Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing in the Wild Wild West ❯ Sprites, Ponies and the Road to Civilization ( Chapter 8 )

Gomen! Work has been sucking up my life like some horrible leech and I have not had any time to write! But finally, I have managed to produce a chapter. I think things will start to wind down now a little and I will start to have more free time again. I will try to do better!

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Chapter 8: Sprites, Ponies and the Road to Civilization

“It sure was nice of Speaks-with-the-Wind to let us stay in their lodge,” Quatre said. “It was starting to get cool last night.”

“After the displays of some members of our party,” Treize said, “I think he believes we are all gods traveling incognito, so who better to have staying in the lodge were you commune with spirits?”

Quatre frowned slightly. “That thunderstorm was an accident! Ever since I accidentally called up that storm on Mount Olympus, the stupid things keep appearing whenever I'm feeling vexed.”

“Well, it's getting to be as bad as Wu-Fei here shooting fire across the room whenever he sneezes,” Heero snorted. “You need to learn to control that.”

“I'm working on it,” Quatre grumbled.

“I haven't shot fire at anyone on accident for a long time!” Wu-Fei protested.

“That's a good thing,” Treize noted. “Even though this lodge is their largest dwelling, we're still packed in here like sardines.”

The door flap flopped open and Runs-like-the-Wind stuck his head in. “Are you awake? We're going hunting to get more food for the feast.” A wide grin split his face. “Falls-from-Horse is going too!” He disappeared, leaving the door flap open.

“That means he has to get on his horse,” Duo chuckled. “Let's go watch!” He scrambled to his feet and started picking his way towards the entrance, stepping over, mostly, the closely packed bodies.

“Watch where you're stepping!” Zechs muttered. “We're not all awake yet.”

“You shouldn't have stayed up so late dancing,” said Duo. “Your daughter and I went to bed at a sensible hour.”

“Yeah, Mommy, get up!” Alexa flopped across Zechs' stomach, making him grunt.

“Alexa!” Zechs groaned. “You weigh a ton!”

“I do not!” Alexa sat up, planted her little hands firmly on Zechs' side, and began rolling him back and forth. “Wake up! Wake up! Running-Water said they would make corn cakes with honey for breakfast and then we could go pick cactus berries. Get up!”

“Ugh!” Zechs groaned. “All right! All right! I'm up.” He sat up, scrubbing a hand across his face. “I need a bath.”

“We all do,” Treize agreed, “but unless you favor skinny-dipping in a stream with most of the women in the village probably watching us, it will have to wait.”

“I smell meat,” Roku announced and he bounded out through the door flap.

“Oh boy!” Alexa squealed and she zipped out behind him.

“I thought she was looking forward to honey cakes,” Zechs sighed.

“Our daughter looks forward to food,” Treize remarked, “and she's about as picky as Duo.”

“That's why she will live long and thrive,” Duo said sagely and he departed through the door flap after the kids.

Hadeya stood up. “Father, should you not be looking after Uncle Duo in case men start affronting him again?”

Heero frowned and rolled to his feet. “Yeah,” he growled and glided out with Hadeya on his heels.

Trowa chuckled. “I was about to say the same thing just to bait Heero.”

“But it's funnier when Hadeya says it because he's serious,” Wu-Fei said.

“Come on,” Quatre said. “We're leaving Duo and our kids alone with the food. We'll starve.”

The rest of them filed out through the door flap into bright morning sunlight, where Speaks-with-the-Wind greeted them with a bow.

“Good morning, honored guests. Did you rest well?”

“Very well, thank you,” Trowa replied.

Speaks-with-the-Wind pointed to where a group of men and ponies was assembled. “My son is about to lead a hunting party and they are waiting for my blessing.” He bowed his head to Trowa. “I was hoping you would also say a prayer for their success.”

“I would be glad to,” Trowa answered, also with a slight bow.

They walked over to the hunters and Speaks-with-the-Wind raised his arms. “Mighty hunters!” he cried. “May the wind favor your spears so they fly straight and true!”

Trowa removed his staff from around his chest and straightened it, lifting it up over his head. “May the senses of your pray be dulled!”

“That's not much of a prayer,” Wu-Fei whispered to Quatre.

“Maybe it's the best he can do on short notice,” Quatre whispered back.

“It's very practical, under the circumstances,” Treize interjected in a soft voice.

“But it doesn't sound very spiritual!” Wu-Fei objected.

“They're going hunting, not on a vision quest,” Zechs drawled.

The hunters began mounting their ponies. Suddenly, one pony squealed in surprise and jumped sharply to the side, dumping its unprepared rider unceremoniously into the dust. An explosion of laughter was punctuated by Runs-like-the-Wind's raucous shout.

“What's that, Falls-from-Horse? Living up to your name?”

