Boltstuck ~ Gundam Wing Fanfiction

Zephyr
Part 2

pairing:1x2, 3x4

zephyr (zêf´er) n. 1. a. The west wind. b. A gentle breeze. 2. Any of a various light, soft fabrics, yarns, or garments. 3. Any airy, insubstantial, or passing thing.

"What do you mean 'he’s gone'?"

"Just what I said, Relena-hime. He headed out this morning." the stable boy repeated politely.

The princess's face turned pink. You mean, all this time she had spent searching for him and he had just slipped out behind her back?! The pink turned to red.

"I'm going after him! Saddle my mare!"

Blinking in surprise, the stable boy turned and ran off. Princess Relena's servants stared at her. "Relena-hime, you can't go! Your father won't allow it."

"I'm going! I'm going after Heero! You can't stop me!"

One of the older attendants sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Heero brought his sword down, beheading the ax-man that had been rushing him. A burst of blood followed the arch of his blade, the head and body falling in two separate places. The soldier didn't stay still long enough to see it, hauling his horse's reins to face a new opponent. Though wearying quickly, Wing responded to his touch.

Another man died beneath Heero's swing, one more was trampled by under Wing's hooves. He paused for a bare second to try and locate his troops. The attack was an ambush and their unit was far to small and ill-armed to face off the mass that attacked them. It didn't matter. Heero would fight until they killed him or he killed all of them. There was no question of surrender.

A soldier with a spear stabbed at Wing's legs and Heero directed the war-horse out of the way. But this had the adverse effect of putting the opponent beyond the reach of Heero's sword. The man pushed forward and Heero was forced to pull back. Damn that spear and its reach. His dismembered a swordsman who got to close.

See no other way to kill the man with the spear and protect his precious beast, Heero jumped free of the saddle, sending Wing off with the slap of his hand. Now that the last of the archers were gone, Heero had no fear that his horse would be napped. The hardy beast knew how to take care of itself.

Heero rushed his opponent, the other doing the same. He knocked the spear aside with his sword, but not far enough and he couldn't stop the man's momentum. The spear tip went into his thigh just as his blade entered the wielder's stomach. Heero let out a choked scream, echoing his victim's agonized cry. They went down in a pile, blood pouring over Heero's arms and abdomen.

An indefinite time later, the darkness cleared from Heero's eyes. The pain was still blazing up from his right leg, clouding his thoughts, but no longer blinding them. [I'm still alive? How....] Getting everything more or less in order, he pushed himself free of the dead body. His soaked shirt pealed free with a sickening wet sound, basting itself to his skin. Movement made the pain worse and he staggered, collapsing backwards.

He clutched his thigh just before the spear, teeth gritting tightly, his blood mixing with his enemies on his hands. He couldn't walk with the spear in, but if he removed it the blood would come quicker. [Maybe if I bind it....] Carefully marshaling his body, he extended his arm, searching for something useful.

There were two bodies within arms reach. Leaning carefully to his side, he maneuvered himself to inspect the closest body. A cloak, good. Now for the hard part. Bracing himself he grabbed the spear and yanked.

Lingering near the still battle field, Wing jerked in surprise when a scream rent the air.

Giving the improvised bandage an extra tug, Heero took a deep breath and forced himself up. His leg throbbed and he could already feel the blood soaking into the cloth, but it was workable. Once again upright, Heero surveyed the battle field with no small amount of surprise.

The corpses of his troops lay mingled with that of their enemy. Heero was the only one standing, but a few pained, gasping whimpers told him he wasn't the only one still alive. [So...the spear-men was the last one....] He badly wanted to search and see if any of his troops were alive and/or savable, but not in this state.

"I'm sorry." he spoke, his voice harsh. Then he whistled. Obediently, Wing trotted up to where he stood. He dragged himself into the saddle, managing to pull himself semi-upright, legs draped together on one side. According to the last village they'd passed through, there was a shrine to the Merciful God further down the road. Followers of the Merciful God always aided travelers in trouble. Many were said to be doctors.

Focusing on the road ahead, Heero urged his horse forward.

