Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ The Game ❯ Light Trip to Wanderweb ( Chapter 12 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Arigatomina 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.23.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 264 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 07.23.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 264 | Status: Work In Progress
Notes: The realm in the last part was from Dragonball Z, the android saga. They didn't get to stay very long, so it might not have been self-evident.
The Game
Part 12: “Light Trip to Wanderweb”
The first thing Duo noticed when they arrived was that he didn't feel particularly refreshed. His wounds were healed. He could tell because his arm was no longer a twisted, lumpy growth too painful to even look at. And his chest didn't have that constricted pull to it when he breathed. But he could still taste blood in his mouth and he felt like the slightest bump would send him tumbling over. At least his head wasn't making him sick to his stomach anymore. It was just making him want to pass out and sleep for a few weeks.
He listed to the side and Heero immediately put an arm out to support him. The continued concern on his partner's face made him wince in embarrassment.
"I'm just tired," said Duo. "I'm all healed up, so I'll be okay in a minute."
"It's fine," said Heero. "There's no rush."
It wasn't like Heero minded supporting him. If he'd had his way, he'd have actually carried him. The sooner Duo got off his feet, the better. He didn't say any of that because it would only have embarrassed him further. He pulled Duo's arm over his shoulders and did his best to wipe the worried look off his face. Wolfwood looked like he was tempted to help. Heero was glad he didn't. He was fully capable of helping Duo on his own.
They were standing on a dusty road in front of the inn-like building they'd seen through the portal. Now that they had a wider view of the place, they could see that it was actually a village laid out alongside a slow stream. Fields were visible on the other side of the road, giving the area a rustic, peaceful feel. As they approached the door, a rickety horse-drawn cart passed them, the elderly driver waving a hand and nodding as if they were old friends.
"Old fashioned place," Duo murmured. "It's kinda nice."
"Yeah," said Wolfwood.
The door opened before they could reach for it and a young man came out to greet them. He was surprisingly pretty with straight golden blonde hair, short along the back of his neck, and pale blue eyes. He didn't reach out to them, but he held the door, and his smile was warm and subdued.
"Welcome," he said. "I'm Ernest, current Keeper of the Inn. Come in and have a seat. I'll make you some tea while Mitsukake-san checks you over. Please feel free to spend your night here. There's no charge."
"Thank you," said Heero.
They entered what was clearly a dining area, complete with an unmanned bar, small round tables laid with plain cloths, a single pale blue rose in a vase at the center of each. Windows lined the front of the room, giving the interior a soft golden sheen. Their guide directed them to a table near the bar and left through a curtained doorway behind it. They'd no sooner sat down than he reappeared with a tall older man.
This one was broad shouldered, in his mid thirties, with short dark brown hair held out of his face by a dark blue headband, and sober eyes. He introduced himself as Mitsukake, Resident Healer of Wanderweb. And he smiled when Heero made no move to accept the hand he offered.
"It's not just a greeting," Mitsukake explained, amused by Heero's stubbornness. "I heal through my right hand. Everyone who enters Wanderweb is to be checked. There's no harm. It'll only take a moment of contact."
Duo elbowed Heero in the side and rolled his eyes at him. Heero scowled a bit, but reluctantly accepted the handshake. He didn't feel any different afterward, but then, he hadn't exactly felt injured or tired to begin with.
He scowled more when the man reached Duo and leaned over to touch his forehead. The way he brushed Duo's bangs out of his eyes was so soft and gentle that it made Heero bristle. He almost growled at the man to get the hell away from him. He couldn't help it. The man was a complete stranger, game created or not, and the way he looked at Duo was so familiar they might as well have been lovers. It wasn't just a moment of contact, either. Nearly a minute passed before he finally straightened and backed out of Duo's personal space. Duo looked more surprised than uncomfortable, so Heero forced himself not to make too much of it. The man was a healer, after all. Supposedly.
Mitsukake didn't seem to notice the death glare Heero was giving him. He gave Duo a warm smile waved at the table. "You need a little rest, but your injuries have completely healed. Drink all of what Ernest gives you and you should feel refreshed within the hour."