Falls-from-Horse scrambled to his feet, his face flushed with fury and embarrassment. He grabbed his pony's lead and yanked the animal's head around. Cursing the animal soundly, he pinched its ear before grabbing a handful of mane and attempting to leap onto its back again. The pony squealed again and jumped away. Falls-From-Horse was left dangling with one knee hooked over the creature's back and a handful of mane. He hung there precariously for a second or two and then slowly slid off the side, landing once more in a heap on the ground.

Runs-like-the-Wind doubled over as Falls-From-Horse leaped to his feet and grabbed for his pony again. “Wait, Falls-from-Horse!” he cried. “Give me a moment before you try that again or I may fall off my pony!”

“Shut up!” Falls-from-Horse shouted. “My pony is just made skittish by all these strangers!”

“Just yours?” another man smirked.

“If you can't stay on,” Runs-like-the-Wind gasped through his laughter, “you'll have to stay behind.”

“I can stay on my pony!” Falls-from-Horse screamed, making the aforementioned pony roll its eyes in alarm. Falls-from-Horse leaped onto his pony again, this time landing squarely on the creature's back. But once there, he grabbed a firm fistful of mane before planting his heels into the animal's sides. “Let's go!”

“To the hunt!” Runs-like-the-Wind cried and the hunting party galloped away.

“Let's go get some breakfast,” Quatre reminded them.

They joined the others near the large cooking fires that had been used the night before, where a community breakfast was being produced. One of the women was complaining bitterly as she expertly fried plump corn cakes.

“Those men should not tease my husband so!” she exclaimed angrily. “He is the best hunter in the village!”

“No one questions his skills, Breeze-at-Dawn,” another woman replied soothingly.

“Just his ability to stay on a pony!” Blue-Feather quipped.

“Do you see, Calm-Heart?!” Breeze-at-Dawn complained. “My poor husband is the butt of every joke!”

“She has a point,” Treize murmured.

“But you should not take it to heart, Breeze-at-Dawn,” Calm-Heart replied, well, calmly. “You know your husband's true qualities. Reflect on those when you hear others belittle him. And I will speak to my husband,” she added in a slightly firmer tone.

Duo blanched. He leaned toward Trowa and whispered, “Do not let her calm demeanor fool you! That is one dangerous woman.”

Trowa nodded. “Miss Breeze-at-Dawn,” he said, “although your husband has little trust in us, I would nevertheless be glad to speak to his pony regarding its behavior. Perhaps I can soothe its skittishness.”

Breeze-at-Dawn's eyes went round. “You can speak to animals, Shaman?”

“Yes, I can,” Trowa acknowledged. “But I think you will need to intercede with your husband for me.”

“I will do that!” Breeze-at-Dawn replied immediately, her face brightening. “Perhaps then my husband will lose his distrust of you.”

“So we will all benefit.”

“You are generous to offer of your powers, Shaman,” Speaks-with-the-Wind said. “Such a trivial matter…”

“It's not trivial when it's happening to you,” Trowa answered. “I sympathize with Falls-from-Horse.”

“You notice how Breeze-at-Dawn never refers to her husband by name?” Zechs murmured to Treize.

“It is an embarrassing name,” Treize murmured back.

When breakfast was over and the women had cleaned up, Running-Water approached the group.

“Who would like to pick cactus berries with us?”

“Me!” Alexa squealed. She popped to her feet with one arm stuck in the air. “I would like to go!”

“Me, too!” Roku stood up on his hind legs and waggled his paws in the air.

Running-Water laughed. “All right, you two! Anyone else?”

“I'll go,” Wu-Fei said.

“I would like to go as well,” Hadeya added shyly. “I am curious to learn what cactus berries are.”

“Very good eating!” Running-Water said with a grin. “That's what they are. But you are all more than welcome. The more hands we have, the more we can bring back. I'll get extra skins to carry them in.”

While she and Calm-Heart went to find the carry-bags, Duo eyed Quatre speculatively.

“You're not going to object to the kids going off by themselves into unknown country?” he inquired innocently.

“We just walked though it! It's perfectly safe.”

“That's true,” Trowa agreed absently. “I only heard a few rattlesnakes and scorpions on the way here.”

“You heard what?!” Zechs suddenly sat up straight.

“Oh! Um…” Trowa stammered. “I'm sure it was only one or maybe two…”

“One or maybe two what?” Zechs demanded. “You never said anything about there being poisonous animals under our feet while we were out there!”

“Suck it up, Zechs!” Heero growled. “You're a Gundam pilot for crying out loud. Rattlesnakes aren't that poisonous. So you experience a little swelling. Big deal.”

“And many scorpion species aren't particularly poisonous at all,” Wu-Fei added helpfully.

“Being bitten or stung by something is not the best way to determine if one has a tolerance for the venom,” Zechs stated. He glared at Trowa. “So I want details, please.”