// A child as just vomited all over the shrine floor. //

Duo winced and swiftly set down his lunch. // Thank you very much for the info, wolf. //

//Anytime, Bright Eyes.// came the sardonic reply. He could feel the great beast's amusment.

[Only I would get a familiar with a sense of humor....] Duo sighed in defeat, heading through the cloth draped doorway between the large guest room and the shrine itself. A modest little altar was set against the back wall, covered with candles and with a small tray of offerings set in front. Arranged before that were a dozen low, wooden blocks, for either sitting or kneeling on. A rather large family now occupied them.

An older man, carefully cradling a pale child, glanced up at him and grimaced. "I'm very sorry, sir. Ceires has been very ill lately and I'm afraid he just...." the man waved helplessly at the mess on the floor. On Duo's just-washed floor.

[Be nice, the kid is sick. Even if I did spend the morning scrupping it....] "Its alright." he insisted, a smile coming easily to his face. "I'll just clean that up. Why don't you bring Ceires back here and I'll see if I can help him, ne? I have some doctoring knowledge."

"Give me some rags and I'll clean it up." one of the women said, standing up from a puddle of brown skirt. Duo nodded gratefully, motioning the man and child to one of the beds in the back.

"Thank you much, milady. The supplies are just over here." he showed her quickly, then went over the boy.

The large, airy guest room was meant for passing traveler who needed to stay the night or for those who were sick or injured and too far from a town. Eight beds lined either wall, a small stove and hand pumb with sink was set against the fore wall. Duo's own chambers were set in the back of the building.

He knelt beside the sick child and rested a hand on his warm forehead. While he couldn't fix the damage with magic like a real healer could, he could use his magic to discover the problem quickly. After a through scan, he located the source of the trouble.

"Looks like you got a stomach bug."

"A what?" the man demanded, images of crawly garden insects flashing through his thoughts.

Duo chuckled. "I meant a type of infection. It comes from drinking dirty or contaminated water." his expression frimed, "I can give him something now, but you need to be more careful about boiling your water before you use or drink it."

"Hai." the man nodded, but Duo rather doubted he would. Not that the mage-priest blamed them, it was a great deal of extra work to boil all your water. Still, one of your family getting sick should be considered worth the effort.

With quick, practiced fingers, Duo mixed herbs, ground root, and other ingredients for a simple stomach remedy. He chatted comfortable with the boy's father and rest of the family members who wandered about aimlessly. He was just glad that adults had enough sense to keep their children out of his supplies.

The mixture was finished shortly and Duo sauntered over to the stove to set the medicine boiling in a small pot. A familiar mind-touch settled in with his toughts.

// Duo? //

// Yes, O' Light of my Life? //

// Cut the humor, baby-cakes. We've got trouble coming. //

Duo frowned slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the gathered family. // What kind of trouble? //

// The kind on a horse and reeking of blood. Only half of its his. // the wolf returned. He didn't sound worried, just uneasy and that was encouraging. Duo checked the wards on the shrine anyways.

//How far?// // Just around the bend and coming closer. Not moving too fast. I'll move in for a better look. //

// Be careful. //

// Don't worry about me, sweetie-pie. //

// Of course not, oogie-pooh. // One of the young daughters was siddling up to him.

"Sir, I wonderin' if I could ask you a few things." she said demurely, her eyes promising much more then her words. "Its about this flower I found in the woods...."

[Lovely, another one. Maybe I should just put a big sign over the door "The owner of this building is gay".] He smiled sweetly. "Perhapes another time. I'm rather busy at the momment." he stirred the pot of herbs.

"That is hardly considered busy." she purred.

// You still there, stud? //

"Actually, I'm talking mind-to-mind with my familiar, that really big wolf you might have seen laying next to the shrine on your way in, and were disscussing the bloody fellow who is currently headed straight for us." He beamed.

She blinked. "Oh, well..." then became very fasinated with basket of flowers he had near the window.

