Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Battle of the Heart (formerly untitled) ❯ Ashes, Ashes... ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: I was gonna start something new...but that was before I realized I really needed to work some more on this fic. And so I decided to start on chapter 6. Forgive me for taking sooo long to get this out. I just began fast pitch softball, and practices are 6 days a week. Not to mention I'm going to Toronto with our choir in May, so rehearsals have been lengthened. I'll try and update more often, though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.

"Ashes, Ashes…"

Sally slipped silently from her room, a long dark cloak concealing her figure. Tonight the knights were riding out to battle, and they would have an extra member among their numbers. Unbeknowst to them, of course. She thrived on secrecy, and the only ones who knew of her plan were Wufei and Duo, and for some reason she felt she could trust the two knights. Call it intuition, or call it stupidity.

Wufei had accepted her story, and he had told her he would tell Duo. Sally had considered informing Hilde of her escape, but immediately declined that notion. The raven-haired woman would most likely follow as well.

Sally didn't want her friend to die in combat, too.

Spinning around a dark corner, the Chinese woman was surprised to find her way blocked by a petite body. She tried to step around, but the person kept placing themselves in front of her. Frustrated to know end, Sally finally lost her cool.

"Why do you not allow me to pass?" she inquired with no small amount of indignation, placing her hands on her hips. The dark cloth from the cloak swished around her slim frame.

"It's not your place to run off with the knights, Sally," and she identified the voice as that of her friend, Hilde Schbeiker. Betrayal seeped through Sally's veins, and she wondered fruitlessly which of the knights had ratted her out. Her

"Let me by, Hilde," the blonde woman demanded, angry at being denied a glorious death alongside her father. Her teeth ground together, and her fingers clenched and unclenched unconsciously.

"No!" she answered firmly, grasping Sally's shoulders in her hands and shaking slightly. "What is wrong with you?" questioned Hilde, ceasing the shaking. "You were always rational and level-headed. What brought on this bout of stupidity?" Hurt by the statement, Sally pulled away roughly.

"It is not stupidity," she replied, keeping her voice even. "I refuse to wait in the manor for defeat, for it will surely come. My minimal amount of freedom will end the moment this manor comes under the power of Lord Treize. You know I could never allow that to happen!" The raven-haired woman crossed her arms over her chest. It was time for some serious psychological talk.

"I'll agree with you on that point," Hilde admitted, drawing a surprised glance from her friend. "But if you follow the nights into battle it would be against everything you believe in. You know for a fact that everyone has their place in society for things to run smoothly. Your place is to run the manor until your father comes back victorious, or Treize brings his knights for battle."

"Yes," Sally hissed sarcastically. "What a glorious Lady of the manor I would make for-oh, about two days."

"You have no faith in your father's army?" Hilde asked, though she already knew the answer. She was simply buying time to convince Sally to stay. She was bargaining for her life.

"I am merely looking at this logically," the other woman replied, her anger dissipating. "Chances are Treize will win. I would rather die trying than wait here until he captures the manor, distributing `mercy' by allowing me to live." Hilde raised a delicate ebony eyebrow.

"So you would rather die than live?"

"I would rather die than live imprisoned," she corrected.

"Then you are more of a fool than I thought," Hilde commented with a drawl. Sally leaned against the stone wall leisurely, cooling her temper, which had flared at that comment, with practiced ease.

"What then, oh wise one, would you prefer I do?" she inquired sardonically, gazing at the far wall, her eyes unfocused. All of her emotions were so turbulent and so mixed up. She couldn't tell what she wanted from what she didn't want...and she hated that feeling. It made her helpless and weak. And vulnerable.

"I say you stick around the manor," Hilde said, leaning on the wall beside her friend. "When you are allowed to live, you can eventually make an escape plan-..." The other woman caught on quickly.

"-and I could travel to Lord Antonio's estate!" Sally finished. If Lucrezia was there she would allow her to hide out. At least until she figured out a way to take back her father's estate...but, of course, she had to assume she could make it out of the manor once it was overtaken, and outride any soldiers Lord Treize might send after her.