Trowa grinned sheepishly. “I wasn't really counting them or anything. I just overheard a few rattlesnakes discussing us as we went by and there were a couple of scorpions who complained that we almost stepped on them. That was all.”

“We almost stepped on scorpions?!”

“Just the one time.”

“Maybe you didn't want the details,” Treize suggested gently.

Zechs rounded on him. “Have you forgotten what happened on that exercise that time?”

“But this is a different continent!” Treize objected. “They don't have any of those here.”

“Try telling me that when a doctor has to pull out something sharp and spiny that's crawled up into your…”

“Yes! I remember!” Treize interrupted loudly.

“But not before the thing's bitten you in the…”

“Those are details I'm sure no one needs!”

“And then it swells up on you…”

“That's enough, Zechs!”

Zechs subsided, grumbling darkly to himself.

“There should be nothing to worry about, Zechs,” Quatre said. “Roku's in tiger form, so I'm sure nothing dangerous, even a small thing like a scorpion, will take them unawares.”

“Won't Roku have to change to human form to pick berries?” Zechs said acidly.

“Um… well…”

“I'll still hear the scorpions, Uncle Zechs. But if it will make you feel better, I'll put a stay away spell around us to keep them away.”

Zechs smiled magnificently at Roku. “Thank you, Roku. That does make me feel better.” He turned an arch glare on Treize. “And I am not being silly. You didn't see the size of the thing the doctor pulled out of my…”

“But I heard about it!” Treize interrupted quickly. He shifted closer to Zechs and put his lips next to Zechs' ear. “Tell you what. Since this has brought back bad memories for you, next time we're alone, I'll lick that place until you can't remember anything but my tongue being there. How's that?”

Zechs' eyes softened. “Oh! I think…” He licked his lips slowly. “I think that would definitely help me forget.”

Wu-Fei leaned toward Duo. “Ok, now I want to know what they're talking about. You know, don't you?”

Duo's cheeks were rather flushed. “Ain't sayin'!” he said breathlessly.

Wu-Fei edged closer and lowered his voice. “I know all your weaknesses, Duo Maxwell. I'll just start exploiting them until you tell me.” He lifted his eyebrows at Duo. “After all, I can still indulge one of your favorite pastimes.”

Duo gasped. “You keep those naughty thoughts inside your own head, Chang Wu-Fei!”

Fortunately for Duo, Running-Water and Calm-Heart returned at that moment.

“Here we go,” Running-Water exclaimed brightly. She passed out the hide bags with laced sides. “This should be enough. Everyone ready?”

“Yes, ma'am!” Alexa and Roku cried in unison.

Wu-Fei patted Duo's hand. “We'll take this up later,” he promised. Then he, Alexa, Roku and Hadeya left the village in the company of Running-Water, Blue-Feather, Calm-Heart and a few other women.

They had only been gone moments when Duo suddenly yelped.

“What's the matter?” Heero demanded instantly.

“Something kicked me!” Duo exclaimed. He yelped again. “There it is again!”

Quatre and Zechs both rolled there eyes.

“Good lord, Duo!” Quatre exclaimed. “Can you get any more dense? It's the baby. They do that, you know.”

“She probably would prefer you didn't jam so much food down there that she can't move around,” Zechs added. “Eating for two is more of a saying than a practice, you know.”

Duo squirmed. “Well, how long does this go on? Her aim is too damn good. I've got kidneys and stuff in that spot she's river dancing on.”

“Welcome to the joys of pregnancy!” Quatre said wickedly. “And after this there's the delivery. Does anyone else remember someone saying he thought he'd come through that with flying colors?”

“I do.” Trowa held up his hand and blinked innocently at Duo.

“You want me to suffer!” Duo pouted.

“Maybe just a little.”

“That's so mean!” Duo's lip quivered. He turned to Heero. “They're picking on me, hubby. Beat them up.”

Heero frowned. “Don't call me hubby.”

“Will you beat them up if I promise not to?”

“No.”

Duo stuck his lower lip out. “Fine! I'm going to go flirt with other men.” He pushed to his feet and waddled away.

“Is it just me or has Duo gotten a lot fatter recently?” Treize asked.

“I think you're right,” Quatre agreed. “The baby probably went through a growth spurt.”

“How much longer do you think it will be before the baby arrives?”

“Hard to say,” Quatre mused. “The pregnancy acceleration is a little indeterminate. I don't think he'll give birth in the next few weeks, but if the baby has another growth spurt, it could probably happen any time after that.”

“And how soon after that will he turn back into a guy?” Heero demanded. “Duo is easier to take as a guy.” He looked to where Duo was chatting up a pair of gangling youths who were trying very hard to look more mature. “Geez!” he muttered and rose to his feet. “He's such an idiot!” Heero marched off purposefully to interrupt Duo's fun.

