Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Shadows Of Reality ❯ Chapter 1

Shadows Of Reality

Hunter, skilled weapons expert, top fighter hand to hand combat, feared in both realms and well known in seven of the nine kingdoms, Heero Yuy sat aloft a tree in one of her massive branches, hidden by the dark green blanket of leaves. Currently he was taking a break from the fighting in one realm, earth and her colonies, to relax and perhaps ply some business in the 4th kingdom of the Forgotten Realm. He planned to take several months here, and since time passed by a different interval, only a few days, a week at the most, would pass on earth. So, what he needed to do right now was find some form of work, for most of his monies were Earthian, and while it was accepted some, it carried on it less value than gold or silver rubits.

A movement below and to the left caught his eye and thinking some animal might be below, a deer perchance, or some smaller creature, Heero lifted his bow and readied an arrow, both of which had been sitting across his lap before now.

Another movement of brush, then a soft sigh and Heero caught sight of something. It was humanoid, so there would be no food from it, but it might show itself to be an enemy; Heero kept the bow at ready. The person broke through the trees and stepped onto a narrow path sprinkled with sunlight. It was a young boy, close to his own age, Heero guessed, so that would place him near his 16th passing. Heero dropped on silent, moccasin-clad feet several paces behind the boy, who was studying a map intently, oblivious to his surroundings. He pulled the small leather satchel strapped to his back around and dropped the map in; secured the flap, let it swing around again.

"Are you lost?" Heero asked in the merchants' common tongue, something that felt foreign to him after so long, but he figured would be known by the other.

The boy looked upward, the sunlight catching the red in his brown hair. Hair that Heero saw now to be tightly woven into a rope that hung down to his midback. "No sir, I'm not," the boy answered back in the common tongue. Heero caught the slight accent that nipped lightly at the edges of his words and thought it sounded of Earth origin. It didn't seem likely though.

Before he could speak the boy turned to face him, revealing wide eyes of violet, the expression kin to that of a young doe, and an exquisite heart-shaped face. The hair half covered the ears, and judging by the style it was held back that was deliberate. The features had a certain quality to them that reminded Heero of the 2nd kingdom, the Greenleaf Empire.

The Greenleaf Empire had once been where the elves had chosen to stay for the majority, nearly 400 years ago. Since that time both war and disease had driven that race into practical extinction, living on only in the ancestry of those living there presently. Although there were myths in those parts, referring to powerful full-blooded elves, great shape-shifters and magic wielders, that lived deep in the forests hidden away from the rest of the world, forced to stay there by magic means. It was doubtful.

"You've been to Earth." It wasn't a question and it was asked in English, one of the few main languages spoken there.

The boy's wide eyes blinked, then his head titled to one side, a wide smile creeping onto his features. Heero noted then that the boy wore trousers of dark brown, a long-sleeved tunic like his green shirt, both to match the woods around him, and while his clothes were not tight, they were not too loose to see he was virtually unarmed. Most certainly there would be a dagger in the mud colored boots, but no real weapon.

"Yes, a year ago I spent a few years there." Heero quickly calculated what that translated to earthwise using a week for two months, the common, accepted, and almost entirely accurate calculation. He had been away from the earth for roughly a month and a half.

The boy's eyes were studying him with interest as he folded his slender arms, another elfin attribute, over his chest. With an uncertain step back, which served to rock him backward, he spoke. "You're, uh, hunter, tracker? Something of that nature?"

Heero nodded, hands coming to rest casually on his belt where two short swords rested within easy reach. Tucked away in his clothing there was a gun from earth, a small model, but an effective weapon when in places guns are scarce and little known.

"Can I inquire a name? I, myself, had been headed towards the nearest town to find myself an escort. Certain places it is best to be accompanied when travelling through."

Heero agreed completely, plus saw the chance to make the money he had needed to move through the kingdoms. The proposition itself was interesting, and he saw it for the not so obvious proposition it was. "Heero Yuy," Heero answered, watching carefully for a reaction.

The boy's lips parted slightly, as if tasting the air, then inquired curiously. "The Heero Yuy, from the Scarlet Blade Empire?"

Heero nodded, moss green hair falling forward and threatening to obscure the view around him. "I've been known if the price is right to escort and guard," he suggested, seeing money in the fine cut of the clothes and the soft features.

The boy's hands fell to his sides casually and the boy studied Heero, Heero recognizing the appraising flint hardening their surface. "You're reputation is far reaching, Heero Yuy. Are you really as good as they say?"

Feeling no need to answer Heero simply caressed the hilt of his short swords with his callused fingers.

