Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Dragon's Prince ❯ Chapter 3

[Chapter Three]

Morning was too slow to arrive for Wufei's tastes, but he woke none the less an hour before sunrise and set to dressing for his usual practice before breakfast. After throwing on a purple vest and another pair of white-silk trousers, he tied his hair back and slid his sword in his belt decisively. The trick of it was to sneak away and get past the library before-

"Chang Wufei, where were you going?" Wufei gulped as his friend and English tutor thwarted his escape and glared him into submission, an act Wufei would permit of no one else. Zechs harrumphed and reached out to close his hand over Wufei's wrist, then gently led him back to his sleeping apartments. "I hadn't planned for such a wake-up, but perhaps you and I could pass this time together as opposed to my having to chase you from the combat grounds for meals."

"I would find that most pleasing," Wufei said with a small smile. "I doubt it would show up well for us if you came to fetch me in your nightshirt in broad daylight."

"Nor would benefit your reputation if I was to ground you in front of the entire palace!" Thoroughly rebuked, the Dragon began to bow his head. Zechs stopped him and smirked, signifying all was forgiven. "Oh come, I'm grouchy from lack of sleep and of breakfast. Not to mention my nerves are frayed with anticipation brought about by the tournaments. Surely you suffer from the same, ne?"

Wufei nodded and took a seat in Zechs's horsehair chair, gazing out the window it was situated beside. "My friend… may I ask you something?"

Zechs paused, recognizing that particular tone of voice. Something was troubling Wufei, and whatever it was, it was significant if he was asking advice. Throwing on his breeches, the blonde removed his nightshirt and knelt beside Wufei's chair, his expression much like a young boy eager to hear a story at his papa's knee. "What is it you wish to know, Wufei?"

The Dragon sat back wearily and gazed out the window, a blush creeping into his cheeks as he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. "No one must know, but I had an odd dream last night. I was practicing with my sword when the dream began, and I was in the combat grounds. Suddenly, my blade was stopped. I had no idea who it was, but there was a figure behind me, holding my blade as though it were little more than straw. I turned to say something, but I was stunned."

"Stunned?" echoed Zechs curiously. "How so?"

Wufei squirmed almost ashamedly and lowered his voice to a point that Zechs was straining to hear him. "Eyes. They were so blue, Zechs. I was certain I would drown in them. Such eyes I have never before seen. I was…well…I couldn't possibly say what I was! I know those eyes made me feel warm and welcome, though, and I could scarce blink for fear of sending them away. And then…"

Zechs was bouncing up and down eagerly. "Yes? Yes?"

"The eyes blinked once, and I could have sworn I heard someone…a man…whisper my name. And then the figure disappeared, and the hand holding my blade was transformed into the jaws of a pristine-white dragon with those very blue eyes that haunted me! I…I wasn't scared, though. Yes, I was startled at first, but those eyes… they meant me no harm…" Wufei stopped and glared over to his friend and tutor rather irately. "Something funny?"

Zechs snickered a moment longer and clapped Wufei warmly on the back. "You are smitten with these mystery eyes! I can see it in your face, and hear it in your lofty voice! Could it be Queen Une's own Dragon has been enchanted by a real dragon?!"

"What nonsense! What are you rambling about?!"

"Calm, my friend. I will tell you." Zechs pulled up the footrest to sit on and then cleared his throat, which was a good indicator that what he had to say was worth it. "Dragons here are not heralded as they are where you hail from, Wufei. There is a tale, one of a sorceress and of an unknown noble. The noble was a prince of a far-away land, and one day this prince was lost in the woods, hunting dragons. The noble soon captured one such creature, one with body armor of snow-white and eyes of sapphire. Instead of killing it, he brought it back to his hunting lodge and aimed to keep it as a pet.

"That next morning, the dragon was gone! But in its place was a fair-haired, buxom young woman with silken blonde hair and eyes of a pure blue, much like the eyes in your dream. When the noble asked of his dragon, the woman explained that she herself was a sorceress's apprentice, and had disguised herself in hopes of rescuing the dragons she was at task to defend. The noble fell in love with her, and agreed to ban all dragon hunting provided she marry him. That very night the law was set out, the noble and his bride wedded.

"Years passed, and the couple had many children. Some looked like their mother, while others had adopted their father's looks. Only one child had the ginger hair of his father and the sapphire eyes of his mother, meaning he was a complete balance of both sorcerer and of human. The other children loathed him, for he was the favorite of his parents, and they rebelled.

"Those most resembling their mother had the strongest magical abilities, and they joined together and set off to find the sorceress their mother had studied with. Those most like their father chose more human means to be rid of their brother, and set off to learn of weaponry and mortal warfare. These children failed, and as a result were exiled from the kingdom by their own father. The loathed brother, meanwhile, prospered under the tutelage under his mother and father. He continued to grow into a fine young man, and in time was announced as Heir to the Throne.

"All would have ended peacefully, but it was not meant to be. The children who had fled with their magic found their sorceress grandmother, and under her learned the true abilities of their gifts. One year after the throne was claimed by the favorite son, they struck in a terrible force. The Queen and King were killed in the battle, along with many others, but the son survived and fled. His evil brothers and sisters usurped the throne and argued amongst themselves as to who would hold it, and finally the strongest and cleverest killed his siblings and claimed the kingdom as his own.

"The favorite fled, but his life came at a terrible price. You see, the only reason he had survived his family's attack was because he had transformed himself into a dragon, one strong enough and quick enough to leap from the danger. He swore revenge for his mother and father, and for his lost kingdom, and dwelled deep in the forests until the end of his days. When he was not a fierce dragon, he was human, and mating with every virgin he captured as a dragon. These virgins bore many children, and all had their father's looks and talent.

"Still more years passed, too many to count, and now the story is little more than that. The sorcerer's family has long-since held the throne of the city, and the family of the dragon…well, they have not been heard from. Until now." Zechs grinned and nodded his head matter-of-factly, then clasped Wufei's hand in his own. "You, Wufei, have called him here. Each time a dragon took a mate, they first met them through a dream. Though I'll never know how, you answered him, and now he will come to find you."

Wufei turned a shade of plum and snatched his hand away. "Childish poppycock! No self-respecting dragon would leave the Heavenly Temple to seek some low-life mortal for…for fornication! And no dragon would dare to allow a sorceress to overpower him! You lie! You Western folk lie and claim to know all there is of the noble dragon! I'll hear no more of this!"

Zechs jumped up as Wufei threw himself out of his seat and turned to leave. "Wufei, my friend, please come back. I'll admit, it was a story I heard at my father's knee when I was a youth. I swore no truth to it, and I told it in hopes of entertaining you. Please do not be so angry; I did not mean to offend you. Take satisfaction if you demand it."

"Just leave me to my own, Zechs," was the biting command, followed by a slam of the door.