'...' thoughts
/.../ telepathy

Daystar's Prophecy Part 5

As they continued their trek through the forest, Heero kept a sharp look out for anything out of the ordinary, his keen sense of hearing and sight constantly searching for any threat, which might be lurking within the dense undergrowth. However, even with most of his attention focused on the surrounding area, he kept a small portion of his mind on the three boys walking about fifteen feet behind he and Wufei. He listened as they joked and laughed among themselves and for a moment, he felt a pang of jealousy at the fact that they could be so free with each other. He wished, not for the first time, that he had the ability to join in with them.

He had been walking for several long minutes in silence when Heero stole a sidewards glance at his own walking companion. He immediately noticed the look of contemplation on Wufei's face and was considering asking the other boy what was on his mind. However, before he could make his inquiry, he found a braided fairy suddenly attached to his back. Of course, since Duo weighed next to nothing compared to Heero's strength, he simply ignored the boy and kept walking.

"Hey, Heero?" Duo asked from his place on Heero's back.

"Hn?"

"What do you guys do for fun where you come from?"

"..."

"Heero?"

"There isn't any time for fun in our lives." Wufei stated quietly.

"But everyone has time for fun. Even me, although it's been awhile." he added thoughtfully.

"Wufei's right Duo."

"But why?" Duo asked before dropping off Heero's back. He skirted around in from of the two boys and proceeded to walk backwards while looking expectantly for an answer.

"Because our world is in the middle of a war, Duo. And we are soldiers in that war." Quatre provided as he and Trowa caught up with them, pointedly ignoring the glare Heero sent his way.

"A war?" Duo squeaked. He immediately stopped dead in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at the blonde before wrapping both his arms tightly around his body, trying desperately to stop the shivers, which were beginning to wrack his small frame. A sudden cold, which he had not felt for a very long time, gripped his heart and quickly spread throughout.

"Duo, are you alright?" Quatre asked worriedly as he came to stand beside the longhaired boy. The other four had also stopped the instant that Duo had and were now staring at him as he started trembling quite noticeably.

"Duo?" Heero spoke softly before gently laying his hand on the smaller boy's arm.

"It... it's ok. Just g... give me a m... minute."

Luckily, they had nearly reached the edge of the forest by that time, so Duo turned and walked the remaining twenty feet or so to reach the open field that lay on the other side of the forest boundary. Even though is was still early morning and the day had yet to reach the full heat and humidity of summer, the sun was warm, bright, and inviting after being in the forest for so long. He walked a short ways from the forest boundary before closing his eyes and dropping his head back so that the sun shown directly on to his face, warming the deep cold that had permeated his whole body. Soon, with the warmth of the sun, his body tremors began to fade and he was able to release his arms from the death grip he around himself.

"Duo?" he turned to find Quatre staring at him, concern evident on his face.

"It's ok Quat." Duo smiled wanly and Quatre could tell it was forced. "Just...old memories."

"Would you like to talk about it? Sometimes it helps."

"No! That would most definitely not help!" Duo said, shaking his head almost violently.

"Please, Duo, you seem really upset."

"Yeah, well, wars do that to me." Duo said, and then sighed heavily. "Look, it's been a long time since I've thought about our own war and the mention of yours brought it back to mind, that's all."

"You mean there's a war on this world, too?"

"Was one, yes, unfortunately." Duo said. "And even though it ended a very long time ago, it still holds a lot of pain for me when I think about it."

"How long ago did it end?"

"It's been almost a thousand years."

"A thousand years?" Quatre asked incredulously, and then furrowed his brows in thought. "Duo, exactly how old are you?"

"Huh?" Duo looked puzzled by both the question and change of topic, but then realized that Quatre could not possibly know the life span for fairies and gave the boy a lopsided smile before answering. "Well, let's see. I was born during the last hundred years of the war, so I guess I'm just over a thousand by now. I don't know the exact number because I stopped counting a long time ago."

For a moment Quatre could only stare at the braided fairy, his mouth gaping open in disbelief but then something else Duo had said finally registered in his mind. "Duo, if you were born during the last hundred years of the war, just exactly how long did the war last?"

"Five hundred years." Duo said sadly.

"What was the war fought for? Or was there even a reason?" Trowa asked causing Duo to start slightly; he had not noticed the others coming up to stand behind him.

"Well, it was fought for us, the fairies, actually." Duo stated and blushed lighted, causing the other four boys to blink at Duo; not understanding what he was saying. "Well, you see, some of the other races consider fairies to be a, well...delicacy."

"Delicacy? You mean they...?" Quatre paled and then turned slightly green as the implications of that statement broadcasted through his mind.

"Yeah, they like to...eat my people." Duo grimaced. "Actually, there used to be more fairies in this world than any of the other races. But after thousands of years of hunting, my people were on the verge of extinction. The elves, who had always been our greatest advocates, decided to put a stop at it. Well, the others didn't like that and so the war started. Even now, there are only about five hundred of us. Of all the races, ours is the smallest, while the elves are now the largest."

