Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ On a Pale Horse ❯ Bridge of Minor Confusion ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: As far as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing goes: Bandai has rights. Sunrise has rights. Sotsu Agency has rights. Rally does not have rights; she just likes to play with the characters. It's so much fun. As far as the world of Valdemar and Velgarth go: Mercedes Lackey has rights. DAW books have rights. Rally (again) does not have rights; she just loves dropping confused bishies in and waiting to see how long it'll take them to swim. (Again) it's just so much fun!

A/N: "Italics" is Duo speaking in Standard. "No italics" mean he's speaking Valdemaren.

On A Pale Horse
-Bridge of Minor Confusion-

Thwack!

"Again!"

Simaree shook the stinging out of her left hand, rubbed at her side and then retrieved her practice blade from the floor. That was the fifth time she'd received one of Tehlin's love taps. It was a new record for one practice session and Simaree could tell that the armsmaster was at least, if not more, upset at her wretched performance than she was. This time he had slipped under her parry and delivered a hard blow to her ribs.

Simaree fell back into guard stance and the exercise was repeated, with the same awful results. Tehlin's hit even landed in the same spot.

"Stop." Armsmaster Tehlin frowned down at his student, thick black eyebrows pulled together. "Unacceptable, trainee. Go cool down. I'll see you after class."

"Yes, sir," the trainee agreed. She placed her wooden blade on the communal rack and took three full laps around the Salle before finding an empty seat on the bench near the door.

Tehlin had let her off easy. She was still a bit puzzled about that. At her skill level, he never should have been able to land a hit with that move, let alone disarm her twice. He should have screamed. Why hadn't he bellowed that a first year student was more agile and less likely to fall for such an obvious feint? It was in an armsmaster's nature to yell, so why had he merely dismissed her until after class?

She'd been the target of her share of Tehlin's high volume scoldings and she'd deserved each an every one of them. It was not in an armsmaster's best interest to be easy on his students. Softness produces only dead students. Simaree wasn't stupid; she knew this. That was why she was so confused.

"You look upset." By the smallest measure, Simaree avoided starting. In her musing, Tehlin had taken up the empty seat next to her and after Simaree's initial glance she refrained from looking at him.

"Not upset exactly. I was just wondering—"

"Why I didn't take your head off, especially with the group of beginners watching?" She nodded. "Because it wouldn't have made any difference. If I'd screamed at you, you'd only have gotten more upset and made stupider mistakes. You are not failing due to lack of skill or lack of trying. You're failing because you aren't concentrating. You're distracted. Distraction makes you open to attack and to failure. So, now, I fix your concentration by asking you what is wrong?"

Simaree took a moment to absorb Tehlin's speech. He was usually so abrupt that the sheer amount of words he'd just strung together was somewhat mind numbing, but everything he'd said made sense. She wasn't focusing and during the spar she hadn't been able to think of Tehlin as an enemy. He was merely a lesson to endure so she could get back to the problem at hand.

And the problem was the Dean. She'd been trying for days to talk to Dean Ayden about Alaen's dreams, but every time she'd gone to his office he was out. It was so frustrating. Alaen was depending on her to handle the situation and she couldn't do it. And then it occurred to her that there was a potential solution sitting just an elbow length away. Tehlin was Armsmaster. He could get the Dean to listen to her.

"It's Alaen, sir. He's been having some disturbing daydreams and he thinks that they're more than dreams. From the way he describes them, I do too."

Tehlin stood up, prompting Simaree to give him a bewildered look. "Let's take a walk." He smiled reassuringly and waited for her to join him.

The sun hadn't quite risen when Duo eased himself out bed. His belly was still sore and his legs were weak from nearly two weeks of disuse, but it wasn't like he wasn't used to that sort of thing. Pain and Duo went hand in hand. They were like ham and cheese or like cookies and milk or like peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. Hmmm... All of his similes were turning out to be food. He must be hungry.

