---------------- Kyuuketsuki Duo Sanguis Draconis Part XIX ---------------- Wufei stood confidently before the assembly of dragons, bearing up strongly beneath the weight of their combined stares. They studied him with varying degrees of hostility, curiosity, disbelief, faith. No apathy or disinterest, though, that was promising. At least they cared. At length, Chiwen spoke his opinion. "You have done well, Chang Wufei." He accepted the praise with grace, but that wasn't the point. He needed their help, not their compliments. He drew breath to speak, but someone beat him to it. "What travesty is this? You have not 'revived' anything more of Shenlong than a ghost!" Another spoke up levelly. "We have what there is of Shenlong to be had. We've the power to defeat Epyon now, that is all that is important." The dragon that spoke now was one that had remained silent the first time around. It was encouraging that, now that they had proven some feasibility in their plan, this dragon was willing to endorse them. "Insolence! Have you no respect for our fallen brother?" Wufei remembered this dragon. It was Yazi, one of the dragons that had objected to their plans at their initial meeting. "He never fell, Yazi," Chiwen responded, ever the level-headed, if frustratingly mild, one. The others seemed to defer to him. Wufei wished he would be a little more aggressive in advocating their cause. "He laid down his life to shut Epyon away. Do we not have the responsibility now to see that we continue his work?" "We will fail!" "You're such a sourpuss, Pulao." Only Haoxian spoke to his brothers with such colloquial scorn. "We must try," one of the calmer dragons said. "For we have already failed, already fallen. We have nothing left to lose." "Except our lives." "You would call this a life?" another called out. "Do you not remember how we were in our ancient glory?" Wufei could feel the power within him growing weary of their arguments. Shenlong did not approve of his brothers fighting so, and it made Wufei glad that he was not the only one that was disappointed by their behavior. "Enough!" he shouted through the din, and it had the strength of a dragon's roar behind it. A sudden silence fell upon them in response to that cry. Now they felt the power as well as saw it, and the young hotheads began to understand the immensity of their eldest brother's return. Now that he commanded their attention, Wufei lowered his voice to a normal speaking tone, but his words were still laced with a dragon's ancient power. "That is enough. Whether or not you approve, Shenlong has agreed to help me do battle with his old foe. And whether or not you decide to help me, I will go forth and do just that. Therefore your arguments are meaningless. All that is left for you to decide is if you will face what is coming with your heads held high, proud like the dragons you are, or buried in the sand, cowardly like a lowly worm." Outside the circle of dragons, against the wall of the cave behind Haoxian's position, the rest of the humans stood. Meiran hid a proud smirk as she watched the dragons cautiously consider Wufei's words. When they had come here, she, too, had expected the dragons to be a dignified people. Perhaps with Shenlong's return, they might still see themselves restored to what they once were. Something changed in the air, and Meiran thought first that the dragons were responding to their brother's power, but no, this was quite different. Her eyes met Quatre's, and she could see that he, too, felt something, but was unclear as to its source. Its flavor was wholesome, of something set right, but it originated from somewhere outside the meeting chamber. The land had already reacted to Shenlong's revival, and it was none of the dragons here that were causing the delicate ripple. What could it be? "Duo," Trowa identified quietly for them, and after a moment, understanding dawned, and they smiled. Wufei was aware of the faint wave of rightness, but he had bigger things to worry about. It was difficult to tell if his announcement had muted the hostility, or stoked it. "Shenlong speaks true," Chiwen decided in the end, and his agreement quieted his brothers for the moment. "What will you do, Chang?" "I will fight. With or without your support, I will fight." There was nothing else to do. He did not come all this way just to have his goals collapse because of some uncooperative lizards. "Now that you have the power you need, do you have a plan?" "I do not believe an accurate plan can be formed without full knowledge of Epyon's disposition." He had thought it a more immediate concern that he inform the dragons of his present success. It was disappointing that they were not swayed by his heartening news. "Fortunately, even now, one of our allies will soon give us the information we need." "Bah. Come back when you have a plan, human, and a plan for success." Well, at least Yazi seemed willing to hear them out now. "This is still madness," Pulao insisted sulkily, but not with as much fervor as before. Perhaps Wufei's accusations of cowardice had gotten to him. Finally, Wufei was forced to a sound of disgust. He almost didn't know why he bothered. The dragons in opposition could continue in this pattern indefinitely, and he did not believe that he needed their help so badly that he would have to reduce himself to begging for it. No, first let them sort through what information Heero might provide to them, and then see what approach they might take. Without all of the dragons behind him, enough to form an army of his own, it was unlikely they would be able to help at all. As things stood now, a small group of beings in human form had a better chance of sneaking into Epyon's realm than a larger group of humans and dragons. He had the most important thing, Shenlong, and