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Kyuuketsuki Duo
Beginnings -- Part III
Judgment
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	Heero glided swiftly between the shadows of the night, spurred 
on by the certain knowledge that Duo was in danger, all thoughts of 
battle and doubt having fled before the need to be by the boy's side.  
He had felt the guardian's sudden anguish in his own chest, sliding 
smoothly through the lingering channel between them that had formed in 
their moment of contact.  He had felt the panic race through the young 
man's veins as he began his flight towards his destination, and Heero 
had immediately sprung into motion himself.  He did not know what it was 
that had spurred him into action.  He did not know why he cared that the 
guardian was in trouble.  He did not even know where he was going for 
certain, only that he was going to where Duo was, that the silent cry in 
his head demanded an answer, and that the boy that had captured him now 
needed him.

	He did not know what he would do when he got there.  He did not 
know what he should do, nor what he wanted to do.  There was only his 
instantaneous reaction to the boy's distress that sent him racing 
through the darkness towards the one who had bound him.

	Long before he reached the location where his othersenses told 
him Duo was, he sensed the presence of Shinma.  He recognized them as 
the dark faction of his own people, the ones who had most strongly 
advocated his mission in the first place.  The Shinma had come to finish 
the job themselves, and the realization made him push his speed to his 
limits, as quickly as he could given his already weakened state.  He 
hurried.

	He came upon the scene as one of the Shinma plunged itself into 
Duo's heart, and he responded without thought, his warrior's reflexes 
reacting immediately.  He cast out with his own power without bothering 
to stop, forming a disc of icy fire and hurling it towards the offending 
appendage, severing it from its owner, and causing it to dissolve into 
nothingness.  He rushed headlong into the fray, taking full advantage of 
his surprise attack as the Shinma fell back from their positions.  
Chasing off the shadows holding the boy captive with a mere flexing of 
his aura and a sweep of his cloak, he caught Duo as he began to fall, 
wrapping him in his arms and covering him with his protective presence.  
He probed the boy's vitality with his thoughts, and found it weak, but 
steady, as he kept his eyes carefully on those that would harm him.

	"So you have thrown your lot in with that one, have you?"

	Heero's eyes narrowed as he glared his defiance at his people, 
unable to answer in any other way, for he did not yet know the answer to 
that question.  He knew only that he could not let the boy be harmed.

	A figure stepped out from the surrounding Shinma.  He cloaked 
himself in the appearance of red flames and humanity, pale blond hair 
rustling in the energy-induced air currents.

	"Heero."

	Silence.

	"It's been a while."

	No response.

	"Talkative as ever, I see."

	"..."

	The one clothed in red idly circled the pair, just as the 
vultures who circle the dead they are about to scavenge.  The carefully 
cultivated mask of cultured urbanity was so very inappropriate for this 
unearthly demon seething with repressed barbarism and carnal desire.  
"So tell me, old friend.  Why have you decided to protect this human?  
You know it was your mission to retrieve the heir, and you've never 
failed before in a mission...."  The Shinma stopped suddenly and looked 
sharply at the warrior hovering protectively over the boy.

	"He's taken you."  The Shinma shook his head in mocking 
incredulity.  "I don't believe it.  You, the greatest warrior among our 
people, were taken by a single, untrained, human child."  He gave a 
chilling laugh, and Duo shuddered in his half-conscious state in Heero's 
protective embrace.

	"You failed in your mission, Heero.  Failed miserably."  He 
paused, awaiting a response, but receiving none.  Heero said nothing, 
accepting the scorn of his former comrade.  The Shinma had not said 
anything to him that he had not already said to himself.  "You will have 
to be punished for failing us in this most important task...."  The 
disdain fell from his voice as the creature donned an oily, overly 
amicable look.  "But perhaps I can arrange something with the elders.  
Reduce your punishment.  If you release the boy to me immediately, I'll 
see what I can do."

	Heero snorted in contempt.  His punishment would probably be 
death, and there was little reduction available on that.  It would be a 
swift end, merely the elimination of a now useless tool.  He had not 
caused them enough trouble to warrant a long and painful torture.  Not 
yet, anyway.  Besides which, the Shinma before them now would be awarded 
copiously if he could bring in the guardian's heir.  

	Not only did Heero not trust the flimsy deal, nor the creature 
offering it, but he now knew the answer to part of his question.  It was 
answered when he went fleeing thoughtlessly through the night to save 
his captor.  There had been no doubt in his mind that that was what he 
must do, no hesitation, no second thoughts, and in hindsight, it now 
became clear that he had lost the second confrontation before it had 
ever begun.

	So it would seem that he had been more thoroughly taken by the 
heir than he had thought.  He had fallen to a boy that had defeated him 
with a single glance, and nothing more.  In light of the undeniable 
facts, he would gracefully accept that.

	However, although his death now seemed assured, he would *not* 
lose here at the hands of the petty, unsophisticated Shinma that stood 
before him tonight.  Under normal circumstances, he would have known 
better than to challenge Heero, for Heero was by far the better of the 
two, and Heero would not perish by the hand of this dishonorable cur, 
even when he himself was not at peak performance.  He would not go down 
quietly.  Instead, he would face the consequences of his actions with 
dignity and confidence, and therein he would emerge yet victorious in 
the end.