His stomach roared. Duo patted it affectionately. Poor little guy had been through a lot. It deserved something for all its suffering. And that something, he hoped, was a fluffer-nutter sandwich or ice cream or cherry pie or a chocolate donut with sprinkles on top.

The seven-foot journey from the bed to the door proved to be quite a bit more difficult than Duo first imagined. His legs really, really did not want to work. He made it about half way when he had to stop to take a breather. "Crap on a goddamn stick!"

The door opened and the green clad woman from the day before entered. "Good morning, Duo Maxwell. I see you're feeling much better today." If she was surprised that her patient was out of bed and panting like a pervert on a phone line she did a remarkable job of hiding it.

"Uh... yes. I am," he replied.

She gave him the Nurse's Look of Disapproval. Duo was more familiar with that look than he was comfortable with so when she held out a hand he braced himself for a tirade. It didn't come. "You should be feeling well enough to walk around by this afternoon. But for now, please have a seat." She wiggled her hand until Duo grasped it and then she led him back to the bed.

"Thanks!" he said immediately and then he remembered that she couldn't understand him. "Oh, sorry. Thank you."

She smiled. "You're welcome. My name is Learen. The Dean told me that you're learning Valdemaren very quickly but if I go too fast please tell me." Duo nodded. "All right then. Let me guess, you're hungry right? Boys your age are always hungry."

Duo smiled back. "Do not blame me. I have not had food in thirteen days. I am a growing boy."

Learen had the food sent in. It turned out that she was the doctor, not the nurse as he'd first suspected and Duo was a little chagrined at his misjudgment. He was usually right on the mark. Even the food wasn't what he was hoping for. It was porridge, an apple and some astringent tea. Duo hadn't had to stomach the god-awfulness of porridge since his orphanage days and the tea was too harsh for his delicate palate. The only portion of the meal that was appetizing was the apple. The worst part of the whole thing was that it didn't make a dent in the grumbling monster that Duo called a stomach.

When the young girl that brought the food returned to collect the dishes, he'd begged shamelessly for seconds. She began to tell him that she couldn't possibly bring him more when Duo noticed that she was blushing and trying to hide her face. Jackpot!

"Please?" Just one word had captured her attention. He smiled brilliantly and Duo knew it was a magical smile. On more than one occasion, it had charmed unwilling nurses, candy stripers, and even once a male orderly, into giving him exactly what he wanted. Duo Maxwell was one manipulative bastard.

The girl blushed brighter and rushed out the door promising to return with twice the meal. Duo snickered and then swore. He should have asked for dessert. Damn.

He sighed and leaned back on the headboard, closing his eyes. It had been a long, long night. Ayden and Anndreth had only left a few hours earlier. They wanted to make sure Duo's language skills were as functional as possible before they left him. Neither one would be available to meet him today, but they wished him well and gave him permission to explore as his doctor sees fit. They assured him that he was a guest, not a captive.

They were nice enough, but Duo didn't buy it. It wouldn't be the first time a captor decided that deception was the best method for gathering information. And now that he thought about it, they had given him clear answers to hardly any of his questions. Most of what he asked was met with an "I don't know," or a "You tell me." When he'd asked about that chick Onette again Anndreth had just repeated, in a tone that indicated that Duo must be daft, that Onette was his Companion and he would find out soon enough. That time the emphasis on the word "Companion" was clear. It was all so annoying.

He was used to asking questions and getting them answered concisely, even if it did usually involve the use of a gun, knife or another form of deadly weapon. Double-talk was his expertise and he knew when it was being used on him. Except in this case, he didn't. He was still guessing at about a third of what was being said to him. He needed to learn faster. He needed to observe these people when they didn't know they were being observed. He needed to get out of that tiny room and mingle.

He was halfway to the door when he realized two things: his legs were cooperating and there was food on the way. Food or freedom? Food or freedom? Fuck it. He was getting the hell out of there.