Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Reluctant Companion ❯ Chapter 11

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Milliardo spent the rest of the morning filling out the forms while Wufei treated the
assortment of wounds, injuries and illnesses they detailed.

Wufei washed his hands between each patient, a thing no other doctor or healer
bothered with. Milliardo listened to the midwife grumble about all the hot water needed
and How'm I supposed to haul water, hand him stuff, change the linens and all the
other things he expects.'

Wufei came down the stairs just then. "Well, woman, if you can't do the job tell me and
I'll deal. If all you can do is complain, maybe I should bring someone from the keep to
help me. Now, I require hot water, not a hot tongue."

Milliardo winced. He'd never seen Wufei like this. The midwife just bristled up and
snapped, "Best get that poker out of your butt. I'm runnin' out of me. Get that big gowk
of yours to haul me some water."

Wufei just nodded to Milliardo. "Need a yoke?"

Milliardo rejected this offer with the scorn it deserved and went to haul water, leaving
Wufei and the midwife to enjoy their sniping in peace. He'd quickly realized that the
midwife and Wufei were kindred souls and were only amusing themselves with their
quarreling

He hunted around until he found buckets like the ones he used at the keep and headed
for the well.

.

The well was at the center of the village with the smithy on the other side and the
humble inn next to it. There were a few scattered houses and out buildings. Milliardo
realized quickly that this wasn't the main village but a smaller one where relatives of
keep personnel lived. He set his buckets down and started filling them. No one paid him
much attention until he picked up the buckets. Then he heard several comments.

"Lordy, look at at man. Them buckets is two measures."

"Oh, my dear. He'll strain something. Master Chang will not be pleased."

And more in the same vein. Milliardo ignored them all and carried the buckets to the
clinic. He eased in the side door into the kitchen area, which was more or less intact
and poured the water into the tun. He returned to the well and refilled the buckets,
ignoring the small crowd that had gathered.

He made several more trips, filling the tun and the two kettles, then put the buckets
were they would be easy to get to. He had a feeling that he'd be hauling a lot of water in
the next weeks. Wufei was a terror for washing things. Milliardo stretched his back and
went to find Wufei.

.

"Master, I've hauled the water. Now what?"

Wufei looked up from the notes he was writing. "Lunch. At the inn. Just let me finish
this."

Milliardo leaned against the wall and waited. He propped his shoulder against the wall,
crossed his arms over his chest and one ankle over the other. Wufei smiled at him and
nodded. "I won't be but a minute. Why don't you start for the inn?"

"Because a slave without a pass, wandering around a strange village isn't a good idea."

Wufei looked up sharply but Milliardo offered him such a bland look that he went back
to his notes without comment.

After a few moments more Wufei rolled the scroll up and tucked it into a tube. He rose,
stretched and poked Milliardo in the ribs. Milliardo yelped, laughed and followed him
down the stairs.

They walked to the inn and entered. Milliardo expected someone to object to his
presence but he only got a few curious glances and a whisper or two.

Wufei led the way to a small table and settled with his back to the wall. Milliardo eased
around until he was in the side chair also with his back to a wall. He glanced at Wufei
who just gazed back with a slightly amused air.

The inn keeper came over with the offer of the ever available stew or roast chicken
stuffed with herbs. Wufei decided on the chicken, cheese and hard cider. When the inn
keeper glanced at Milliardo, he realized with a small start that he was waiting for him to
order. Milliardo glanced at Wufei who just said, Order what you want.' Milliardo decided
on chicken too. He was really tired of stew, no matter how good.

The inn keeper went away to get their food, leaving them at the mercy of an older
woman who just walked up, crossed her arms under her breasts, and waited to be
noticed. Wufei looked at her for a moment then sighed.

"Yes? May I help you?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no. You know that it's not good for a human to carry two, two
measure buckets, even with a yoke, don't you?"

Wufei gazed at her for a moment. "Depends on the person, but as a general rule no, it's
not. So?"

"Well, that young fella there. He did, an' made enough trips to fill that tun you got. Tell
me it's good for him an' I'll call ya a liar straight to your face."

Wufei turned his head to look at Milliardo. "That true?"

"Yes. I found the buckets in the shed. They're the same size I used at the keep until I
fixed the cistern and pump."

