Heir
Ch 13
Trowa POV
AN: I know the last chapter was short, but I like to keep with one POV per chapter, that’s why I’m writing this one so quickly.
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Quatre, Wufei and King Heero are busy today. Heero and Wufei are sparring, as their military training has dictated them to follow a strict regime of training exercises. They do that almost every morning, well, at least they used to until Wufei became a father. Now, whenever they have a chance, you’ll find the two on the sparring field, trying to best the other with their skills.
My Master Quatre is also otherwise entertained. He is most likely in his study trying to better his skills. He has made a habit of burying himself in magical books when he has the chance. Usually, this takes place in the mornings, when the King and his guard are sparring and I’m tending to his gardens.
It’s amazing how we’ve all managed to fall into our little routines in the span of a year. I myself, never imagined being able to leave the monastery again, much less communicate verbally.
I’m making my way inside with a small basketful of herbs I’ve picked for both Quatre and the cook (I guess the cook thinks I’m better at growing spices than she is), and am nearly run over by one of the castle maids.
“Trowa! There you are! You need to come quickly, the animals in the palace are all going berserk!”
“What’s going on?”
“Come along! They’re all in the main garden and surrounding the sparring field. My Lord Heero is about to slaughter them all for all the racket they’re making.”
I don’t need to hear any more and run down the corridors towards the main garden. I wonder what’s going on… being inside Quatre’s green house (the herbs he wants are very fragile indeed) Charlie and the others wouldn’t have been able to contact me.
I skid to a stop as I run to the garden entrance and am surprised to see my king and Wufei looking harried. They both look like they’ve been attacked by a stampede. Their clothes is rather ripped with tiny little claw marks and their hair is completely disheveled.
“What happened?” I find myself asking.
They are both panting from exertion as they turn and face me.
“We were attacked by those… those… BEASTS!” Wufei yells.
Well, that was quite rude.
“Get out there and see if there’s anything you can do about them.” Heero commands.
Well, I can’t very well say ‘no’ to a king, can I?
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I walk out of the castle and into the main garden area. I have to literally cover my ears as I make my way to the center of it. I get there and look around, birds, squirrels, rabbits, you name it, it was there and running around me. I had to be careful not to step on any of them.
“QUIET!” I yell. Surprisingly enough, the all stop their chatter, “Settle down and tell me what’s going on. You all should be ashamed of yourselves ganging up and attacking the KING and his guard.”
The animals all had the decency to look a little sheepish in their own way.
“Anyone care to tell me what happened?”
“We saw the one with the long fur being taken away,” Charlie offered.
“Care to explain?”
“See… I was trying to open a nut this afternoon while sitting on my branch and then I saw these two men carrying the one you call Duo? Yeah, Duo. He had vines around his arms and legs and had something stuck in his mouth and he was asleep.”
This caused the chirping and squeaking to start all over again.
“Anyone else see what happened before that?”
“I did!!”
I look up to see a jittery hummingbird buzzing about haphazardly. “I was flying and and and looking for fresh nectar because I finished all the nectar from the flower I was dinking from and then I heard something buzz buzz buzz by. Yeah yeah, and then I saw this little stick with a red feather fly right by by by me. It flew faster than me me so I wanted to see see see where it went. I’m the fastest fly fly flyer you know. Then the stick got st-st-stuck on the neck of this human with a long tail looking thing. And he dropped to the floor. Dead dead dead. Then these two men came and took him a-a-away.”
I thanked the high-strung bird and sent him on his way. Duo dead? It can’t be.
“The human isn’t dead. At least not yet.” came a sinister voice from behind me.
“Oh?”
A crow landed and did its very best to look intimidating. “If the human were dead, I’d be eating the remains by now.”
“Did you see where they were taking him?”
“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. What will you give me?”
“Did you see where they went or not?” I’m beginning to become a little agitated at the way this is going. That hummingbird really wore down on my nerves and patience.
“Okay, so I didn’t. You should still be grateful I told you he’s not dead.” With that the crow flew off again.
“But what about the baby?” came yet another voice.
I turned my head to the speaker and saw a very elegant looking fox sitting primly on the grass, licking it’s paw.
“What baby?”
“The human left a baby at the entrance of my den. I would have eaten it if I hadn’t just had my breakfast.”
“You would have probably saved it for later…not that I’m complaining, but why didn’t you?”
The fox huffed and flicked it’s tail. “If you must know, the human put some sort of spell on the infant. I can’t eat it. I can’t even get close enough to try and lick it.”
Duo put a spell on the baby? What baby is he talking about? The only baby around here is Lin and she’s with Meiran… or is she?
I tell the animals to go ahead and go, keeping the fox and a pair of hawks in the garden, then I return to my audience waiting just inside the palace walls.
“My lord,” I say to Heero, “I’m afraid I have bad news.”
“Go on.”
“Duo’s been taken.”
“What?! Where? By whom?”
“I’m afraid the animals don’t know that. I have a pair of hawks that are willing to help track Duo and his captors but that’s not all…”
Just then, Lady Meiran appeared at our little gathering and caught the part about Duo being abducted, “Where is Lin? What has happened to my Lin?!”
I blink, okay, so maybe Lin wasn’t with her mother.
“You gave her to Duo to watch over?”
“Yes, now where is she?”
“She’s safe.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Take us to her!” Wufei looks incensed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look this angry in a long time if ever.
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We make it to the fox den and I think I can see the vein on Wufei’s temple.
“You call sleeping at the door of a fox den SAFE?!”
“I do. The fox said he couldn’t touch the baby. She is under some kind of spell.”
He sputters, “A WHAT?!”
“The fox said it was some kind of protection spell. She started crying when he reached his den then stopped when he left to get help.”
Wufei scooped up his daughter and cradled her in his arms. She looked just as bouncy and strong as ever, and though he was still mad that she had been left at the door of a fox den and had had a spell placed upon her, he was grateful to the Shinigami for having tried his best to protect his only daughter.
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We arrived back at the castle. Only Wufei and I had gone to retrieve Lin since the fox would have no other human other than the infant’s father and his translator near his home. Upon arriving, the castle was in a flurry of activity as Heero prepared to leave on a search party to find Duo.
At a glance, the king looked just as strong and in charge as usual, but upon closer inspection, you could see the worry lines on his face and in his jerky movements. He truly cared about Duo, but only few people are privy to that information.
It seemed that I’m going to come along on this expedition. The hawks were sent off to see if they can spot Duo’s captors and are to report this evening. I, of course am going to act as a translator between the birds and Heero, and since I have to go, so does Quatre. Despite his fragile appearance, he’s actually quite tough and he’s an excellent strategist. If he weren’t such a pacifist, he’d probably be a war general. Wufei wants to come along also, but I’m not sure Heero is going to allow that. My king is loyal and it won’t do for him to send someone else after Duo. I can tell he’s worried, but he won’t let his throne be unguarded. One of the two is going to be left behind, the question is, who?
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Jess’ Rant
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YAY! A semi-long chapter! Well, at least it is compared to the amount I’ve been writing lately. Who should be left behind? Wufei (who has a family to look after) or Heero (who is the King?)