Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Dances in the Glen ❯ Under the Bridge ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer:

- Gundam Wing: Hajime Yadate & Yoshiyuki Tomino

- "Resh'ta-ne" language: Jennifer Roberson (Chronicles of the Cheysuli) & several Native American languages

- Dances in the Glen story line: MINE!

MWHAHAHAHAHAHA

*cough* Sorry. ^_^'

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Dances in the Glen

By: SaiyanBlack

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"Bear?"

"Huslu."

A nod.

"Deer?"

"Dyani."

Another nod.

"Boy?"

"Chey."

"Good. Smoke?"

"Iy-eea?"

He reached out and held her jaw in a certain position with one hand as her blue eyes watched with a surprised, yet patient, expression. When he was satisfied her mouth was in the correct position to pronounce the word correctly he addressed her once more, keeping his firm but gentle grip on her chin.

"Say it again," he ordered.

"Iye."

He removed his hand.

"Again."

"Iye."

"Better. Coyote?"

A short silence.

"Mikasi?"

"That's enough for tonight. Catherine said she wanted to see you."

Relena blinked at her companion for a moment before nodding. She picked up the greens and herbs that she had been cutting as Heero gave her lesson and placed them in the dried hide bag that held the preserved ingredients for most of their meals. He watched her clean up as he continued to prepare the venison for their dinner.

He watched as her golden hair swayed over her back and shoulders as she checked on the three year old that slept against Finn's furred body. Watched as a small smile spread across her face at the sight of the boy and canine. She turned to look at his sitting form and smiled before ducking out of the tent and into the twilight air.

Finn's pointed ears perked forward, one slightly lopsided as he pointedly looked at the dark haired brave that continued to cut with the small dagger. Heero glanced at the yellow eyes with a raised brow before he seemed to understand what the wolf was trying to tell him.

"Let her go," the brave told his comrade, "Catherine is expecting her."

That seemed to placate him and Finn dropped his huge head back down onto the floor, letting out a sigh. The brave's cobalt eyes rested on his friend's form with a small smile before going back to the meat he'd caught earlier that evening.

^*^

Catherine smiled when Relena's blonde head poked under the door flap of the red painted hut she and Trowa shared. Already, Hilde had come, dropped off by Duo earlier with a grin. The female Resh-ta'ne had a feeling that he knew more about what was happening than he let on.

"Hello," the blonde greeted the two other women with a warm, but uncertain smile. Catherine waved for her to come in and continued weaving her fingers through Hilde's short hair. The younger girl was sitting nervously in front of her and only gave Relena a very weak smile that Catherine couldn't see. The blonde cast her friend a sympathetic look and sighed. How ever much Relena was adapting and accepting the life with the Resh-ta'ne, Hilde was rejecting it and letting herself be led around like a pack animal.

It distressed Relena to see her best friend like that. She had become close to Heero - in a companionable way - but hardly knew the others they traveled with, only knowing five by name. Hilde knew the same that Relena did, but was completely homesick - at least that was what the blonde had gathered from their few conversations. Even the younger children were adapting better than the short haired girl.

"Have a seat, Relena," Catherine told her, not looking up from her work on the other girl's shorter hair. "Once I'm done with Hilde I'll do your hair. Quatre said to get you two ready for when we enter the village."

The blonde nodded in understanding and took a seat on a plush stack of furs nearby, watching what Catherine was doing. She was shocked to see that the woman was actually braiding Hilde's very short hair. Somehow her deft fingers were tightly winding the girl's dark hair in two individual rows on either side of her head. And it was staying!

She wondered what `getting them ready' included.

"How are you doing that?" she asked Catherine, curiously as she watched the redheaded woman braid. Her ice blue eyes glanced up from her work for a moment to study her and the woman smiled.

"I'll teach you. Come look," nodding with her head for Relena to come stand next to her behind Hilde and explained, "Hilde's hair is just long enough to use a six-strand plait. Watch my fingers."

Relena looked at the taller woman's face for a moment before turning to watch her weave the dark strands of hair together with practiced ease.

Catherine began speaking again, "Unlike many native cultures, the Resh'ta-ne don't have a tradition when it comes to hair length. As I'm sure you've noticed. My harana - my niece - has hair about the same length as this," she said, gesturing to Hilde. "And my jehana - my mother - used to braid my hair this way when I was a child."

Relena thought about her own mother and how she used to sit with her when she was little and brush her hair in the evenings when her father would be in the parlor talking with his colleagues. She remembered the loving peaceful feeling that she got from those moments and a part of her became homesick at the memory. But those days were over, she didn't know if she'd ever see her family again or what would happen in the course of this war-to-come. Who would die? Where would she and the other captives be at the end?

Guess she had to wait and see.