it was enough. It would have to be enough. With a few terse words of adjournment, Wufei turned on his heel and stalked out of the cavern, his benefactor's power coloring the air around him with disdain as he left. The others wordlessly followed him out, ignoring the mutters and murmurs of the dragons they left behind. Haoxian remained with his brethren, hopefully to try and convince them to join the cause, leaving the rest of the party to drift towards their quarters in Shenlong's grand estate. "So Heero's back, you think?" Quatre asked excitedly of Trowa. His earlier one-word answer had left some room for interpretation. "Yes," was the calm reply. "I hope he found what he was looking for." Meiran snorted indelicately. "Can you picture someone like him not doing what he set out to do?" When they arrived at Duo's room, they found Hilde leaning against the wall by the door, a blissful smile on her face. Wufei spoke to her first. "Well, is he back?" The succubus sighed happily. "Mmmmm, he sure is." Wufei tapped his foot impatiently. "And? Can we see him?" Her eyes snapped open from their hazy half-lidded position and looked at him with an expression between scandalized and stern. "You most certainly cannot." He frowned disapprovingly. "Well, do you know when they'll be available?" "Cut them some slack, Wufei," Quatre admonished. He tried not to imagine what could be happening behind the closed doors that could possibly be so satisfying for the succubus. Strangely, while he could easily feel the satiated vibes coming off of Hilde, he couldn't sense a thing coming from the room she guarded. He supposed he should be glad. "This is their big reunion, remember? Give them some time to get themselves centered again." Wufei was forcibly reminded that he was at least partially to blame for their state of separation. While he wanted to know what Heero had found out, if anything, he supposed their planning session would go much more smoothly if Duo were in a more helpful mood than he had been in of late. "...Fine. Do you at least know if he was successful in his mission?" "I should say so," Hilde sniffed haughtily. They would not be so delightfully delicious were they not. Nor had Heero ever failed in a mission, except the one, and that had turned out exceptionally well anyway. Wufei glared at the doors for lack of anything better to do, then turned with a scowl. In the meantime, the rest of them could at least cogitate on a few possible plans. ************ Even in the depths of their spiritual communion, Heero could feel his new weapon nudging him out of his pleasant drifting. With a reluctant sigh, Heero did as his conscience bade him. ::Mmmmm, we need to get to work, love.:: Duo groaned. He was finally getting his bearings back. ::Do we gotta?:: Now there was a good question, one Heero was inclined to answer with a resounding negative. Surely Epyon could wait, and the humans as well? He wanted to enjoy this quiet reunion with his partner for just a little longer. Gods above and below, how he had missed this. But he knew that, given the opportunity, that 'little longer' would stretch out into an eternity, especially now that the power system in his head was beginning to pick up on his thoughts and desires, helpfully providing him with ways he might go about deriving as much pleasure from their union as possible. ::Oh, stop that,:: he thought irritably at it, batting the images away. ::Hey, I was talking to that!:: Duo protested lazily. He would have been more than happy to take it up on a suggestion or two. It seemed life had the potential to get a little more interesting with it around. 'It'... hmm, maybe they ought to name it. Bob? Heero picked up on his partner's idle thoughts, a brief amusement flittering across his mind. Sometimes it really sucked to be the responsible one. ::I know, Duo. I wish to part no more than you. But the sooner we take care of this little thing, the sooner we can get back to each other.:: ::mmrph.:: He snuggled a little closer, physically and mentally, closing in around him with a fierce, possessive embrace. He'd just gotten his Heero back, and they'd had to separate for the sake of others. Let them stew for a bit longer. Heero was his, dammit, and he wasn't up to sharing just now. Heero stroked him soothingly. ::I'm here, love, and I'm not going anywhere. Just this little thing, and then we'll have all the time we want.:: ::No.:: He sighed wearily, not quite willing to resist. They'd feel better once they got rid of this job hanging over their heads. Then they could go on a long vacation, just the two of them, somewhere more cozy and more secure than this old dragon's hideaway, where they could open themselves completely and with abandon without worries. ::Duo. Come on, love. We'll get to kill things.:: He smiled when he felt his partner muster up the will to scootch away from him just a bit. ::They'll bleed this time,:: he promised, and Duo budged just a little more. ::Come on, you can do better than that.:: Duo blew him a mental raspberry. ::Going slow so I don't suffer from withdrawal or something. Well? Keep it coming.:: Bit by tantalizing bit, Heero found a handful of little somethings to draw them back into the material world, though they stopped before they were fully apart. This would be enough for them to function with the others. With a sigh of resignation, Duo blinked sleepily and finally managed to convince his arms to disengage from their comfortable position around Heero's neck. One short stretch later, they migrated down Heero's body, feeling again the strong, solid flesh beneath him, reassuring him that Heero was -real- and here with him now. He played his lips and tongue over Heero's neck since it was conveniently close by, caressing the two tiny already-healed wounds