Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. I do, however, own Lord Seth, the castle of Eden, the land of Clarmor and Trowa's nest!
Warnings: Fantasy, shonen-ai, definite weirdness, OOC, TWT, Mythical creatures, etc, etc. If you haven't already, I strongly suggest you read "Angel feathers and Dragon scales" before you read this, or it will make very little sense. Even then...
Note: There's a lot of mythology in here, since I'm obsessed, and this is a sort-of continuation from Angel Feathers and Dragon Scales, another of my stories.
Gryphon's claws.
By Koneko Shido
"Well, that was quite an adventure! You must be glad to be back, Heero." Quatre the Pegasus remarked, passing a drink to Duo, who was curled up in Heero's arms on a pile of soft cushions.
"I am." Heero said flatly, as was his style, and sipped his own drink. Duo and Heero's bodies were still frozen in the crystal inside the hiding cave, but their spirits had joined the other deities in their castle, Eden, far above the stars. In this place the spirits weren't transparent, and the two looked just as they had on earth. The other deities were all sitting around in their human forms and talking amongst themselves while Duo and Heero chatted to Trowa and Quatre. Well, Quatre and Duo chatted... The other two spoke occasionally, but preferred to stay silent and listen to their respective lovers' voices.
"Congratulations on slaying Ddraig Gwyrdd. I'm glad it's all over and done with now, until the next time, that is. This is the most excitement we've had in this place since Seth came along!" Quatre said, patting Trowa's leg as the Gryphon shuddered slightly. Duo raised an eyebrow at the blonde Pegasus boy.
"Seth? Who's he?" The braided boy asked, raising his head from Heero's shoulder. Quatre smiled at Trowa and took his hand, entwining their fingers together.
"He was a lord, down on earth a very long time ago. In the middle ages, I think." Quatre said, taking a sip of his spiced wine.
"He was the lord of a large country called Clarmor, but he was always paranoid that someone was trying to poison him. He had good reason, though, because all of his food tasters kept dying! Anyway, he heard a legend from one of his subjects that the claws of a Gryphon had magical powers and, if they were used as drinking cups, they would neutralize any poison. Also, if a claw were dipped into a drink, it would reveal whether or not the draught was poisoned. Seth, in his fear of being poisoned, ordered his guards to find and bring him a Gryphon."
"Hey, is that true about your claws?" Duo asked Trowa. The Gryphon boy nodded, his tail curling around Quatre's waist as the blonde boy continued the story.
"The guards set out to complete their task and soon heard rumours of a Gryphon who had a nest of gold atop the highest mountain in the land. They made their way to the mountain and began to climb it..."
* * * * * * * * * *
Trowa smiled a soft goodbye to his sleeping lover and left their room, padding out into the silent halls of Eden castle. Continuing out onto the balcony, he paused for a moment, shivering slightly, having a feeling that something was amiss. He gave a violent shudder as he once again became his true self; a Gryphon, and he leapt up onto the stone ledge at the very edge of the balcony and spread his eagle's wings wide, springing off into the starry sky. The lionbird flew until the sun began to rise, needing to return to his nest on the highest peak of the mountain Snowdonia [1], to sleep for a while. He could have stayed with Quatre, his beautiful Pegasus, but he missed his home on the lonely mountain and it was nice to return occasionally, just to visit it.
As the sky began to glitter golden with the first fiery rays of the new dawn, Trowa caught sight of his nest in the distance. It was hard to miss, being lined with gold and filled with the most exquisite treasures on the earth, though they meant little to Trowa. All he really needed was his winged lover and to feel the cool mountain air through his fur once in a while. Landing gracefully for such a large creature, Trowa paused, getting the same feeling that something was wrong. He began to worry that something was wrong with Quatre, and he was on the verge of turning to leave again when a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He spun around, but was too late to avoid the net of chains that was thrown over him, so heavy it forced him to his knees.
Looking up through his long mane, which fell over one emerald eye, Trowa growled, seeing first one, then another five humans climb up over the edge of his nest. How dare they? They had no right to be here, to enter his nest, to try to capture him! He slowly began to rise, dragging the chains up with him as he climbed back to his feet.
"It's moving!" One of the humans gasped, pointing at him. They would pay for this! A Gryphon was a sacred creature, didn't they know that? Trowa took a step forward slowly, still hampered by the heavy chains that made every movement agony, and growled again.
"Fools!" The leader of the guards snarled at his soldiers, striding fearlessly right up to Trowa's head.
"It is best you sleep, creature." He said, and then before Trowa could even register what was happening, he felt a sharp blow to his head and darkness descended upon him.