^*^

The next morning found them traveling though the forest again, only this time Relena was seated behind Heero, her head against his back. They had packed up camp and set out far earlier than usual, when the sky was still heavy with stars and the moon only just starting to descend behind the trees. When Catherine had come to her with a heavy basket, Relena had been far too weary to ask when they gently placed Eli inside in a face-down position and secured him with the leather case. She didn't complain when the lady Resh'ta-ne helped her settle it on her back so it was comfortable and assist her into place behind Heero on his black stallion.

Even fully clothed as she was, the cool morning air chilled her and she found herself leaning against Heero's bare warm back, whom the cold didn't seem to bother. Eli was snuggly bundled in the basket on her back and still sleeping, small, even puffs of warm air on her bare neck let her know he was alright. Heero, as usual, didn't speak much but she was too busy trying to stay awake to really start up a conversation. He didn't seem to mind that she was kind of invading his personal space, but she found over the past couple weeks that he was a very observant person and usually knew what someone was going to do before they themselves realized it.

Stifling a yawn, Relena pushed a stray strand of golden hair away from her face, tucking it back from where it had escaped the braid that hung over her shoulder. Catherine had taken no time to start braiding her hair in this fashion last night, just started combing her hair out with her long fingers taking less then a couple minutes to braid across the back of her head from above one ear to below the other. She had to admit, it felt weird to have her hair pulled away from the back of her neck, as she had come accustomed to over the past several days.

Their trip lasted late into the night, another oddity in their routine that caught her attention, but while it was again dark and the sky riddled with stars, the group continued on through the dense forest. Relena found herself - again - using Heero as a warmer, for the nights this far north were just as cold as the mornings and she was tired and stiff from their constant travel over the day.

They had only stopped to eat once a little after midday, though she had fed Eli once before when he woke up, passing back a strip of preserved meat for him to chew on, but she was starting to become hungry again. So it was a relief to her when they stopped, their entire group coming into the same clearing of dappled moonlight, facing a great heavy rock face.

She'd learned from experience not to ask what was going on until the silence was broken by someone else, which was usually Duo. So she stayed in silence, her eyes darting around the clearing, waiting for something unknown to jump out of the shadows and attack. Nothing happened. Everyone was silent and the only sounds were the shifting of the horses and the breathing of her companions. A pale figure passed eerily on her right side and at a second look she recognized Quatre and his pale gelding moving ahead of them. She watched over Heero's shoulder as the blonde Resh'ta-ne produced two loud sounds that almost sounded like bird-calls. A moment later it was answered with a different tone and figures appeared out of the shadows around them.

Relena watched as the figures spoke with Quatre for a moment before they vanished into the shadows again and the mounted teen turned to wave back at the group. Heero tapped her hands and she released his waist as he dismounted, giving her a look that plainly said "stay." She noticed the other braves were also dismounting and leading their horses toward the rock wall one by one. Heero followed, Zero walking along side without any encouragement.

She sat quietly, confused as those rider-less horses ahead of her disappeared into the blackness of the shadows without a trace. Heero led them after, pushing through a veil of vines and into a narrow passageway, only big enough for one horse to walk comfortably. It became unspeakably dark after the little light from the moon was blocked out by the vines and Relena ducked down closer to Zero's neck, which she couldn't see in the darkness. If she couldn't hear the heavy sounds of hoof beats or feel the rippling muscles beneath her, she would have thought everything around her had disappeared.

It seemed like forever until she saw a glint of light ahead of them and shadows passing before it, making it wink out and reappear as they got closer. She saw shadows of men and horses pass the light and round a corner and they soon followed, the tunnel they were in becoming increasingly lighter with red tinted relief, the jagged stone planed smooth and carvings etched into its surface. Relena watched in fascination as they passed by the painted rock face and stared in wonder when they turned the corner and broke into the light.

She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the change and could only look around her in amazement when everything came into focus. It was a gigantic cavern, stairs and buildings carved out of the heavy stone. The center enclosure they had just entered looked like a courtyard to some primal castle, trees and bushes grew around the base of the rock walls. Looking up, gaped at the dome shaped roof that towered over them.

People started to appear out of the openings in the rock, peeking their heads out of high windows above them or running out of doorways to join the traveling group. A girl with black pigtails caught her attention as she threw herself at the startled Wufei. The brave seemed taken aback, but easily relaxed in her arms, placing a kiss onto her forehead. A little redheaded girl jumped up into Trowa's arms, hugging him around the neck just as Catherine embraced a redheaded man and a blonde woman.

A blonde man approached her and Heero; coming up to the brave and clasping arms with him in a friendly greeting. For the first time in the couple of weeks that she'd come to know him, Heero cracked a smile. Though not nearly as big as Duo's grin, it was sincere and happy.

Looking around her again, Relena saw happy families and friends being reunited. She wondered if she'd ever see hers again.

^*^