The blonde youth saw him to the door and then returned with a tray of thick brown mugs that let off wafts of fragrant steam. He smiled again when Duo didn't hesitate in trying the drink.
"Have you been traveling long?" asked Ernest.
"Traveling?" Wolfwood repeated. He shot a look at Heero, who frowned back at him. "Do you mean in The Game?"
Ernest blinked and something flickered in his eyes for a moment before disappearing. Heero immediately wondered if they'd done something wrong. Setsuna had spoken of 'import characters' inside this particular 'Light Trip' destination. So he'd assumed that meant it was normal to explain the game the same way they had to other characters they'd met.
"You're...players," Ernest said, after a moment. "I see. You'll have to forgive me. I've never met a player before. I haven't been waiting here as long as some of the others."
The drink they'd been given was ridiculously good. Duo was sure it was tea of some sort, but it had a spicy sweet flavor and a pleasant burn that made him think of alcohol. He was almost glad they'd only been given one mug of the stuff. It woke him up enough that he was sure he could have gotten addicted to it easily. He set his mug down and tilted his head at the blonde.
"Waiting?" asked Duo. "What are you waiting for?"
"This is Wanderweb," said Ernest, as if that explained something. "Everyone here is waiting for someone. This is a peaceful place so many travelers decide to wait here. But you're players. You only have a day. I won't keep you. When you're up to it, the library is in the shrine behind the Inn. You should be able to find the shops on your own. They circle the shrine two arcs deep. Please ring me when you're ready to settle for the night. I'll have a meal and rooms prepared for you."
He gave a formal bow and disappeared through the curtained doorway once more. The moment he was gone, Duo turned and quirked an eyebrow at his friends.
"That was weird," said Duo. "What do you think that means?"
"Maybe the characters can travel to different realms without players," Wolfwood offered. "And some of them end up in these 'Light Trip' places. Waiting for players to come by needing a refresher?"
"There's no reason for that," Heero frowned. "The players would never know the characters were traveling unless they asked."
"I don't think it's a player he's waiting for, anyway," said Duo. "Did either of you get this sort of...sad and creepy vibe from him when he said they were all 'waiting for someone'?"
"Maybe," said Wolfwood. "He seemed lonely."
"And like he said something he shouldn't have?" Duo pushed. "Maybe it's a hint. Like if they're all waiting for someone, and we happen to bring the person one of them is waiting for - one of our import characters...then... I don't know. It's like that girl in the first task, remember, Heero? Do a good deed and you get a reward, or information, or just gratitude from the character you helped. It does make sense if you think about it that way."
Wolfwood gave him an uncertain look. "You might be trying to rationalize it a little too much, there. I mean, there doesn't have to be a reason for everything in the game, right? Take this room, for instance. We have these crude mugs and yet there are pretty roses on the tables. Sort of mismatched, isn't it? And that guy was right there to greet us when we got here, but he had to go fetch the Healer. No reason to think too hard about every little detail."
"I guess," sighed Duo. "Well, since we only get a day, we might as well get started exploring the place. I can check out the library while you guys do rounds of the shop. I'm feeling better, but I'd probably still slow you down if I have to walk around too much."
"I'll go with you," said Heero. "Wolfwood can see if there's anything interesting in the shops. Right?"
"Sure," said Wolfwood.
Duo twitched and shot Heero a disgruntled and slightly resentful look. "I'm perfectly capable of looking around a library by myself. It's not like I'm going to pass out if I sit at a table too long."
"I know that," Heero said, in a perfectly neutral tone. "I want to see this library as well. And if the hints are texts, you'll need someone who can read Japanese."
"Oh," Duo blinked. "Texts. Writing. Right. I forgot about that."
Wolfwood smirked at how smoothly Heero had handled that. He pushed away from the table and flashed them a smile. "Ready to go, then? I'll see you guys to that shrine and meet you back there after I scout the shops."