// Yes, yes? //

// This guy is badly injured, in the leg, and currently unarmed. I do believe he is heading your away for help. //

// And my oath won't let me turn him down. Bugger. Thanks for the surveillance, sugar-bunny. //

// Anytime, Great One. // The touch faded away, leaving only a faint trace. The medicine was ready, so Duo poured into a mug. He strod swiftly over to the father.

"Give this to him slowly, but make sure he drinks all of it." he stood straight. "Now I'm going to ask most of you to either leave or stand out of the way. There is an injured man coming here very soon and I need space to move."

They blinked at him, but obediently moved to the sides lines. Duo moved fast, not quite sure how much time he had. Shinigami had a lousy sense of speed, or at least a lousy way of communicating it. [Damn, I wish Sally was here today.] He thought, starting more water boiling and getting cloth from the storage closet. Sally was a doctor from a village about half a days ride down the road(1). Sometimes she would come over to teach him new techniques or divulge information from his own extensive herbal knowlegde.

Soon has his supplies were in order, he chose a bed and pulled all matrial off of it, leaving only the wooden pallet. He covered it with a thick, but worn, length of canvas to absorb the blood. Moments later, the sound of hoof beats reached him. Tucking his braid under the back of his shirt, Duo hurried for the front door. The sight that greeted him was less then encouraging.

The young man fell more than jumped down from his horse, covered nearly head to toe in drying blood. A wide make-shift bandage covered most of his right thigh and was leaking blood at an alarming rate. He regareded Duo with wide saphire blue eyes as the mage rushed to his side.

Ignoring the damage it did to his clothes, Duo carefully supported the man that sagged in his grip. "Gently now, I've got you. I'll just see to that wound and fix it up the best I can."

The dark haired youth opened his mouth, a harsh choked sound coming through when he tried to talk.

"Shh, its all right." Duo half carried him inside, trying to soothe his detirmened murmurings. Duo laid him out on the pallet and he passed out, body to worn to keep going. Relieved, Duo carefully undid the soaked leg bindings. When he saw what he had to deal with, he swallowed hard.

// Shinigami? //

// Hmm? //

// I want you to go get Sally now. Even if you have to drag her here, you hear me wolf? I need her if I'm going to save this guys life. //