* * * * * * * * * *
"So they captured Trowa and took him back to Seth, and locked my poor koibito in the dungeons! Humans can be so cocky sometimes," Quatre sighed, and Duo nearly choked on his drink.
"Hey, we're human!" He nodded at Heero and jerked his thumb at his own chest. Quatre grinned.
"Not all humans, but some. Anyway, shall I continue?"
Duo nodded, snuggling deeper into Heero's warm embrace.
"Go for it."
* * * * * * * * * *
Trowa opened his eyes weakly and immediately winced at a sharp pain in his head. He sat up, confused for a moment until his memories came flooding back and he scowled. Humans, in his nest... He looked down at the thick shackles around his furry paws and felt another in place tightly around his neck, binding him to the centre of the cell floor and leaving him barely able to even sit up.
There was light streaming from under the door and he could hear faint voices outside and the sound of jangling keys ready to open the door.
Trowa lay back down wearily, facing the door. There wasn't much chance he could fight in these heavy chains, not unless the one who had captured him should be foolish enough to come within biting range, anyway.
Quatre's golden-white wings rustled as he paced around the room, a frown on his angelic face. He strode to the balcony and looked out over the starscape with worried blue eyes, searching for any sign of his lover, listening for the flapping of his great eagle's wings. It had been too long, almost two days since he'd seen Trowa, and the Gryphon never went away for such lengths of time without telling him first. The Pegasus boy also had the uneasiest feeling that something was amiss, like something bad was about to happen.
Trusting his instincts, Quatre climbed carefully up onto the ledge Trowa had leapt from earlier and transformed into his true self, a beautiful white-gold Pegasus with gentle blue eyes and a blonde mane and tail. He took a deep breath and spread his dove-like wings wide, then copied Trowa's earlier actions, leaping up from the balcony ledge and flying off towards where he knew the earth to be. He could sense his lover's presence, and it was not at his nest, which worried the Pegasus. It seemed likely that Trowa was in trouble, so Quatre headed for the source of the Gryphon's presence, flying as fast as his wings could carry him. Being the fastest flier of all the deities, he made it to earth in half the time it had taken Trowa, and the blonde Pegasus headed toward the castle of Clarmor, landing nearby and galloping the rest of the way.
Trowa took in every detail of the man who had entered the room and who now stood before him, inspecting his prisoner. He had short-cut silver hair and dark, piercing eyes that stared out from a face that seemed to have aged well, for the man was over thirty. He wore dark brown clothes beneath his black armour and his sword was drawn and in his hand, showing clearly his intentions.
"Can you speak, creature?" The lord asked in a deep voice. Trowa raised his head wearily, his eyes narrowing to green slits as he focused on the man before him.
"I can. Why have you imprisoned me? I have not harmed you." Trowa said in his soft voice.
"I need your claws, and I'm afraid you'll have to die, Gryphon. Since, as you say, you have not harmed me, I will make your death quick." He said with a smirk.
"If you kill a Gryphon you will burn in hell. Why is it that you need my- ahh!" Trowa gasped as he suddenly felt the presence of his lover right outside the castle. Quatre had come for him! But he could be killed! Trowa clenched his teeth. He had to escape from these chains or, knowing Quatre, he would try to fight his way into the castle no matter how many guards there were.
Then an idea struck him.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Would you like some more wine?" Quatre paused to ask, and Duo, who had been getting absorbed in the story, shook his head frantically.
"No, get on with the story! I need to know what happens next! C'mon, c'mon!" He waved his arms about and Heero smirked.
"Calm down, baka." The stoic boy said, folding his arms. Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero and his eyes lit up as Quatre continued, aided by Trowa.
* * * * * * * * * *
Quatre landed in the courtyard of the castle, having flown over the walls, and was immediately rushed by about twenty guards. Not being quite as foolish as Trowa worried, Quatre reared up on his back legs and his eyes glowed white for a moment. He smiled, seeing the startled looks on the faces of the guards as they were frozen in place, and trotted off down towards the dungeons, going carefully in case he'd missed any.
Trowa closed his eyes tightly for a second, gathering all of his strength. Then he shuddered and his body, which a moment ago had been that of a huge lionbird, became smaller and thinner until he lay on the floor on his chest in his human form. The shackles were now much too big and slipped easily from his hands, and he stepped out of the huge one that had encircled his neck.
"What the hell?!" Seth snarled, his eyes wide as he watched his prize become a human boy. All that work, and this was his reward? To be tricked into capturing a boy, or a sorcerer, or whatever he was? Seth growled angrily and raised his sword, darting forward toward Trowa.