"Who were the combatants?" Heero asked.

"Well, um, you're really not going to like this, so don't get mad at me, ok?"

"Why would we be mad at you?" Quatre asked.

"Just tell us." Heero demanded, feeling the hairs on the back of neck rise in apprehension.

"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you." Duo said, looking a little nervous. "Could we do this while we walk though, it's a rather long story, and I'd like to make it to the village by lunch?"

"Is food all you think about Duo?" Trowa asked, a smiling playing at the corner of his lips.

"Of course!" Duo chirped. "What else do you expect me to think about at this time of day?" That got a giggle out of Quatre and managed to lift the somber mood, which had settled on the group. Smiling once again Duo winked at the brunette in thanks before he took the lead as they began the trek toward the village.

"Ok," Duo began after taking a deep breath, "so the condensed version is that basically it was the elves trying to save the entire fairy population pretty much by themselves. Sure, they had help from some of the other races like the gnomes, pixies, and dwarves but their populations were so small they didn't provide much real help. And as for us fairies, we did what we could but since my people don't believe in killing, it's kinda difficult. Besides, by that time there were so few of us left it's amazing we survived at all."

"Anyways, that left on the other side of the fight the trolls, gremlins, and," Duo swallowed then ducked his head before looking sheepishly at the other four boys from the corner of this eye. "humans."

"... no!" Quatre gasped, his hand going to cover his mouth.

Heero, on the other hand, grabbed Duo's arm and forced him to turn and face him.

"You're lying." he growled.

"I don't lie." Duo cried, wincing at the hold the boy had on his arm. "And I said you wouldn't like it, remember?"

"He's right Heero." Trowa said, laying a hand on Heero's arm.

Heero stared at the braided fairy for a moment more before releasing his arm, turning, and stalking a short distance away. Gingerly, Duo rubbed the offended area of his arm, willing the circulation back.

"If it makes you feel any better, it was the mages that dragged the rest of your race into the whole mess. I honestly believe that if they hadn't stuck their noses in it, the rest of the humans would have left well enough alone."

"The mages...they didn't want to...I mean they didn't...what you said the others...about your people..." Quatre sputtered.

"No, no." Duo said as it finally dawned on him what Quatre was trying to ask. "Their goal was to enslave my people. Somehow, they found or created a spell that could bind a fairy, which then allow them to drain the fairies magic to increase their own. Of course, the end result was the same because a fairy can't survive without his or her magic."

"Is that what Gaison wants from you?" Trowa asked quietly, causing Duo to spin around and stare at him wide eyed.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're far too perceptive for your own good?" Duo asked, a bright blush coloring his cheeks. A knowing smirk on the other boy's face was his only answer.

"That's why he was attacking you in the cave." Heero stated.

"Well, yeah, that. Among other things." he added under his breath. Unfortunately not low enough that Heero could not hear; earning him a glare.

"Can we drop this line of questioning please? I really don't want to talk about this right now. Beside, we aren't getting any closer to the village just standing here." Duo practically begged. He was relieved when the glare was dropped and he received a grunt before Heero turned and once again began walking, he and the others quickly followed behind.

"How did the war finally end?" Wufei asked after they had been walking for a few minutes in quiet.

Upon hearing the softly spoken question, Duo swallowed sharply; he had been hoping that the conversation was over and that no one would ask that particular question. However, now that someone had he knew he did not look forward to the answer he would have to give, especially seeing as just the thought caused his throat to close up painfully. Glancing at the longhaired boy, Wufei noticed tears glimmering in the corner of his eyes and was about to retract the question, when the boy began to speak.

"The two armies met on an open field far to the north of here." he began quietly. "The elven army, due to careful planning that had taken nearly a year to complete and cost countless lives, was able to completely overwhelm the other forces. The battle was horrible. It lasted for six days and nights without stopping and when the dust finally settled, the enemy was gone. Every single creature was slaughtered. The elves themselves lost nearly half of their army and as for the other races, there were too few of them left to even think of continuing the war. Even to this day, the population of many of the races is well below what it should be and a few don't exist anymore."

"But that's not all the damage that was done. The field that the battle was fought on was once a beautiful meadow but now nothing will grow there because of all the magical residue that was left. It's a complete wasteland." Duo finished in a whisper, his head bowed as tears streamed down his soft cheeks. After a few moments of quiet, Duo felt a soft tug on his braid and when he looked up, Quatre was smiling softly at him. Returning the smile with a half hearted one of this own, he wiped the tears away with the sleeve of his cloak. "Sorry, I just..."

"It's ok, Duo. I understand." the boy said and somehow, from the look on the boy's face, Duo could tell that he did. Giving the boy a warm smile and a nod, Duo increased his pace to once again take the lead.

TBC...

 

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