowa, the sweetest, gentlest stallion I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I felt blessed with Trowa in my life and that he was also well informed. He'd seen it all, he'd told me. What he'd actually experienced, he kept to himself. I wouldn't prod him to tell me everything. Not all our memories were nice or meant to be shared. As it turned out, we had only the mechanics of sex to work out between us. That had taken us about two minutes. "Is that your problem? Sex with Heero? He's interested? Of course he is! Who wouldn't be in a handsome stallion like you with that bewitching tail- Are you gagging on something?" He was choking on his own spit. I knew that. Talk about tongue-tied! "You can talk to me. I won't tell anyone, unless you want me to. Please?" "You are doing... that? With Spot?" he spit out. "By 'that' you mean-" "Don't say it! Yes, that." "All right, I'll be circumspect. I really just want to help you." I let him pant for a minute. "You've found someone who cares deeply for you, Duo. I want you as happy as I am." "It's gotta hurt." "You'd think so, but it is actually pleasant. The key is all in the liberal use of spit and tongue- Oh, don't be such a baby." He was cringing. "I'm not." "You are. Now buck up and I'll explain." He let me offer a few suggestions and insights into a couple of details he'd neglected to consider. "Okay, I got it, I think. Not so bad, now that I'm getting used to the idea. I thought at first he was just kidding me, ya know?" "Yes!" I giggled trying to imagine the serious-faced Heero trying to seduce his babe-in-the-woods sweetheart with unvarnished, even lewd-sounding, suggestions. Not that I didn't believe in facing the honest facts, but a little embroidering of the facts made them no less accurate, just prettier. "I feel awfully dumb now." "You shouldn't. You know a great deal more than you did when you woke up this morning, which makes you less dumb. Remember, and I hope it makes you feel better, each and every one of us has some more experienced horse explain sex to them. Consider yourself informed, that's all." "Ah, thanks, Sunshine." He gazed out to the pasture, longing to be with Heero, I suspected. "So, you, ah, done here, 'cause I kinda wanna get a belly-full of that new green stuff, okay with you?" Food? Was that really on his mind all the time? "You want to eat?" "Yeah, c'mon. I'll even go slow for the gimpy horse." Now that sounded like my old friend again back to normal. "Who are you calling a 'gimp', pokey?" And the race was on. Of course I let him win just this one time and it did wonders for his ego. Quatre Beautiful Sunshine (I didn't require the 'Raberba' Winner' anymore) did it again! In the process of galloping to meet the others, I really worked up an appetite, one that seemed to grow disproportionately to the size of my belly. I couldn't get enough of the loveliest, sweetest grass I'd ever tasted. "Slow down, Beautiful. It's not going anyplace." Oh, Trowa! I adored his gentle ways and nickered sentiments. I nuzzled and pressed close, side-by-side. And then the sun shone warm. We all stood and let it soak down to our skin for the longest time. Wufei sighed and slumped to his knees. "Are you all right?" I was worried about him. You couldn't see his deep bruising and he never talked about it. "Yes. Just feel like a nap." "Good idea." Duo, of all characters, knelt nearby. He even rolled to one side. "Nothing like the smell of freshly crushed grass." Heero stood watch over Duo, over all of us, but especially Duo. And Wufei. That was his duty as lead stallion. But nothing disturbed our peace. Oh, a few dark clouds passing over, dropping some rain, but then the wind swept them away. More sun. Lovely, sun. Lazy day. I must have dozed off too. The sun had moved in the sky when I blinked my eyes. The light was dazzling. "You're ankle deep in mud." "I am?" It had been Trowa's voice that had awakened me. I picked up one hoof making a sucking sound. "Look at that! Did it rain that much?" "Guess so." He flicked a hoof and a hunk of mud flew at me. "Namby-pamby." "Did you just insult me?" I returned the favor, spraying his legs with flecks of brown. "Woopsie!" "That was no accident," he said, working one hoof into the mud, sliding it around, softening up a big glob. "It wasn't?" He sent another