//On my way.//


	Boltstuck Gundam Wing Fanfiction / All Fanfiction
	Zephyr Part 2 pairing:1x2, 3x4 zephyr (zêf´er) n. 1. a. The west wind. b. A gentle breeze. 2. Any of a various light, soft fabrics, yarns, or garments. 3. Any airy, insubstantial, or passing thing. "What do you mean 'he’s gone'?" "Just what I said, Relena-hime. He headed out this morning." the stable boy repeated politely. The princess's face turned pink. You mean, all this time she had spent searching for him and he had just slipped out behind her back?! The pink turned to red. "I'm going after him! Saddle my mare!" Blinking in surprise, the stable boy turned and ran off. Princess Relena's servants stared at her. "Relena-hime, you can't go! Your father won't allow it." "I'm going! I'm going after Heero! You can't stop me!" One of the older attendants sighed. It was going to be a long day. Heero brought his sword down, beheading the ax-man that had been rushing him. A burst of blood followed the arch of his blade, the head and body falling in two separate places. The soldier didn't stay still long enough to see it, hauling his horse's reins to face a new opponent. Though wearying quickly, Wing responded to his touch. Another man died beneath Heero's swing, one more was trampled by under Wing's hooves. He paused for a bare second to try and locate his troops. The attack was an ambush and their unit was far to small and ill-armed to face off the mass that attacked them. It didn't matter. Heero would fight until they killed him or he killed all of them. There was no question of surrender. A soldier with a spear stabbed at Wing's legs and Heero directed the war-horse out of the way. But this had the adverse effect of putting the opponent beyond the reach of Heero's sword. The man pushed forward and Heero was forced to pull back. Damn that spear and its reach. His dismembered a swordsman who got to close. See no other way to kill the man with the spear and protect his precious beast, Heero jumped free of the saddle, sending Wing off with the slap of his hand. Now that the last of the archers were gone, Heero had no fear that his horse would be napped. The hardy beast knew how to take care of itself. Heero rushed his opponent, the other doing the same. He knocked the spear aside with his sword, but not far enough and he couldn't stop the man's momentum. The spear tip went into his thigh just as his blade entered the wielder's stomach. Heero let out a choked scream, echoing his victim's agonized cry. They went down in a pile, blood pouring over Heero's arms and abdomen. An indefinite time later, the darkness cleared from Heero's eyes. The pain was still blazing up from his right leg, clouding his thoughts, but no longer blinding them. [I'm still alive? How....] Getting everything more or less in order, he pushed himself free of the dead body. His soaked shirt pealed free with a sickening wet sound, basting itself to his skin. Movement made the pain worse and he staggered, collapsing backwards. He clutched his thigh just before the spear, teeth gritting tightly, his blood mixing with his enemies on his hands. He couldn't walk with the spear in, but if he removed it the blood would come quicker. [Maybe if I bind it....] Carefully marshaling his body, he extended his arm, searching for something useful. There were two bodies within arms reach. Leaning carefully to his side, he maneuvered himself to inspect the closest body. A cloak, good. Now for the hard part. Bracing himself he grabbed the spear and yanked. Lingering near the still battle field, Wing jerked in surprise when a scream rent the air. Giving the improvised bandage an extra tug, Heero took a deep breath and forced himself up. His leg throbbed and he could already feel the blood soaking into the cloth, but it was workable. Once again upright, Heero surveyed the battle field with no small amount of surprise. The corpses of his troops lay mingled with that of their enemy. Heero was the only one standing, but a few pained, gasping whimpers told him he wasn't the only one still alive. [So...the spear-men was the last one....] He badly wanted to search and see if any of his troops were alive and/or savable, but not in this state. "I'm sorry." he spoke, his voice harsh. Then he whistled. Obediently, Wing trotted up to where he stood. He dragged himself into the saddle, managing to pull himself semi-upright, legs draped together on one side. According to the last village they'd passed through, there was a shrine to the Merciful God further down the road. Followers of the Merciful God always aided travelers in trouble. Many were said to be doctors. Focusing on the road ahead, Heero urged his horse forward. // A child as just vomited all over the shrine floor. // Duo winced and swiftly set down his lunch. // Thank you very much for the info, wolf. // //Anytime, Bright Eyes.// came the sardonic reply. He could feel the great beast's amusment. [Only I would get a familiar with a sense of humor....] Duo sighed in defeat, heading through the cloth draped doorway between the large guest room and the shrine itself. A modest little altar was set against the back wall, covered with candles and with a small tray of offerings set in front. Arranged before that were a dozen low, wooden blocks, for either sitting or kneeling on. A rather large family now occupied them. An older man, carefully cradling a pale child, glanced up at him and grimaced. "I'm very sorry, sir. Ceires has been very ill lately and I'm afraid he just...." the man waved helplessly at the mess on the floor. On Duo's just-washed floor. [Be nice, the kid is sick. Even if I did spend the morning scrupping it....] "Its alright." he insisted, a smile coming easily to his face. "I'll just clean that up. Why don't you bring Ceires back here and I'll see if I can help him, ne? I have some doctoring knowledge." "Give me some