"Sounds good," said Heero. "I don't know what this 'credit' is, but if you see something we'll need, buy it. Depending on how many pertinent hints this library has, we may not have time to debate prices and go back to the shops before the trip ends."
An hour later found Duo sitting in a soft-backed chair next to a window that looked out over a sparkling stream that wasn't there. The shrine was a tall circular marble building surrounded by grass, a dirt road, and then little shops in a semicircle behind the inn. There was no stream anywhere near it. But the view outside the window showed a stream as real as any he'd ever seen. If the stream hadn't been so simple, pretty, and calming, it would have struck him as disturbing. The library had already reminded them that this Wanderweb wasn't pretending to be part of their reality. Instead of books with written words, it was an archive of...balls. Little crystal gems the size of an orange arranged in tiny alcoves according to the realms and tasks they displayed.
Heero picked a few that looked particularly useful and brought them back to the table Duo was sitting by. There didn't appear to be anyone manning the library, but a delicate refreshment tray had filled itself the moment they entered the doors. They took that to mean they were supposed to sit there while they 'read', so that was just what they did.
Each of the crystals had a miniature world inside, like footage taken from all sides so that they could turn the gem to change the perspective of the scenes they were looking at. One of the first ones Heero had found was for the 'demons' realm, a hint regarding the 'Game Master' task they'd completed earlier. The hint was a lot more helpful than they would have thought. As far as they could tell, the gem showed the original 'game play' of that realm.
Kurama, Hiei, and a group of strangers defeated the Game Master - with considerably more trouble and drama than what they'd gone through. Then Kurama fought and killed the silent man they'd seen standing to the side of the cave in order to rescue their captured comrade. In retrospect, the hint wouldn't have made things simpler for them. They hadn't fought anyone once they'd reached Wolfwood. But knowing ahead of time what sort of 'games' the Game Master had in store for them - including the order of the games - would have been useful.
"Would have been, could have been," Duo sighed, setting the gem back in the basket with the others Heero had brought over. "These hints are good if we have to try a realm over again - assuming we can find that desert task we screwed up. But we keep picking random. How are we supposed to know ahead of time what tasks we'll get? We could look at a dozen of these things and chances are we wouldn't find one that had a realm we'd be going into next."
"They're free hints," said Heero. "If they were easy, they would be harder to get access to."
Duo smiled at that. "You're getting the hang of this game thing. Normal games give you hints, but most of it's fumbling around trying to find your way through. You can get strategy guides, cheats from people who've already beaten the game, but you're supposed to do it on your own. Since no one's ever beaten this game, this place is probably the best we're going to find for cheats. Any luck tracking down that task?"
"I can't even find anything for the realm," Heero frowned. "There are a lot of desert realms, but none of them have the sort of lost technology that one had."
Duo leaned back and let his eyes travel around the room. There were three floors to it, with circular steps and balconies on each layer. And the walls glittered with so many gems it was almost painful to look at them for too long. It was gorgeous. And ridiculous.
"Heero."
"Yes?"
"Don't you think this is a little excessive? Why would a single game have so many tasks no one could ever complete them in one lifetime?"
"A lot of things in this game make no sense," said Heero.
"That's true," Duo sighed. "This...library...needs a computer system. Or even one of those card catalogues to organize these things."
"Agreed."
"No help for it, though," said Duo. He pulled the basket over to him and picked another of the little gems out at random. "I'll start looking through these."
"I'll try that side again," said Heero. "If nothing else, maybe we can discern a pattern to the tasks. Unless multiple people designed the challenges, the tasks should get repetitive eventually."
Duo nodded, with a faint but hopeful smile. The more of those gems he looked at the less hope he had that they'd discover some trick to make completing tasks easier. The only duplication they'd found was the way Kurama and Yukimura's voices had been practically identical. Some of the people in the orbs resembled ones from other realms, but there were more differences than similarities. Whoever had designed this game must have had a world of time on his hands. It was absolutely ridiculous. And so intriguing he wanted to slap himself for ever getting into this.