Wufei grumbled under his breath for a moment. "That was for punishment. Ai-ya! Fool.
You'll ruin your back. Next time, ask for a normal bucket."

Milliardo pinned Wufei with an indignant look. "And how am I supposed to know things
like that? Now, tell the nice lady that I won't hurt myself so she can go back to her meal
with a peaceful mind."

Wufei started to, but the old woman just nodded to them, grunted, silly boys' and went
back to her food.

While they were eating, Wufei scolded Milliardo sternly for taking such a chance on
hurting himself. When he was done, Milliardo was proud of himself for only remarking
mildly. "And I'm supposed to know that using buckets that large is a punishment
because I've hauled so much water in my life."

Wufei just gave him a firm glare and said, "From now on I'll be sure to let you know
when it's a punishment and when it's a chore. Idiot" but the last was said in a fond tone
of voice that made Milliardo feel strangely warm.


"Very well, I'm an idiot. Speaks to my training doesn't it?"

Wufei growled at Milliardo then handed him the chest. "Or lack thereof. Come along.
We need to head back now, it gets dark earlier here than you'd expect."

Milliardo accepted the box and hefted it to one shoulder. "Are there bandits around?"

Wufei shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of, but it pays to be careful. You never
know."

"No, you don't, do you?" Milliardo had to suppress the image of Duo, his back turned to
a supposed friend. A friend with a morning star in his hand, he was more and more
aware of exactly how stupid he'd been. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything. I don't guarantee to answer."

"If I had gone to Duo with my ... case? Request? ... Whatever, do you think he would
have done anything for me? Or with me. Or something."

Wufei waited for a moment to see if Milliardo was done then answered carefully. "I think
that he would surely have helped you. Maybe given you an advisor to help you get your
domain in heart. Or given you a real duty of one kind or another. I think your real
problem was that all your duties were busywork and your titles empty. You had duties
that were only meant to keep you out of trouble or the pubic eye. I'm not sure which.
But they were all empty and you knew it. Battle King of Sanque! What a crock. Insulting.
Duke of Melnabia. Where's that?"

Milliardo sighed. "Up in the mountains, little place. Not worth much, no industry, poor
ground, that sort of thing. Relena made me an allowance from the privy purse. An
allowance!"

Wufei nodded. "Exactly. It's no wonder you kicked over the traces. Just, did you have to
do it so spectacularly? And drag Duo into it?"

Milliardo shuddered. "When I said take care of him, I really had no idea what they might
do. I just wanted the mess to go away. I'm so stupid. So naive. I'm supposed to be a
warrior, but ... and a general on top of that. My staff was good, so I was well taught the
theories of strategy and tactics, I just applied them wrong. I really can't believe that my
entire staff ... squealed on me like that. Loyalty?" Milliardo sighed. "Although I'm sure I
inspired it so well."

Wufei snorted softly, then allowed. "You may be a bit spoiled and naive but you're not
stupid. You're learning quickly and you will be a good person if you only try."

"I'm trying, I swear I am. But I have to say that the only examples I have don't seem
very good."

"Who?"

Milliardo thought as they walked alone the narrow path. "Well, my first knight. He was a,
I suppose you'd call it, a back stabber. Nothing was ever his fault. He could shift blame
for almost anything. And my council, they ... I'd really rather not even contemplate it. As
for my staff. Their advice is why I'm in the mess I'm in now. So role models? I don't
think so."

Wufei nodded wisely. "Exactly. Examples of what not to do. Not as good as examples
of what to do but better than being in a limbo. Think about it."

Milliardo did and finally allowed that he understood what Wufei was saying.
They talked more and Milliardo firmed his resolve to make something of his life,
something he could be proud of. Even if it was only as a companion to an exiled prince.

They passed under a low hanging tree then crossed the little stream. The clearing they
entered was hidden from nearly every angle. The men who jumped them weren't local
or they would have known better.

Milliardo set the medicine chest down slowly, just as the rough, dirty villain ordered him
to do. Wufei shifted into an easy stance that also allowed Milliardo more room. When
the same man announced that they were taking the slave too, Wufei had to stop
himself from laughing out loud.

Milliardo eased even farther from Wufei. He'd never seen his master fight but he knew
Wufei was good. After all he'd dumped Milliardo on his butt in moments. Very good, at
least he hoped so, because he'd just counted the pack of dirty thieves. There were
eight of them. He braced himself then walked toward the man who'd demanded he
bring the box and come to him.