rags and I'll clean it up." one of the women said, standing up from a puddle of brown skirt. Duo nodded gratefully, motioning the man and child to one of the beds in the back. "Thank you much, milady. The supplies are just over here." he showed her quickly, then went over the boy. The large, airy guest room was meant for passing traveler who needed to stay the night or for those who were sick or injured and too far from a town. Eight beds lined either wall, a small stove and hand pumb with sink was set against the fore wall. Duo's own chambers were set in the back of the building. He knelt beside the sick child and rested a hand on his warm forehead. While he couldn't fix the damage with magic like a real healer could, he could use his magic to discover the problem quickly. After a through scan, he located the source of the trouble. "Looks like you got a stomach bug." "A what?" the man demanded, images of crawly garden insects flashing through his thoughts. Duo chuckled. "I meant a type of infection. It comes from drinking dirty or contaminated water." his expression frimed, "I can give him something now, but you need to be more careful about boiling your water before you use or drink it." "Hai." the man nodded, but Duo rather doubted he would. Not that the mage-priest blamed them, it was a great deal of extra work to boil all your water. Still, one of your family getting sick should be considered worth the effort. With quick, practiced fingers, Duo mixed herbs, ground root, and other ingredients for a simple stomach remedy. He chatted comfortable with the boy's father and rest of the family members who wandered about aimlessly. He was just glad that adults had enough sense to keep their children out of his supplies. The mixture was finished shortly and Duo sauntered over to the stove to set the medicine boiling in a small pot. A familiar mind-touch settled in with his toughts. // Duo? // // Yes, O' Light of my Life? // // Cut the humor, baby-cakes. We've got trouble coming. // Duo frowned slightly, glancing over his shoulder at the gathered family. // What kind of trouble? // // The kind on a horse and reeking of blood. Only half of its his. // the wolf returned. He didn't sound worried, just uneasy and that was encouraging. Duo checked the wards on the shrine anyways. //How far?// // Just around the bend and coming closer. Not moving too fast. I'll move in for a better look. // // Be careful. // // Don't worry about me, sweetie-pie. // // Of course not, oogie-pooh. // One of the young daughters was siddling up to him. "Sir, I wonderin' if I could ask you a few things." she said demurely, her eyes promising much more then her words. "Its about this flower I found in the woods...." [Lovely, another one. Maybe I should just put a big sign over the door "The owner of this building is gay".] He smiled sweetly. "Perhapes another time. I'm rather busy at the momment." he stirred the pot of herbs. "That is hardly considered busy." she purred. // You still there, stud? // "Actually, I'm talking mind-to-mind with my familiar, that really big wolf you might have seen laying next to the shrine on your way in, and were disscussing the bloody fellow who is currently headed straight for us." He beamed. She blinked. "Oh, well..." then became very fasinated with basket of flowers he had near the window. // Yes, yes? // // This guy is badly injured, in the leg, and currently unarmed. I do believe he is heading your away for help. // // And my oath won't let me turn him down. Bugger. Thanks for the surveillance, sugar-bunny. // // Anytime, Great One. // The touch faded away, leaving only a faint trace. The medicine was ready, so Duo poured into a mug. He strod swiftly over to the father. "Give this to him slowly, but make sure he drinks all of it." he stood straight. "Now I'm going to ask most of you to either leave or stand out of the way. There is an injured man coming here very soon and I need space to move." They blinked at him, but obediently moved to the sides lines. Duo moved fast, not quite sure how much time he had. Shinigami had a lousy sense of speed, or at least a lousy way of communicating it. [Damn, I wish Sally was here today.] He thought, starting more water boiling and getting cloth from the storage closet. Sally was a doctor from a village about half a days ride down the road(1). Sometimes she would come over to teach him new techniques or divulge information from his own extensive herbal knowlegde. Soon has his supplies were in order, he chose a bed and pulled all matrial off of it, leaving only the wooden pallet. He covered it with a thick, but worn, length of canvas to absorb the blood. Moments later, the sound of hoof beats reached him. Tucking his braid under the back of his shirt, Duo hurried for the front door. The sight that greeted him was less then encouraging. The young man fell more than jumped down from his horse, covered nearly head to toe in drying blood. A wide make-shift bandage covered most of his right thigh and was leaking blood at an alarming rate. He regareded Duo with wide saphire blue eyes as the mage rushed to his side. Ignoring the damage it did to his clothes, Duo carefully supported the man that sagged in his grip. "Gently now, I've got you. I'll just see to that wound and fix it up the best I can." The dark haired youth opened his mouth, a harsh choked sound coming through when he tried to talk. "Shh, its all right." Duo half carried him inside, trying to soothe his detirmened murmurings. Duo laid him out on the pallet and he passed out, body to worn to keep going. Relieved, Duo carefully undid the soaked leg bindings. When he saw what he had to deal with, he swallowed hard. // Shinigami? // // Hmm? // // I want you to go get Sally now. Even if you have to drag her here, you hear me wolf? I need her if I'm going to save this guys life. // //On my way.//