A lifetime of available tasks. And they'd only been playing for a few days. He'd certainly found a cure for his boredom...
.-.
TBC
The Game
Part 12: “Light Trip to Wanderweb”
The first thing Duo noticed when they arrived was that he didn't feel particularly refreshed. His wounds were healed. He could tell because his arm was no longer a twisted, lumpy growth too painful to even look at. And his chest didn't have that constricted pull to it when he breathed. But he could still taste blood in his mouth and he felt like the slightest bump would send him tumbling over. At least his head wasn't making him sick to his stomach anymore. It was just making him want to pass out and sleep for a few weeks.
He listed to the side and Heero immediately put an arm out to support him. The continued concern on his partner's face made him wince in embarrassment.
"I'm just tired," said Duo. "I'm all healed up, so I'll be okay in a minute."
"It's fine," said Heero. "There's no rush."
It wasn't like Heero minded supporting him. If he'd had his way, he'd have actually carried him. The sooner Duo got off his feet, the better. He didn't say any of that because it would only have embarrassed him further. He pulled Duo's arm over his shoulders and did his best to wipe the worried look off his face. Wolfwood looked like he was tempted to help. Heero was glad he didn't. He was fully capable of helping Duo on his own.
They were standing on a dusty road in front of the inn-like building they'd seen through the portal. Now that they had a wider view of the place, they could see that it was actually a village laid out alongside a slow stream. Fields were visible on the other side of the road, giving the area a rustic, peaceful feel. As they approached the door, a rickety horse-drawn cart passed them, the elderly driver waving a hand and nodding as if they were old friends.
"Old fashioned place," Duo murmured. "It's kinda nice."
"Yeah," said Wolfwood.
The door opened before they could reach for it and a young man came out to greet them. He was surprisingly pretty with straight golden blonde hair, short along the back of his neck, and pale blue eyes. He didn't reach out to them, but he held the door, and his smile was warm and subdued.
"Welcome," he said. "I'm Ernest, current Keeper of the Inn. Come in and have a seat. I'll make you some tea while Mitsukake-san checks you over. Please feel free to spend your night here. There's no charge."
"Thank you," said Heero.
They entered what was clearly a dining area, complete with an unmanned bar, small round tables laid with plain cloths, a single pale blue rose in a vase at the center of each. Windows lined the front of the room, giving the interior a soft golden sheen. Their guide directed them to a table near the bar and left through a curtained doorway behind it. They'd no sooner sat down than he reappeared with a tall older man.
This one was broad shouldered, in his mid thirties, with short dark brown hair held out of his face by a dark blue headband, and sober eyes. He introduced himself as Mitsukake, Resident Healer of Wanderweb. And he smiled when Heero made no move to accept the hand he offered.
"It's not just a greeting," Mitsukake explained, amused by Heero's stubbornness. "I heal through my right hand. Everyone who enters Wanderweb is to be checked. There's no harm. It'll only take a moment of contact."
Duo elbowed Heero in the side and rolled his eyes at him. Heero scowled a bit, but reluctantly accepted the handshake. He didn't feel any different afterward, but then, he hadn't exactly felt injured or tired to begin with.
He scowled more when the man reached Duo and leaned over to touch his forehead. The way he brushed Duo's bangs out of his eyes was so soft and gentle that it made Heero bristle. He almost growled at the man to get the hell away from him. He couldn't help it. The man was a complete stranger, game created or not, and the way he looked at Duo was so familiar they might as well have been lovers. It wasn't just a moment of contact, either. Nearly a minute passed before he finally straightened and backed out of Duo's personal space. Duo looked more surprised than uncomfortable, so Heero forced himself not to make too much of it. The man was a healer, after all. Supposedly.
Mitsukake didn't seem to notice the death glare Heero was giving him. He gave Duo a warm smile waved at the table. "You need a little rest, but your injuries have completely healed. Drink all of what Ernest gives you and you should feel refreshed within the hour."