spurt my way, dappling my side with ugly spots. "That certainly wasn't!" I cried out. "This is war!" I kicked a blob, splattering both him and Heero. "What the hell?" Duo spun about to see why his sweetie pie had mud dripping from his tail and got a shot in his face from Trowa. "Oh, this is something I'm real good at." Duo wasn't kidding. He could kick mud, dirt, rocks, and plants like crazy. Wufei and Heero had no choice but to defend themselves from my glorious fury! I gave as good as I received. No one was safe from a well-placed mud splat. "Hey, you lost a bootie." Trowa was right. When had I lost that? I hadn't even noticed how my carefully manicured hooves had gone au naturel and become caked in gloop. "What about that? So I have! Oh, there it is." Stuck in a hole. When Trowa reached to lift it out with his lips, I stopped him. "Leave it be. I don't need them anymore." "Now you got me stumped. You don't miss the sand?" "I do, but this is my home now, and nature. It's all good!" "You've come a long way fast, Beautiful." My love noticed how hard I was trying! "Yes, I have!" "Won't Howie and the Doc's have a fit when they get a load of us," Duo was saying. I looked us over and he was right. What a sight we were! Wufei snorted and shook out his mane, slinging muddy bits in the air. "We've caught Trowa's circus spots. Watch out! They're contagious!" Not only was he right, he had made a joke about it, and we all whinnied in amusement. Life really was good. "Pinto'd like the wild horses," Heero said. And then the perfect scheme hit me between the eyes, along with a clot of muck someone had shook off: hide Heero with the wild horses to avoid Relena's clutches! My idea exploded out of my mouth without setting the proper stage, a mistake. "Are you crazy?" Heero snapped at me. "They would just as soon feed me to the cougars than-" Set the stage! Props! I needed props! "We'd have to give them something in trade, buy their friendship if that's what it takes. There must be something they want that we have." "Not to shit on your mash, Sunshine, but even if we did convince the wild horses to take in 'Ro, he still looks like 'Ro. Anyone would spot him if they went looking and you know, if he showed up missing one day, the first place Howie'd look would be the far pastures." I needed costumes, too! "True, they know we've gone that far," Wufei said with a sharp look at Trowa. Trowa hadn't noticed, I don't think, because he was staring off at the horizon with an intense, yet thoughtful, expression. I waited to hear his point of view. A few stage directions, possibly? I could have used a supportive word from him. I was not ready to relinquish my good idea. The show must go on! "They might know obscure canyons or caves or-" Right on cue, Trowa interrupted. "We could disguise him with spots." "How? You mean like this?" Heero asked. "Mud washes off with rain." "Clowns use paint that doesn't come off with water." "Oh, that's good!" I knew he'd find a way to make my plans come true. "Yeah, but where do we get the paint?" Duo asked. Oh, no- This time it was Heero who piped up. "The humans mark the arena lines with a white paint. I know where it is stored. If we could get to that, I could check the label for-" "It's water soluble," Wufei said, deleting the suggestion instantly, dashing out the fires of excitement with a bucket of figurative water. "But the fence paint is not, or it would run off in the rain." Yay! Trowa nodded his head. Double yay! "And that's stored in the outbuilding near the barn. I've watched them put it away." Oh, once again there was hope! "Let's go back and check out the locks," Duo suggested. "We'll have to time our moves against those of the human workers and not get caught." "Well, duh, 'Fei!" Trowa nudged first Duo then Wufei. "I'll do that." "Then we're on?" "Yeah, Sunshine, the show's all yours now." "Break a leg and all that!" I cried out. But, alas, they'd never heard that human show-term for good luck. For horses that was more of a death knell. I had to explain what I'd meant, but, really, it was best just to drop it and move on. How I wished we could have begun our implementation right then, but there is no accounting for human intervention in the best of plans. (o) Trowa's POV I spotted the gleaming, white stallion from some distance, but