	But even as his mind began to calculate strategies for maximum 
damage and effectiveness, he felt some twinges of regret.  In this brief 
moment between being condemned and being destroyed, his life was his 
own.  For once in his life, he could fight by his own decision, or not 
fight at all, even.  The freedom was both exhilarating and terrifying.  
Possibilities blossomed in his mind's eye, and just as swiftly 
disappeared; the only passing regret he had was that he had not the time 
to fully explore all the options, now that he had them.

	One lingering feeling stayed with him, a cloud of emotion 
focused on the fallen heir.  No doubt, especially now that he was being 
thrown away, the Eastern Shinma wanted another weapon at their disposal, 
and unfortunately for the boy, he appeared to be the best candidate.  
The potential for a guardian's power wielded solely by a Shinma will was 
beyond idle imagining.  Heero was gripped by the sudden desire to save 
the boy from such a fate, to protect him from being transformed into a 
pawn.  It just struck him as fundamentally wrong, to allow so bright a 
spark of life to be twisted so, and he began to factor the heir's 
disposition into his plans, to maximize the young man's options.  If his 
newly acquired freedom could be passed on posthumously to the boy, he 
would not die unsatisfied.

	The Shinma's eyes narrowed at the response, and his demeanor 
instantly changed from congenial familiarity to chilly malevolence.  
"Very well.  You have made your choice."   He turned his back to the 
injured pair, and stalked back to the shadows.  "Bind him," he 
commanded, and the horde of nightmare creatures rushed out to take Heero 
down.

	By force of sheer numbers, Heero was wrenched away from the one 
he had thought to protect.  He reached out his arms desperately as he 
saw Duo fall to the earth in slow motion, thankfully ignored by the 
black creatures as they pinned Heero to the ground.  In a more healthy 
state, Heero could easily have disposed of the mindless creatures that 
had been sent to subdue him.  In his current state, to do so would have 
cost him his life.  The idea of dying in battle might once have appealed 
to him, but it should have been death to a worthy adversary.  Just now, 
he was struck by the unfamiliar desire to live.  Self-destruction now 
would only leave his precious charge without a guardian, and so he 
suffered silently as the darkness sealed his face and voice away behind 
a cold pale mask, the brand of his failure and treachery plain for any 
to see.  He shuddered when they severed his ties to the Shinma host and 
bound his power to the earth.  He cried out soundlessly in his mind as 
they placed the restrictions upon him that would lock him in his current 
form, and nearly wept when he felt the heir whimper in response to his 
pain.

	As quickly as it had happened, it ended, and the swarm returned 
to hide behind their master's greatness.

	Heero had expected them to fight him, to destroy him, but now 
that he found himself unexpectedly alive, his mind immediately shifted 
gears again and adapted to the new situation, reorganizing priorities 
and reanalyzing the shifting probabilities.

	"See now the consequences of betraying us?"  The Shinma sneered 
at the fallen warrior as he tried to rise and failed.  "Well.  With that 
ugly business behind us, shall we return to taking the guardian?"  His 
attention returned to Duo, still lying upon the ground curled into a 
fetal position.  The Shinma nudged his body unkindly with his foot, and 
mocked the moan he received in response.

	"Is this the great guardian that you sacrificed yourself for, 
Heero?  This quivering, pathetically weak human that would dare to 
attempt to keep us from this land so rich in prey?"  His foot once again 
made contact with the boy in a pointlessly vicious kick, and Heero, 
finding that he could not rise, began the agonizing journey towards Duo 
by clawing his way through the dirt, making excruciatingly slow progress 
against the distance, but determined to guard the boy to his dying 
breath.

	The Shinma gave another frightful, leisurely cackle and called 
forth his demons once more.  "Well.  It's quite a pity we can't let the 
guardian remain as he is.  It would have been amusing to see the human 
react to knowing that everyone here died painfully because of him.  So 
very many tasty little meals, all because he wasn't home when we 
visited.  I'm told that those odd morals those humans entertain would 
have made it absolutely delightful.  Oh well.  We can have our fun in 
other ways.  Why don't we see just what a guardian's made of, hmm?"  
Smirk on his face, he casually raised his hand to signal feeding time to 
his horde.  He then shrieked in pain as he was casually engulfed in 
flames to match his cloak by the horde of the Western Shinma that had 
finally arrived on the scene.

	The distance between Heero and the crumpled heir was finally 
bridged, and Heero carefully levered himself up into a sitting position 
and checked the young man over.  He seemed to be breathing more easily 
now that his tormentor had disappeared into oblivion, taking his pets 
with him, and appeared to be regaining complete consciousness.  But now 
it seemed there was a new threat that needed to be guarded against.  
This new assembly of Shinma seemed not to be hostile, but nor were they 
friendly.

	As the boy roused himself, he, too, seemed to sense that the 
threat had not been entirely eliminated and immediately came to full 
wakefulness with a gasp.  Heero supported him with his firm presence, 
and Duo eased somewhat as he leaned against him gratefully, knowing 
somehow that he was an ally.  It was a sad, sad day, when meeting a 
stranger on a beach and drinking his blood was the least disconcerting 
event of the night.

_________________________________________
This piece of fiction is the intellectual 
property of the little turnip that could.  
The basis for this fic, i.e. Gundam Wing, 
Kyuuketsuki Miyu, et al., is the property 
of someone else.  The author can be con-
tacted at jchew@myrealbox.com.  This has 
been an entirely automated message.
http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~jchew/misc/gw.html

last modified : 12/13/2002 00:22:18 PST