The blonde youth saw him to the door and then returned with a tray of thick brown mugs that let off wafts of fragrant steam. He smiled again when Duo didn't hesitate in trying the drink.
"Have you been traveling long?" asked Ernest.
"Traveling?" Wolfwood repeated. He shot a look at Heero, who frowned back at him. "Do you mean in The Game?"
Ernest blinked and something flickered in his eyes for a moment before disappearing. Heero immediately wondered if they'd done something wrong. Setsuna had spoken of 'import characters' inside this particular 'Light Trip' destination. So he'd assumed that meant it was normal to explain the game the same way they had to other characters they'd met.
"You're...players," Ernest said, after a moment. "I see. You'll have to forgive me. I've never met a player before. I haven't been waiting here as long as some of the others."
The drink they'd been given was ridiculously good. Duo was sure it was tea of some sort, but it had a spicy sweet flavor and a pleasant burn that made him think of alcohol. He was almost glad they'd only been given one mug of the stuff. It woke him up enough that he was sure he could have gotten addicted to it easily. He set his mug down and tilted his head at the blonde.
"Waiting?" asked Duo. "What are you waiting for?"
"This is Wanderweb," said Ernest, as if that explained something. "Everyone here is waiting for someone. This is a peaceful place so many travelers decide to wait here. But you're players. You only have a day. I won't keep you. When you're up to it, the library is in the shrine behind the Inn. You should be able to find the shops on your own. They circle the shrine two arcs deep. Please ring me when you're ready to settle for the night. I'll have a meal and rooms prepared for you."
He gave a formal bow and disappeared through the curtained doorway once more. The moment he was gone, Duo turned and quirked an eyebrow at his friends.
"That was weird," said Duo. "What do you think that means?"
"Maybe the characters can travel to different realms without players," Wolfwood offered. "And some of them end up in these 'Light Trip' places. Waiting for players to come by needing a refresher?"
"There's no reason for that," Heero frowned. "The players would never know the characters were traveling unless they asked."
"I don't think it's a player he's waiting for, anyway," said Duo. "Did either of you get this sort of...sad and creepy vibe from him when he said they were all 'waiting for someone'?"
"Maybe," said Wolfwood. "He seemed lonely."
"And like he said something he shouldn't have?" Duo pushed. "Maybe it's a hint. Like if they're all waiting for someone, and we happen to bring the person one of them is waiting for - one of our import characters...then... I don't know. It's like that girl in the first task, remember, Heero? Do a good deed and you get a reward, or information, or just gratitude from the character you helped. It does make sense if you think about it that way."
Wolfwood gave him an uncertain look. "You might be trying to rationalize it a little too much, there. I mean, there doesn't have to be a reason for everything in the game, right? Take this room, for instance. We have these crude mugs and yet there are pretty roses on the tables. Sort of mismatched, isn't it? And that guy was right there to greet us when we got here, but he had to go fetch the Healer. No reason to think too hard about every little detail."
"I guess," sighed Duo. "Well, since we only get a day, we might as well get started exploring the place. I can check out the library while you guys do rounds of the shop. I'm feeling better, but I'd probably still slow you down if I have to walk around too much."
"I'll go with you," said Heero. "Wolfwood can see if there's anything interesting in the shops. Right?"
"Sure," said Wolfwood.
Duo twitched and shot Heero a disgruntled and slightly resentful look. "I'm perfectly capable of looking around a library by myself. It's not like I'm going to pass out if I sit at a table too long."
"I know that," Heero said, in a perfectly neutral tone. "I want to see this library as well. And if the hints are texts, you'll need someone who can read Japanese."
"Oh," Duo blinked. "Texts. Writing. Right. I forgot about that."
Wolfwood smirked at how smoothly Heero had handled that. He pushed away from the table and flashed them a smile. "Ready to go, then? I'll see you guys to that shrine and meet you back there after I scout the shops."
"Sounds good," said Heero. "I don't know what this 'credit' is, but if you see something we'll need, buy it. Depending on how many pertinent hints this library has, we may not have time to debate prices and go back to the shops before the trip ends."