The Gryphon boy curled his tail about his waist to keep it out of the way, narrowing his cat-like green eyes. Becoming human whilst on earth was one of the hardest things a deity could do, and it had sapped his strength severely. In fact, Trowa could barely walk.
His pointed ears pricked up at a noise behind him and he dodged to one side as Seth swung his sword, narrowly missing him.
"What are you!? Are you human or Gryphon?" Seth snarled, backing Trowa up against the wall and slashing at his legs.
Trowa fell to his knees with a gasp as Seth's sword sliced a crimson trail across his legs, just above his knees. There were more gasps and cries of pain as Seth drew his sword in slashes across Trowa's chest and arms, then grabbed the emerald-eyed boy by the arm and yanked him to his feet. Trowa leant weakly back against the wall behind him as he felt the cold kiss of Seth's blade caress his throat gently.
"I am sure that once you are dead you will return to your original form, whatever that may be," Seth hissed evilly in Trowa's pointed ear. "It will be interesting to find out, won't it?" The lord growled, drawing a drop of blood from Trowa's throat as the boy's head arched back weakly to rest against the wall and he turned his face to the side, closing his eyes.
"You are damned." Trowa whispered softly, feeling the burning pain of the wounds Seth had given him and hearing his own blood dripping to the stone floor.
"Do you truly think that scares me?" Seth smirked, drawing back his sword and touching the tip of it to Trowa's bare chest over his heart.
"It was not a threat. It was simply a fact." Trowa murmured quietly, opening his eyes a little and turning to look Seth in the eye.
Seth snarled, pulling his sword back, ready to drive it into the boys' heart.
"Trowa!" A worried voice called out suddenly from the doorway, followed by the clicking of hooves on the stone floor. Trowa smiled softly, glad that Quatre had come for him, and managed to keep his eyes open long enough to see Seth whirl around in shock, only to be frozen on the spot, sword still in hand, and knocked aside as Quatre ran to his lover, gasping at the many bleeding wounds Seth had inflicted on his frail human form.
Trowa's eyes slid closed and he whispered his lover's name, then he slid weakly down the wall and collapsed, barely conscious.
"Trowa, oh, quickly, you must get on my back! There are more guards and I can't freeze them all!" The Pegasus gasped, kneeling down so that Trowa could climb up easily. The Gryphon-boy opened his eyes and gathered the last of his strength, knowing that Quatre could not help him up in his Pegasus form. He crawled painfully to the Pegasus and heaved himself up onto the golden-white back, finally letting himself rest amongst the soft feathers of Quatre's wings.
Quatre heard the soft sigh as Trowa passed out on his back and the Pegasus trotted carefully out of the room, wishing his hooves didn't make quite so much noise on the flagstone floors of the castle. He made his way back out the way he had entered and emerged into the courtyard, spreading his wings carefully so as not to unbalance Trowa, and leapt up into the air, heading back to Eden.
* * * * * * * * * *
"It took him ages to heal all the wounds, didn't it, Trowa-chan?" Quatre smiled up at his taller lover, seated comfortably next to his little one.
"Mmm." Trowa replied, playing his fingers in the soft feathers of Quatre's wings and not really paying attention.
"Wow, so what happened to that Seth guy?" Duo asked, his chin resting on his hands cutely. Heero licked his lips in a rather predatory way and leant to nibble on his lover's ear.
"Oh, he got what was coming to him in the end, but he caused more trouble first. Anyway, that's another story! We have all the time in the world, and I think Heero is bored," Quatre smiled at the sight of the knight trying to hold himself back from jumping Duo.
"It was a very entertaining story." Heero commented, taking hold of the end of Duo's braid and standing up, dragging Duo to his feet. "Goodnight!" The braided boy waved cheerfully as Heero dragged him off to their room. "Thanks for the story!"
Quatre looked at Trowa and laughed softly.
"Shall we, koibito?" Quatre stood, smiling and reaching down a hand to help Trowa up.
"Certainly. And Duo was correct; it was a very good story, if a little painful. You left out the most important part, though," Trowa remarked, walking off hand in hand with Quatre towards their own room.
"Oh?" Quatre questioned, pausing to look at Trowa. The tall boy looked down at his blue-eyed angel and smiled.
"You forgot the ending." Trowa leant down and kissed Quatre's lips softly.
Quatre smiled into the kiss and felt Trowa's lion-like tail pull him in closer.
"And they lived happily ever after?" Quatre asked, grinning.
"Of course." Trowa replied, lifting the smaller blonde up into his arms and carrying him off to their bedroom.
End.
[1] Snowdonia is a mountain in Wales, I nicked the name.