it was Duo who was first to shout out. "Whoa, doggies! Who's the hot, chic stallion with the cavalry tags?" Oh, no. More competition for our fearless leader to face and put down, although, this one looked far more formidable than I had been or Wufei. And Duo's enthusiasm was not helping; in fact, it had the unintended, I think, effect of fueling Heero's jealous fires. And as Heero pushed past us all to take up the defense up front, I pulled Beautiful back by the tail to walk with me. "Shh... just listen to them," I whispered, and amazingly, he followed my instructions. He might appear sweet and gentle as a rose bud, but beneath the ribbons and fluff were stubborn thorns. Heero assessed and said, "He looks like a military mount from a wealthy family." Not too bad a re-statement of what Duo'd said, I thought. Heero was getting better translating Duo-slang, minus the passion, but then maybe he'd been boning up on his vocabulary reading dictionaries. I felt the tension ratchet up a mite, but if Duo did, he ignored it. "You think? Getta loada the muscles in those shoulders and legs." "I was thinking of the proud carriage, but, yes, his is a powerful body." Couldn't miss the impressive body. Nope. No one could, even Wufei was obviously awed, assuming I was properly interpreting his slobbering and gawking. When I heard a sigh escape my Beautiful's lips, a chill shot up my spine and a stab of anxiety topped my heart from beating. Was he enamored of this guy, too? What would I do? A quick check to my left, and there was my love, studying the new horse but not with wide-eyed adoration. What a relief! So was his reassuring little nuzzle to my left ear. Back to watching the action, then. Poor, Heero up against this new threat to his herd. I kinda felt sorry for him. I had just the love of my Beautiful to worry about, and he had all of us plus a really oblivious Duo. As I scrutinized the new stallion, though, I wasn't sure he would contest Heero for command. There was something in the droop of his head that made me feel the fight had left him in general. A bit of a deadbeat. "He may look commanding," Beautiful said, pitching his voice so Heero could hear him, "but he's a mess emotionally, which means he's probably a psychological muddle, too." Heero answered with a tart snort. I don't think Heero was much concerned for this new stallion's sensitivities at the moment. And for good reason, thanks to his main squeeze. "He's huge!" Yep, hung like the proverbial horse. You tell him, Duo, even though I know you meant his overall size. Don't matter none. Was that a growl I heard out of Heero? Heh, heh... Time for Beautiful to intercede, was my guess. And I was right. "Not actually. Watch him, Duo." Howard had climbed on the horse and was riding him around the corral. I wished Wufei would close his mouth before he choked on a fly and embarrassed us all. Not really. I didn't care, but he was funny to watch. I hoped I hadn't been as painfully slack-jawed stupid-looking when I'd first fallen for Beautiful, but guessed I had been. Maybe worse, with all my dancing and prancing and, ugh, pathetic showing off. Push that out of my head... "Notice how his elastic, powerful movements make him appear much larger than he really is." I don't know. The stallion looked pretty amazing to me: even-paced, white as snow, and endless tail flying behind him. "One hunk of-" Don't say it, Duo. "-white-hot -" Nooooo! "White is hard to keep clean." Pretty weak remark, Heero. "Yeah, I betcher right. He'd always have to be spiffing up, huh?" Listening to Duo and Heero's give and take amused me to no end. Heero was so jealous and protective and Duo was so unaware of him doing it. That little black horse was between hay and grass, neither stallion nor colt. Wufei on the other hand was giving me more comic relief than usual, not that he was a barrel of laughs at any time. For the longest time he'd been sullen, arrogant, insulting, an all around real drag to be around. He'd improved significantly, showing more sides to his personality, but I'd never seen Wufei appear or express anything resembling "in awe" until now. "A Lipizzan-" he said, the human breed classification rolling off his tongue in a lisp. No kidding... wait, was this LOVE at first sight? He moved like a horse in a dream state; his eyes on