he had left there, and sighed again. ::If you don't let me go, I'm never getting up.:: It took Heero a moment to remember why that would be a bad thing. Trying to set a good example, he forced his arms to release their hold on his partner and lay there passively, hoping Duo would have the initiative to roll off of him on his own, because he wasn't quite sure he'd be able to help. Duo's laughter rolled through his mind like fresh lemonade on a hot summer's day, sweet and tart and refreshing. They were still linked, the guardian still privy to his traitorous thoughts. With a decisive show of will, Heero heaved himself upright, bringing his partner with him. The guardian took a step back, took a step forward to hug him tightly one more time, then stepped back again and finally declared himself ready. He retrieved a shirt from the shadows, and after he got it settled, he tugged on a few more shadows and clothed his partner. Reluctant to cover all that glorious skin, he tried first the loose sleeveless shirt that Heero wore on occasion, then tightened it up to resemble the sleeveless turtleneck he had been wearing earlier, Heero standing indulgently still for him as he did so. The form-fitting top was quite pleasing to the eye, but a look and a scowl later, he settled the old robes back onto Heero's shoulders. ::Mine,:: he growled smugly. All that exposed skin was his and his alone to enjoy. ::Yours,:: Heero agreed quite amiably. ::Now enough of this stalling. Let's have at it, shall we?:: With a tiny alert sent to Hilde, just in case she was leaning on the doors or some such, they emerged from their suite to be greeted by the smirking succubus. Duo smirked right back at her, while Heero came up behind his partner and leveled a warning glare at her over Duo's head. She only smirked harder. "Glad to have you back, Heero," she purred. He cast her one more characteristically grumpy look, then shepherded them towards where he could sense the others were gathered. Conversation ceased as soon as the others caught sight of their arrival, not quite certain of how to greet Heero's return. No matter what he was to Duo, he had never been much of a friend to them. During the year or so that they had known Duo, back when they were in high school, Heero hadn't always accompanied his partner, and when he had, he had usually stood over them with a silent, brooding menace. His mask was gone as well, and it seemed like that ought to mean something, only they had no idea what. Wufei carefully kept his lips pressed together. He wanted very much to simply ask whether or not Heero had succeeded in his quest, but some sense of propriety in him whispered that perhaps that ought not to be the very first thing said. He waited impatiently for one of the others to break the silence. Duo's eyes swept over them all, his expression neutral, but a sparkle in his eye. ::How long do you think we can keep this tense standoff up?:: ::Let's just get on with it.:: "Hello, everyone," he said pleasantly, hopping up lightly to sit on one of the railings in the courtyard. Heero took his usual position behind him. If the others took a moment to think about it, they would not have been able to recall a single instance of the fearsome warrior ever being seated in their presence. "Duo," Quatre greeted in response automatically, then belatedly added his partner's name. "Heero. You're both looking... well." He couldn't say much about Heero, but Duo's aura had definitely settled down. It wasn't as light as it had been years ago, but it was comfortingly less dark than it had been just the other day. His eyes had a bit more warmth and color to them now as well, and his face a bit more animation. Duo decided on a simple smile, and it was tinged with a lovely smug tone and spiced with a bit of amusement. "Well, now that we're all here, why don't we get down to business?" Yes, before Wufei explodes from the anticipation, he thought. As expected, the boy in question spoke first. "So what did you find?" Heero made it clear that he would let his partner speak for him, and so Duo did. "Epyon had a Shinma working for him. He went by the name of Trant. He's... been taken care of," he couldn't resist adding with an edged smile, leaving the others fairly certain that they didn't really want to know what had happened to the Shinma. Duo took a short moment to savor their victory again before continuing. "He helped Epyon in the transportation of his troops. With only a single advance scout, Trant could use the Dark as a shortcut to anywhere in this plane he chose." "So we know Epyon won't be going anywhere any time soon, then." Duo shrugged carelessly. "Doesn't matter, really. Epyon hasn't moved for a while. He's solidifing his position over his conquered lands right now. I doubt he really had much use left for Trant, so I suppose he won't notice he's missing, either. With the force he's got, he doesn't need the advantage of surprise anymore." All things considered, perhaps it was no surprise that Trant had been willing to sell out his ally. "From the sound of it, it seems we'll be needing that advantage," Quatre observed. "I can give you the same advantage that Trant did to Epyon, but that won't be all you'll need." "Yay," Meiran muttered sourly. "Doesn't that mean we'll need to send a scout into Epyon's territory, then?" Quatre asked. The smirk rose to Duo's lips once again. "Nah. Trant was kind enough to give us a fix on Epyon's location." Naturally, Wufei was suspicious, although he would have termed it 'cautious'. "Are you sure his information is accurate?" "Oh, yes. He wasn't lying. All of the information is as accurate as Trant could provide. Granted, he hasn't been to Epyon's camp personally for a while, but things should not have changed significantly." "If he's solidifying