"Something tells me you're the one," he murmured. "That you'll be the one to help me through and be willing to aid me. I would pay you well, of course, 13 gold rubits a day, however…"

There was a slight faltering in speech and he let his arms rest folded across his chest again. "I can't pay until I either reach my final destination or return to my homeland. Would that represent a problem?"
"Yes, it would," Heero said more coldly than he had initially intended.

"15 a day," the boy stated, and Heero saw the need in the amazing violet eyes, unguarded for half a second. It was obvious there was more behind this, and that above all intrigued Heero than the offer.

Reaching out towards the boy's face with a slow hand, overwhelmed with curiosity, Heero found his wrist caught in a tight clamp by a deceivingly fragile looking and thin hand. The eyes had drained of the merriment that had sparkled deep within their depths and now watched with a detached interest. Heero could break the grip, but hesitated in doing so because that would mean breaking the boy's wrist, possibly his arm, and despite his exterior show the 15 gold rubits a day was sounding rather nice, 5 more silver than a normal job would offer. Because of this Heero waited patiently for the grip to relax before lifting his other hand and slowly tucking the hair behind the ears that had just been covered. It was as Heero had suspected; the ears were curved and ended in a slight tip, meaning he had been right all along about the elfin ancestry.

The brief contact he had made with the others creamy skin had sent tingles down his fingers and his arm, drawing forth the powerful demon of lust. Heero backed away, dropping his hand slowly so that it brushed the soft cheek. The boy kept eye contact despite the fact he was obviously worried about Heero's reaction to the elfin blood that ran through his veins.

"There are certain kingdoms you will not be able to cross through unless you hide what you are," Heero pointed out, unneeded he knew.

The boy nodded simply.

"I'm sorry, but if you can't pay me until the end I have no choice to find my work elsewhere, which I have no choice but doing," Heero said, seeing perhaps if it were a ploy to keep his services then disappear without trace once his presence was no longer needed.

Panic seemed to flood the features before the expression was reigned back in and Heero turned his back on the boy and began his slow walk down the path, staying in the cool shadows.

"I can guarantee the pay," the boy called.

"No good. I'd need something more."

Heero picked up the unsteady breathing coming from behind him. Several more steps had been taken before he heard, "An incentive perhaps?"

"Like?"

Silence, all except for the sounds of the wind in the trees and the animals beneath and around, the chatter and call of birds. Finally a soft, sad sigh, "The use of my body at night."

Heero turned and cocked his head to one side, smiling at those words, yet somehow surprised. He took several steps, noting the way the boy worried his lower lip between his teeth, the frantic gleam to his eyes. He was clearly very serious about having the hired mercenary along with him, for reasons Heero couldn't understand, but there was the note of finality in the boy's voice that made it abundantly clear that something inside had told him that Yuy was the only one that would suffice. And Heero Yuy wasn't about to turn down an offer like that.

"With the guaranteed pay at the end?"

The boy nodded.

"I have very little money on me now, though. I can't survive on what I have if this takes too long."

"I will pay for everything along the way, which is why I simply do not have enough to spare for your pay and the reason it will come after."

"When do we leave?"

"Presently."

"To seal the contract," Heero stated, holding out a hand. The boy took the proffered hand with a slightly wistful frown, the touch almost hesitant, and Heero felt a similar lust and desire run through him. It had been too long since he had taken a lover, and would try not to let it go by as quickly again.

"What do I call you?"

"…Duo…Maxwell."

"But that's an Earthian name."

"Yes…it is, and that is the only name you have to call me by."

"All right, Duo…Maxwell," Heero said, pulling the boy forward against him, giving no warning before of this action. Duo reacted immediately, becoming tense and trying to draw away, to which Heero only tightened his grip. "Part of the deal," Heero murmured.

"That's another thing we should get straight," Duo said tensely. "I said at night, and that's what I meant. And night is not dusk in falling, night is when I say we stop and everything is taken care of for the evening, and sleep cannot be neglected."

"Agreed. I'd like a minimum of two hours to make it fair."

"Fine. Now let me go," Duo snapped.

Heero smiled again and covered Duo's mouth with his own, feeling the jaw clench in surprise, but other than that react in no way at all. Heero pulled back slowly to see Duo's suspicious, piercing look.

"You act like you've never been kissed before," Heero remarked idly, releasing the rigid boy.

Duo took an unsteady step back, bringing in an unsteady breath. "That is because I have not. Nor have I ever spent a night with anyone, or had anyone's hands on my body, or felt any form of lover's caress."

The boy turned and began to move down the path, skirting the shadows and staying in the warm sunlight, one hand clenched into a fist at his side. Heero felt quite like an ass for some reason unknown, and this was a feeling all but foreign to him, but knew the unease about having stolen the elfin boy's first kiss would pass by the morning light, considering what he would have taken by then.

A smile twitched onto normally unexpressive lips.