Mage vs. Guard Sidefic 3
Transformations
The explosion shook the tower, sending the minion Duo had been 'dealing with' headfirst down the stairs.
"Shit," he swore and took the rest of the staircase at a run. Heero had sworn he could handle this one. Just a minor dark mage, the usual dismal castle and bunch of black-clad minions. 'Piece of cake', Heero had said right before he'd teleported up into the mage's tower, leaving Duo to deal with the minions.
Duo didn't mind the 'dealing with minions' part. That was in his job description. It was the 'letting Heero out of his sight' part that made him tense.
His shoulder hit the door at the top of the stairs and he tumbled into the room. The air was thick with smoke and for a moment he could only make out dim shapes moving in the greyness. Something shrieked like an air raid siren and Duo clapped his hands over his ears.
Heero's name was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't dare utter it. Didn't dare distract Heero at what might be a critical moment. So he stayed silent and tried to peer through the smoke.
The smoke began to dissipate, and Duo dropped his hands. The siren noise was gone, replaced by one that made him blink. That couldn't be what it sounded like, could it?
"Baaaaa!" A sheep ran up to him frantically and circled his legs. "Baaaaa! Baaaa!"
Oh no. A transformation spell? And not one of Heero's. Heero liked frogs. Which meant...
"Heero?" He tried and made a grab for the sheep.
"BAAA!" It insisted and dodged his hands.
Something snorted in the corner. A very familiar snort. The sheep ran in circles as the rest of the smoke vanished and Duo tightened his grip on the sword.
The dragon in the corner met his gaze with his own great blue eyes and snorted again.
"Heero?" Duo tried again, looking between the sheep and the dragon. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe the dragon was the mage's pet and the sheep was... well, dinner. Maybe the mages were up another level.
The dragon uncurled itself from the corner and in a movement so fast, Duo nearly missed it, pinned the sheep under his foot.
The sheep trembled.
Duo wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but just in case, he pulled out his sword. "You aren't going to eat that sheep." The dragon glared at him. "Well, not yet. Just until I find Heero."
The dragon rolled his eyes and extended a blue-scaled talon. On the wood of the floor, he scratched: 'Me. His transformation backfired.'
"If he's a sheep and you're a dragon, then yes, it did."
The dragon smiled toothily.
"How do we get you back to normal?"
Heero scratched a question mark in the floor and Duo sighed.
"So you don't know this spell?"
The dragon shook his head.
"Great. So, we gather up his spell books and get you back to the school." Duo looked at the terrified sheep. "What about him?"
'School.' Heero scratched.
"Okay," Duo turned to the bookshelf and then darted a glance over his shoulder at the dragon. "Say- how do I know you're Heero and not the other mage?"
The dragon sighed and tapped the question mark on the floor and then his own chest.
"Ask you a question that only Heero would know? All right." Duo thought for a moment.
His question made the dragon's scales turn a light pink, and the sheep looked like it had fainted. A moment later, the dragon's claws scratched the word 'feathers' into the floor.
"Yep, you're Heero." Duo grinned and turned back to the shelves.
~*~
An hour later, a slightly singed Duo finished tying the sack of books to Heero's back. The horses had taken one look at the dragon and fled. Duo hoped they'd make it back to the school okay.
"You're sure about this flying thing?"
Heero flapped his wings and nodded.
"You said that about the fire breathing too, you know."
Heero ducked his head. Duo patted his shoulder as he climbed on Heero's back and leaned against the sack of books. "It's okay. I shouldn't fuss. It's not like I haven't ridden you before- just not like this. How are we going to take the sheep with us?"
Heero glared at him briefly, then scooped the sheep up in his jaws and deposited him in front of Duo. Duo grabbed hold of the sheep and hoped the mage didn't struggle much.
"Okay," he said and sent up a small prayer to whatever gods were listening that one, Heero could fly with all this stuff on his back and no previous experience and two, that the spell didn't suddenly wear off in mid air.
For a minute- maybe longer- as Heero spread his wings and leapt for the sky, Duo was sure it wasn't going to work.
Then they were cruising at treetop level, and he remembered to breathe again.
~*~
Duo surveyed the campfire with a smile. "Not quite as fast as your magic, but still pretty fast." He cast a glance towards the hobbled sheep and then curled up on the scaly shoulder behind him. "Miss the warm body though." The blanket was okay, but Heero's scales were cold. Weird, considering the fire thing.
He heard Heero sigh and patted the shoulder beneath him. "It's okay. The school will get you fixed in no time, and if they don't, well, then we'll just have to deal with an interspecies relationship."
The snort he got in response made Duo smile. "Don't think you're getting rid of me that easily, Heero Yuy. It will take a little more than scales and wings to scare me off." He closed his eyes as Heero curled up around him.
~*~
His pillow moved.
Duo opened his eyes and frowned at Heero. "Where are you going?"
"I already went." Heero slipped back under the blanket. "Just had to make sure our friend was secure."
Duo nodded and closed his eyes again, curling up on Heero's warm chest.
Wait a minute.
He opened his eyes again to find his mage looking at him with amusement.
"Hey! You're you again!"
"I'm glad you noticed." Heero's mouth twitched into a smile.
"The sheep?" Duo looked over to find the sheep sitting morosely on the grass. "He's still a sheep? Why didn't he change back?"
"It seemed easier to keep him a sheep rather than try another spell on him." Heero shook his head. "I changed back about an hour ago- and since I changed before he did, I had a moment to hit him with an extender spell."
"Do you know how he managed it?"
Heero turned a faint pink. "I looked at his books. The only transformation spell is one called 'unleash your inner animal'- and it does change both the target and caster."
"And his was a sheep?"
"Apparently." Heero's smile widened a little. "Though I would bet that he didn't know that before he tried it on me." He bent and kissed Duo's cheek. "Ready to go home?"
"As soon as you are," Duo smiled back. "We'll be just in time for breakfast." He cast a glance at the sheep. "Suppose they're serving mutton this morning?"
"Not yet."
OWARI
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