his idol. It's not like the breed wasn't the most sought after for the circus. Never seen one myself, but I recognized what this new stallion was. Real quality. Howard sure had an eye for that. And apparently, so did Wufei. Who figured him to have a taste for eye candy? Oh, careful, Wufei. Look at that tail, a glorious, foaming cascade of silver-white, just waiting to be nibbled. It's getting closer. Closer. He's stopping right in front of us. We'd all gathered by the gate, where Howard and all the doctors stood admiring the new comer, who at that moment turned around, taking his chew-perfect tail out of range, to face us. And who stepped up to begin the formal introductions? Right. "Hello! I'm Quatre Beautiful Sunshine from the Winner Warrior Stables." Wait, wait! The white horse was looking our way. Whoa, the great one was about to acknowledge us peons. "Hello, Quatre Beautiful Sunshine Winner. Call me Zechs." "Zechs. His name is Zechs." Wufei repeated this unnecessarily about twelve times. I'd have bet I wasn't the only one that noticed how similar "Zechs" and "sex" sounded, especially with Wufei's drool. "What are you doing here?" Something I wanted to know too, but Heero colored the question to sound more like "how soon are you leaving?" I could smell the male hormones blanketing the area. Duo must have too; it made him restless, more than usual, though I didn't think he understood why. From what I'd ascertained on my own, talking to him, and from what Beautiful had told me, Duo was "fresh as newly fallen snow," in the sex department. I wished Heero the best of luck. "Your stable manager, Howard, purchased me. Or enacted a trade. It hasn't any bearing on my situation. It can't possibly be relevant, except that I'm given to understand this is my new home." He did seem to ramble on, this new horse. And after that he gave us the once-over displaying a tad more interest in us as time passed. Time broken by Wufei's lip-licking. "Is this really an all-stallion herd?" "Yes, mine." Heero had his hackles up now, pawing and snorting. And it wasn't all bluff, either. I didn't think a fight over us would go over well with Howard. Beautiful wouldn't either, knowing his penchant for peaceful confrontations, but, surprisingly, Wufei appeared to want to avoid a clash, too. For all his talk of the glory of war and battle, it looked to me as if he really wanted attention now. He moved so his coat caught the sunlight just right and he shone like gold. Very eye-catching. He sure captured Zechs' attention. He cleared his throat then said, "You are clearly military trained, like Quatre and I-" I didn't think Beautiful had actually got as far as that with his skills, and it was curious of Wufei to include him into the warrior coterie, like backup or something. So, now that he had Zechs' eye, I wondered what the hell he was trying to do with it-which was probably what Wufei was wondering at the moment, from the vacant look on his face. Vacant or besotted, I couldn't decide which. Wufei, the know it all, hadn't a clue what to do next. Or maybe he did but was inept? It would be fun to watch his progress with his lordship. My Beautiful cut Wufei off at the stockings, probably because he sounded stuffy and affected and was about to say something insanely stupid. "Oh, yes! We'd love to hear some of your war stories. I imagine you have seen many dreadful and glorious battles and yours is an illustrious lineage." When had my Beautiful ever wanted to hear war stories? He must have been pretty desperate to find some way to sidetrack the attention off Wufei. Didn't work. If I had to guess, I'd say Zechs was dazzled by Wufei's brilliance; his intense coat-color, that is, and not his wit. "Oh, I suppose I'm something now, but then you wouldn't have been impressed by me when I was a colt. I was the veritable Homely Harry." Whoever he was. The whole thing seemed a bit odd, his saying that to total strangers, a gorgeous stallion who'd just moved in to the group. I wondered if it was just his way, trying to put us ease and show he's not a threat. Well, he was the absolutely stunning Sexy Zechy now, and self-deprecating to boot. "I can't believe that." Heero was no horse's fool. "It's your choice, but it makes it no less true. At one year of age, I looked shockingly small compared to a