This brought all eyes to him and a command to go back and get the box. He ignored
that and kept walking, faster and faster, until he was nearly running. He hit the big
leader head on and flattened him with one punch. He just kept going, right into the next
man. He didn't last long either. A quick kick to the knee put him out of action for several
months at least. Wufei let Milliardo's actions hide his for the short length of time it took
him to set up. He took out the man that had the knife and the man next to him with one
round house kick. Then things got really interesting. Wufei grabbed one man by the arm
and swung him around. He realized that Milliardo was doing the same thing with
another of the bandits and he managed to make his man run into Milliardo's. The
resounding thunk was most satisfactory. The other four ran away.

Milliardo turned to congratulate Wufei on their success and found that they hadn't been
as successful as he'd thought. Wufei was bleeding.

It wasn't bad, just a deep scratch across the top of his shoulder, but it was bleeding.
Milliardo rushed to Wufei.

"It's not bad. Get the box and bring it here."

Milliardo didn't argue, he just brought the box and opened it for Wufei.
Wufei partially unbuttoned his tunic and let it fall to his waist. The shoulder was cut and
bloodied. Wufei was also cut and bloodied.

Milliardo knelt beside Wufei and handed him things from the box. A jar of salve, a roll of
bandages and a bit of sticky plaster. Wufei smeared the salve on the cut, missing
nearly half of it.

"Oh, hell. I'm no physician but even I know that you can't half do that. Let me. Just tell
me what to do."

Wufei gave Milliardo instructions on what to do and held still while he did it. When
Milliardo used the bit of plaster to stick the bandage end down Wufei sighed.

"I'll just sit here for a moment then we'll get back to the keep and notify the captain of
the guard."

Milliardo put the bag over his shoulder, crouched down and got the chest set to suit
him. He picked Wufei up and sat him on the chest. "Sit there. I think I can manage this
if you lean back on my chest."

Wufei started to protest that Milliardo couldn't possibly carry both him and the chest
then decided that Milliardo deserved the chance to at least try. Milliardo squatted and
picked up the chest.

"Think I can manage at least to the gate. Sit still."

Wufei concentrated on not disturbing the balance of the chest, so as not to put more
weight on one of Milliardo's arms than the other. Milliardo strode through the deepening
twilight with grim determination. Wufei needed to be out of the damp of the evening and
into a warm bed as soon as possible.

He didn't make it all the way to the gate, he wore out about forty feet from it, but that
was well within shouting distance. Wufei startled slightly when Milliardo demonstrated
his drill yard bellow.

"Haaallllooooow, the gate. Wounded here. Bring a shutter."

Milliardo's yell brought several guardsmen at a quick trot, one of them carrying a
stretcher. They quickly got a mildly protesting Wufei onto it and started for the
apothecary. Milliardo reached for the box but found that another of the guards had
picked it up. He was grateful for that as the strain on his arms had made them feel like
they were going to fall off.

He followed the men carrying Wufei and entered the apothecary right behind them.
They went on up the stairs, eased the shutter onto the bed then milled around trying to
decide what to do next.

Wufei took the problem out of their hands and dismissed them after shifting himself
from the shutter to the bed. He thanked them, told them to go back to their duties but
asked that one of them send the captain of the guards to him. One of the men pulled
his forelock and said that he'd be glad to.

Milliardo helped Wufei take off his bloodied clothing and set it aside with a regretful
look.

"What's the matter? I'm fine, just a little cold from blood loss. And shaky, I'll admit."

Milliardo crawled into the bed with Wufei and pulled him against his larger, warm body.
"Just a bit sad over that tunic. Stupid, I'll admit, but it looked so good on you. And it's
silk from Chin. Very expensive."

Wufei unashamedly snuggled into Milliardo. "Don't be sad. The seamstress is very
good. She'll mend and wash it and you'll never know it was ever such a mess. If you
would put it in a bucket of cold water to soak over night that would help a great deal."
Milliardo started to get up but Wufei tugged him back. "Not just now. In a little, when the
captain of the guard comes."

But the captain was wiser than to go bother Wufei until in the morning. He sent out a
patrol to follow Milliardo's tracks back to the attack site. The patrol found the scuffed up
area and followed the tracks to get a general idea of where the bandits were going.