“He is so over-protective!” Quatre laughed.

“Yeah, no one else in this group has ever acted like that,” Trowa said with a straight face.

Quatre stopped in mid-chuckle. “I am not amused,” he said haughtily.

Speaks-with-the-Wind appeared in the company of the other two elders.

“Shaman,” Speaks-with-the-Wind addressed himself to Trowa, “we were hoping you might wish to join us for a spirit-walk in the lodge. Since you are so attuned to the spirits, we thought your presence might be helpful.”

“A spirit-walk?”

“Yes. We will smoke cactus weed and seek guidance from the unseen world around us.”

“I remember cadets doing that back at the academy,” Treize whispered to Zechs, “but I don't think they called it a spirit-walk.”

“And the weed they were smoking didn't come from a cactus,” Zechs whispered back.

“Hush!” Quatre murmured.

Trowa inclined his head. “I am honored by your invitation. I will be glad to join you.” He left with the elders and entered the lodge.

Quatre looked around. “I think I'm going to drift away from the village and go scout around. I'll look for the next train stop. I should be back by sundown.”

Treize and Zechs watched him walk away.

“Well now,” Treize murmured into Zechs' ear. “If we weren't surrounded by people, I would suggest something completely indecent right now.”

Zechs smiled. “Suggest away. Maybe one of the women will offer us the use of her teepee so that our good luck will rub off on her blankets and enhance her fertility.”

Treize's eyes sparkled. “I hadn't thought of that. There are some women over there. Let's go drop some hints.” He looped his arm around Zechs' waist and led him toward the group.

In the end, they were forced, to phrase it delicately, to service several women's teepees, because a number of women were hoping to become pregnant. Sunset found Treize and Zechs slumped near the cooking fires, utterly exhausted but really satisfied.

Quatre found them there when he returned, rubbing his shoulders tiredly. “Man, flying is hard work,” he complained.

“Did you find anything?”

“Yeah. I followed the tracks to the next town. It's probably three or four days walk from here, but if we can convince the natives to take us part way on their ponies, we could probably get there in a couple of days. Where's Trowa?”

“Still in the lodge, I think,” Zechs replied.

“He's been smoking weed all day?!”

“Well, to be honest, we don't know,” Treize admitted. “We've been kind of busy.”

“Doing what?”

“Well…” Treize flushed slightly.

“Helping plan for the future of the village,” Zechs said.

“Huh?”

“Never mind.”

“So where are the kids?”

“Oh… uh…” Treize looked around quickly. “Over there!” He pointed, trying to make it look like he had known all along.

Quatre looked where he was pointing. The village was situated near a natural spring and the party which had gone berry picking was clustered nearby, carefully cleaning and washing the berries.

“Oh look!” someone called out. “The hunters are back!”

Everyone hurried to meet them, calling out greetings and asking about their luck.

“Our luck was good!” Runs-like-the-Wind announced proudly. “We brought down three buffalo. Tonight we eat well.”

The hunters had cleaned the carcasses in the field, so the hides were turned over to the women so they could be stretched and prepared for curing. Bones were set aside to dry so they could be made into tools. Some of the meat was put into the smoking ovens and the rest was spitted for roasting. Dinner preparations were in full swing when the elders and Trowa finally emerged from the lodge.

Trowa looked green. He tottered unsteadily up to Quatre and leaned heavily on his shoulder. “Don't ever let me do that again!” he groaned.

“Did you have visions?”

“First tell me what the difference is between visions and hallucinations.” Trowa hung his head. “I'm going to be sick.”

Roku padded over and touched Trowa's hand with his nose. “You smell really funny, Papa Trowa.”

“Can you make Papa Trowa feel better, Roku?” Quatre asked.

“Sure.” Roku whispered something in Latin and licked Trowa's hand.

Trowa immediately perked up. “I say! That's incredible!” He patted Roku's head. “Thank you. That's much better.”

“I found a town today,” Quatre reported. “We should ask the natives if they'll give us a ride part way there tomorrow.”

“But they're having three days of feasting in our honor!” Trowa protested.

“They'll be happier having the last day to celebrate the memory of our visit,” Quatre said. Then he lowered his voice. “Besides, I want to get Duo out of here before he gets any more pregnant. Someone's bound to notice.”

“Good point. I'll ask Runs-like-the-Wind after dinner. I'm sure he'll say yes.”

“But don't forget you promised to speak to Mr. Falls-from-Horse's pony,” Roku said gravely.

“I won't.” Trowa looked around and sighed. “But I should probably speak to all the ponies,” he added. “I see sprites everywhere. Having a spirit-walk with Heero in the village was probably a bad idea. Half these people are going to end up marked. I sure hope the decline in Native American civilization wasn't somehow our fault.”