Thoroughbred like you," he lowered his head fractionally in Heero's direction, "of the same age. I was born nearly black, and by the time I was eight months of age I began to go through the most awkward stage from which I did not emerge until I was about three years old. During this period of awkwardness I doubt I could have been barely recognized as a member of my most esteemed breed. I looked more like a molting mule." Uh, huh. Sure. "Of course, all the other colts, not that there had been many others, were plain also." Uh, huh. "In the Kingdom of Sanc all the young Lipizzans were at that time turned out in the distant pastureland where no tourists could view us until we were brought back at the age of three. That is when the elegance a Lipizzan possessed at birth returns and is increasingly manifested, even through old age, until the day he dies-if you believe that sort of human rubbish." "You're certainly not black now." Can't fool Duo. "No, Mr. Morgan, I am not. We Lipizzans are slow to mature. We are born dark and our fur slowly turns white by the time we are five to eight years of age. We are not fully grown in size until we are seven and do not reach full maturity until almost ten years of age, as I am, nearly." "So you were black and now you're white?" Duo didn't bother to hide the disbelief in his voice. "Technically, I'm actually grey. Here, look at the scar." "A battle scar?" The eagerness in Wufei's voice was endearing, actually. I thought he might lick it, but his lordship moved the leg out of his reach to show it off. "Yes, from a saber point at the battle of the fifth colony. The dark skin hidden under a white coat is revealed when I'm wet or where there's a large scar." "Wet-" Wufei whispered. He caught himself drooling; thank goodness I didn't have to tell him. Oh, he had it so bad! "My skin is black too." Quatre started to tell him all about his ancestry. "The Arabian breed-" "Naturally," the splendid stallion interrupted, "You are from the Winner Warrior stables of Arabians." Good memory, that guy, and he knew it from the glimmer in his eye when he'd said it. "Yes! How can you tell?" You told him in your introduction- oh, my. Beautiful was more than a little scatter-brained over this guy. And as much as I wanted to smack his pretty, flaxen rump, what I ended up saying was, "He read the label on your blanket," joking. Zechs caught that. "Read? Don't be ridiculous." I wasn't in any way 'ridiculous.' Except the spots, and those I could do nothing about. "I read." Mark up one for you, Heero, except that Zechs chose to ignore your comment. "His breeding is obvious if you know what to look for, and I've seen a large number of fine horses, especially in battle." Uh, huh. Yeah, I bet. I was not impressed, but someone else was. "You've se-en real fighting?" Wufei spit out in a strangled-sounding voice. Why don't you stick your ass in his face, Wufei? Eh, forget it. Poor guy's totally unaware of the spectacle his making of himself, but then join the club. Duo's always got a hoof in his mouth, and I must do the dumbest things still around Beautiful. I watched as Zechs drew himself up, held his head high. "Far, far too much. We Lipizzan's may be pampered as royally, but when we are truly afraid or our sense of justice is violated by brutality, we stand our ground, look the opponent in the eye, and prepare for battle." Well, fuck. The brooding, tormented aristocrat had me believing he'd come from the Horse Gods. And if the day hadn't gone weird enough, I overheard Duo telling Heero, "He's a vampire." Horse Notes: The Lipizzan breed dates back to the 16th century, when a powerful but agile horse was desired for both military uses and for use in the fashionable and rapidly-growing riding schools for the nobility of central Europe. The horses were nearly wiped out during World War II, but survived due to the efforts of many brave men, including General George Patten. Today, the breed is relatively rare, with only about 3,000 horses registered worldwide. The stallions are extremely docile and easily handled. They are, in fact, easier to manage than the mares. Lipizzans display elegance and nobility as soon as they are born. Most Lipizzaners are gray, and, like all gray horses, they have black skin, dark eyes, and as adult horses, a white hair coat.
|