his power, then we'd best move soon," Quatre mused. "Does that mean he's just sitting there intimidating people, or does that mean he's out and about intimidating people? Does he have some sort of stronghold where we might find him?" Duo ran through the images they had gathered from Trant. Spatial relationships were not among a Shinma's strong points. Seeing the difficulty, Heero requested and received the analytical assistance of the power matrix in his head, and together they managed to construct a coherent picture of Epyon's base of operations. "Hmm. Right now, he's got a place where he conducts his business, but it's nothing fancy. Not like a fortress or anything. More like a... open air court? He hasn't settled on a place he wants to establish as the heart of his territory yet. We should be able to find him there." "Armies?" Wufei's question was succinct and to the point. "Hordes," Duo expanded merrily, causing an eyebrow or two to raise. Just what was so great about that? "We can bypass most of them, I'm sure, but Epyon will hardly be standing alone in a conveniently secluded area." "So we'll either need to deal with them, or distract them." Quatre, being more precise of mind, requested some clarification. "Just how many demons constitutes a 'horde', Duo? And demons of what level?" Numbers weren't a Shinma's strong point either, but Heero, prepared for the question, handed him a decent estimate. "Oh, he's only got, say, half a thousand troops with him." Quatre choked. "Only?" Duo shrugged it off. "Well, he's only got a few lieutenants and the like keeping them in check. Oh, and Lei Fang, I suppose." Curiously, Trant hadn't liked her. Walker had gotten along with her not at all. Was there anyone that actually liked the she-demon? He was almost looking forward to when he might finally meet her. "The rest of the horde are just henchdemons and the like. Strong, yes, but fairly stupid and straightforward." "But we'll still need to deal with them," Wufei murmured. "Where are they located?" "Oh, around." Duo gestured vaguely. "Epyon has them off doing things sometimes. So maybe he's short a couple hundred most times. They're usually milling around outside his central area." "How much pride do you figure a demon like Epyon's got?" Meiran asked. "Think he'd be interested in having everyone else stand down for the sake of dealing with us himself?" "There's a possibility," Quatre agreed. "Although it's probably more about personal vengeance than pride. We're talking about, basically, the two people who imprisoned him in the first place. But we still need to survive long enough to convince Epyon first." "Say, Trowa." If Trowa could ever be said to look surprised, then now would be the time. It was rare that someone actually addressed him when in a group. "Your little nobody-notices-you trick. Can you expand that to encompass everyone?" He blinked contemplatively, then produced an elegant shrug. "I've never tried." He cast a querying look towards Duo first, then Quatre. If anyone would know, they probably would. Quatre shrugged as well. "It'd work in theory. So basically, it just comes down to whether or not you can expand your null space, and how far you can do it." He glanced at Duo. Duo was tempted to glance at Heero and pass the buck like everyone else seemed to be doing, but he had the feeling Heero would just pass it right back to him. He gave Trowa the obvious answer instead. "Well, give it a shot, why don't you?" "...And just how would one go about doing that?" This would be interesting. He hopped off his railing and pointed his chin in the direction of one of the courtyard's shady corners. "You guys keep talking. Come up with some more alternatives. We'll be over there having a little chat." He wandered off to his chosen corner, and both Trowa and Heero trailed along behind him. "Okay, so what else have we got?" Eventually, it was decided that they really couldn't make much of a plan, although, on the plus side, things seemed simple enough that they didn't need much of a plan. Duo would get them reasonably close to Epyon. They found that Trowa couldn't hide them all, but he could dampen their presences enough to buy them some space and time. Having the rest of the dragons with them was a perk they were not counting on. It was assumed that Epyon would not be alone, but also that he wouldn't have many demons with him. He didn't seem the kind to surround himself with sycophants. Most likely, there would be a handful of higher level demons. They were fairly confident that, between all of them and their various powers, they could defeat them. Trant's memories and thoughts showed no one nearly as powerful as the black dragon himself. And because Epyon was not holed up in some odd labyrinthine fortress, they had little to fear in the way of traps or deceptions. From there, nothing much was left but for Wufei to fight Epyon. He would have to come up with his own plan for that. The others would keep the rest of Epyon's forces from interfering. Hopefully. Upon consideration, they were going ahead with the assumption that, with Shenlong's power in play, they would probably only get in the way of the main confrontation, although they would certainly keep an eye out for however they might assist in the battle. Admittedly, it was a very, very shaky plan that, summed up in a few words, equalled simply going in and doing their thing. Well, they'd sleep on it, see if they couldn't come up with anything better. But if they couldn't, there was no point in waiting. They would meet Epyon in battle soon. ------- now if you'll excuse me, i've got a battle to figure out, and i've no better idea than they do. bleh. _________________________________________ 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 : 8/10/2003 00:52:22 PST