That was a whole lot of assuming.

Sally stole a glance over at Hilde and saw her face clouded with doubt and worry. She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I don't want Duo to die," the small German woman stated, her voice merely an ardent whisper. And for the first time that night Sally was able to truly comprehend the enormity of this battle. Duo wouldn't survive the attack. Neither would Wufei. It seemed like too much...too much pressure...too much pain.

Tears slid down Hilde's face, and she curled up into a ball, sliding down the wall until she was seated on the floor. Sally sat down beside her, trying to hold back her own tears.

Just when had she gotten so attached to those two, anyway?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wufei and Duo trudged along side-by-side wearily, their armor weighing heavily on their shoulders. The sweltering temperatures didn't help either, and the two knights were constantly wiping the dripping sweat from their brows. They were forced to be prepared for battle at all times; they could meet up with Lord Treize's army any day now. Death seemed to loom in front of them, like an ominous, cursed rain cloud. They were walking right into the storm.

Each of the knights grasped horse reins in their hands, leading the animals right into the breeding-ground of death. Up ahead, Wufei heard shouts, and he knew-without hearing-that the scouts had returned. Treize's army was right up ahead.

"This is it, Wufei," Duo stated, swinging up onto his horse's back with more ease than the armor should have allowed. He lifted his spear in one arm, gaze fixed straight ahead.

Wufei swung onto his own horses back, his own spear grasped tightly in his fist. Up ahead, the sound of the battle starting spurred the young man's adrenaline. He spurred his horse's sides, advancing forward. "I'm not dying yet!" he called over his should to the braided man, who let out a whoop and followed after.

Knights clashed against knights as the two armies collided, strength against strength, fury against fury. In the clashing uproar of the battle, it was extremely difficult to tell one's comrade from one's enemy. Wufei thrust the sharpened tip of his spear into an oncoming knight, before wrenching it out and shoving it into another one. They just kept coming.

"I am the God of Death!" he heard Duo's shout from up ahead. "And I am back from Hell!"

Wufei was forced to hop off of his horse as an arrow speared the poor beast in its side. Blood burst forth from the wound, and Wufei threw his spear at the archer, who was not far away. The archer knight fell to the spear, and the Chinese man unsheathed his sword at the loss of his spear.

"Lord Shang, I challenge you to a one-on-one duel!" Wufei turned to the voice and saw a tall man standing proud, his ginger hair immaculate despite the bloody and vicious battle going on around him. A few meters away was Lord Shang, who took a few paces closer to the tall man who had challenged him.

"Lord Treize, I accept your challenge," Shang stated calmly, standing tall with his sword gripped tightly in his right hand. The knights around the lords were oblivious, continuing to slaughter one another. Wufei, on the other hand, could only watch as the Lords' swords clashed together, before swinging apart, only to clash together once more.

What came next happened in slow motion. A mounted knight in front of Wufei was struck in the neck with an arrow; the knight fell from his horse, spluttering blood and crashing an unsuspecting Wufei into the ground. Another body fell on top of them as well, until the Chinese knight was buried under two bodies. He was in a perfect position to watch as Lord Treize rammed his sword into Shang's unprotected side. The Lord fell to the ground, clutching the bleeding wound, before finally lying still.

Wufei struggled underneath the bodies, before pausing to take a look around him. The battle had stopped, and the remaining knights stood around their victorious leader. Their weary bodies bent slightly against the ashen sky. A few of the men set about to look for injured comrades.

"Loyal soldiers!" Treize called, standing after wiping his blade clean on the grass. "We ride to the manor! Once we seize the stronghold I will send out a team to retrieve our fallen companions!"

Cheers arose from the remaining soldiers at their leader's words. They had reason to cheer, for they had won the battle. Though he had known it was inevitable, Wufei was ashamed that they had not been victorious…he had expected to die…

Shock raced through the young knight.

He was alive...but they lost the battle.

TBC...