An hour later found Duo sitting in a soft-backed chair next to a window that looked out over a sparkling stream that wasn't there. The shrine was a tall circular marble building surrounded by grass, a dirt road, and then little shops in a semicircle behind the inn. There was no stream anywhere near it. But the view outside the window showed a stream as real as any he'd ever seen. If the stream hadn't been so simple, pretty, and calming, it would have struck him as disturbing. The library had already reminded them that this Wanderweb wasn't pretending to be part of their reality. Instead of books with written words, it was an archive of...balls. Little crystal gems the size of an orange arranged in tiny alcoves according to the realms and tasks they displayed.
Heero picked a few that looked particularly useful and brought them back to the table Duo was sitting by. There didn't appear to be anyone manning the library, but a delicate refreshment tray had filled itself the moment they entered the doors. They took that to mean they were supposed to sit there while they 'read', so that was just what they did.
Each of the crystals had a miniature world inside, like footage taken from all sides so that they could turn the gem to change the perspective of the scenes they were looking at. One of the first ones Heero had found was for the 'demons' realm, a hint regarding the 'Game Master' task they'd completed earlier. The hint was a lot more helpful than they would have thought. As far as they could tell, the gem showed the original 'game play' of that realm.
Kurama, Hiei, and a group of strangers defeated the Game Master - with considerably more trouble and drama than what they'd gone through. Then Kurama fought and killed the silent man they'd seen standing to the side of the cave in order to rescue their captured comrade. In retrospect, the hint wouldn't have made things simpler for them. They hadn't fought anyone once they'd reached Wolfwood. But knowing ahead of time what sort of 'games' the Game Master had in store for them - including the order of the games - would have been useful.
"Would have been, could have been," Duo sighed, setting the gem back in the basket with the others Heero had brought over. "These hints are good if we have to try a realm over again - assuming we can find that desert task we screwed up. But we keep picking random. How are we supposed to know ahead of time what tasks we'll get? We could look at a dozen of these things and chances are we wouldn't find one that had a realm we'd be going into next."
"They're free hints," said Heero. "If they were easy, they would be harder to get access to."
Duo smiled at that. "You're getting the hang of this game thing. Normal games give you hints, but most of it's fumbling around trying to find your way through. You can get strategy guides, cheats from people who've already beaten the game, but you're supposed to do it on your own. Since no one's ever beaten this game, this place is probably the best we're going to find for cheats. Any luck tracking down that task?"
"I can't even find anything for the realm," Heero frowned. "There are a lot of desert realms, but none of them have the sort of lost technology that one had."
Duo leaned back and let his eyes travel around the room. There were three floors to it, with circular steps and balconies on each layer. And the walls glittered with so many gems it was almost painful to look at them for too long. It was gorgeous. And ridiculous.
"Heero."
"Yes?"
"Don't you think this is a little excessive? Why would a single game have so many tasks no one could ever complete them in one lifetime?"
"A lot of things in this game make no sense," said Heero.
"That's true," Duo sighed. "This...library...needs a computer system. Or even one of those card catalogues to organize these things."
"Agreed."
"No help for it, though," said Duo. He pulled the basket over to him and picked another of the little gems out at random. "I'll start looking through these."
"I'll try that side again," said Heero. "If nothing else, maybe we can discern a pattern to the tasks. Unless multiple people designed the challenges, the tasks should get repetitive eventually."
Duo nodded, with a faint but hopeful smile. The more of those gems he looked at the less hope he had that they'd discover some trick to make completing tasks easier. The only duplication they'd found was the way Kurama and Yukimura's voices had been practically identical. Some of the people in the orbs resembled ones from other realms, but there were more differences than similarities. Whoever had designed this game must have had a world of time on his hands. It was absolutely ridiculous. And so intriguing he wanted to slap himself for ever getting into this.
A lifetime of available tasks. And they'd only been playing for a few days. He'd certainly found a cure for his boredom...
.-.
TBC