| Gundam Wing: Legend of Mystiks Chapter 17 A flash of lightning made everyone either gasp in surprise or lift an eyebrow. There, hanging out the open door and gathering rain, were a pair of violet-tinted black dragon wings. A careless shrug from Heero. � So what? He�s got wings.� Lily snorted, tightening her grip on Shinigami�s braid, which she�d clutched out of habit. � That means he�s an Intrepid Mystik.� � Is that special?� Heero inquired in disinterest. � More than what you are!� Lily snapped. Shinigami covered her mouth with his hand. � Calm yourself, Lily. He�s just discovering his power and is new to the ways of the Mystiks.� Lily humphed, but was more polite afterward. Duo finally woke and looked around. � Oi, how�d I get on the floor?� He sat up, then stood, only to fall over backwards from the weight of the wings. � What�s going on?!� He reached back and felt the leathery wing skin, then the wing bone. � I don�t recall ever having wings before.� � You�re an Intrepid Mystik, Duo,� Lily explained. � Is that good?� � Hai. It means you�re very powerful. Much more powerful than any other regular Mystik.� Duo stood again more slowly, making sure this time that he was holding tightly to his father so he wouldn�t fall anymore. � Shimatta! How do you work these things?� � You�ll have to find that out yourself, sweetie. I�m just a plain old Mystik.� Duo managed to lift his wings and twist them around a bit, then folded them against his back. That helped him maintain his balance, but it hurt a bit. So he rested the claw fingers over his shoulders and let the wings hang around him like a small cape. He reopened them, stretching them out as far as they would go to either side. � Hm.� Quatre, out of curiosity, touched the scaly outer wing bone. It shot back to Duo�s shoulder, making him tip over toward the other direction. � Ack!� � Gomen!� Quatre cried as Duo caught himself. � It�s okay, just say something next time. You surprised me.� Duo turned toward the outside. � Okay, I�m going. Please wait here, Okaasan, Otousan. I�ll be back as soon as I can.� The gales of wind pushed him back inside, trying to keep him from coming out. Duo pulled his wings closer to his body and bent down, fighting through. When he was mostly across the bridge, he spread his wings and let the wind pick him up. He fought the blasting air and freezing rain the whole way to the border, but refused to give up even when his face numbed from windburn. Landing by Deranico Falls, Duo stretched his senses out, feeling desperately for any sign of Cosmos. There. He made his way over to a gathering of thistlebrush and reached his hand out, ignoring the scratches from the weed. He met with a warm body and immediately thrust his whole self through the plant. � Cosmos?� A barely audible whisper over the howling wind answered him. � Duo?� � Hai, Cosmos. I�m here. Just relax.� � I�m cold.� � I know, babe. I�m cold too.� Duo tried to pick her up, stopping when his hand rammed into something hard covered by something soft. Moving around it, he managed to lift Cosmos out of the thistlebrush. � You want to go home now?� � Take me home,� Cosmos agreed. Duo went to the edge of the Falls and jumped off head-first, parallel with the plummeting water. Then he spread his wings and levelled out, using the heavy breezes to carry him home. As he expected, they�d pulled the bridge up for the night. He ducked into a dining hall window and gained some extra air time before going through the open doorway and gliding up the stairs to his room. Luckily, he�d left the door open again (usually he shut it) and was able to float in on barely spread wings and the inner-castle air currents. He pulled up perpendicular to the floor and and flapped his wings repeatedly to land gently on the stone. With a short tug, Cosmos� Reaper cloak easily tore and fell to the floor, leaving her shoulders bare. Evidently, her satin robe had gotten lost somewhere along the line. Duo pulled the sheets and blankets off his bed and wrapped them around he and Cosmos. He slowly sat on the floor, hugging her to him to share his body heat. � We�re home, Cosmos. I won�t let anything happen to you ever again.� *~*~* Heero and Airia had succeeded in lessening the storm�s wind intensity, but that was all they could do. Neither had anywhere near the power necessary to stop it, so they did the best the could. Zechs and Halcyon had slowed the rain, but they could not stop it either. The late hours had finally taken their toll and the group fell asleep in the officer�s lounge on the second floor. The morning found them down in the dining hall, poking at their food. Until Duo entered. They stared as he went to the kitchen and got his breakfast, then sat down at his usual spot by the end of the table and began eating. He finally looked up at them all. � Nani? Do I have a drool mark on my face or something?� � Where�s Cosmos?� they demanded together. Duo let the bacon strip hang out of the side of his mouth. � Cosmos?� He shrugged. � Oh, she�s upstairs in my room talking to Okaasan and Otousan.� There was a great clamor of clattering dishes and chair legs scraping on stone as everyone ran to the kitchen to drop their dishes in the sink and then headed back out. None of them noticed that Duo was gone. Not until they saw him in the room, watching Cosmos finish the rest of his plate. Cosmos looked up at them and smiled. � Ohayo, minna!� she chirped, waving to them. The other girls fainted. The guys barely managed to remain conscious. Even when they saw Cosmos� violet-tinted, black-feathered wings. |