I went up to the mountain... Because you asked me to
Up over the clouds To where the sky was blue
I could see all around me
Everywhere I could see all around me... Everywhere
-Lyrics to 'Up To the Mountain' performed by Patty Griffin
Elements of Great Design Part 42
Trent brushed his hands together as he stepped back from his handiwork in pitching one of the larger tents provided by the reinforcements on his own. "Not bad, if I do say so myself," he smiled in the glow of the campfires and torches around. "It's not exactly a palace by any means, but it's fit enough for a royal."
Behind him, a voice giggled, "How convenient as this is where I will be staying for as long as we have this encampment."
Wide-eyed, the Fighter spun around to find himself face-to-face with a young woman he had not expected to see that evening. "Q-Queen Relena," he stammered in surprise, quickly thrusting a fist over his heart and bending at the waist. "No one had mentioned that this was to be your residence." The corner of his mouth sliding up, he worried his hands together as he added nervously, "I hope that it is to your liking."
"Oh, I am positive that it will be more than fine for Dorothy and I," the young woman smiled. "And no need for formalities between friends. You are practically family considering how you traveled with my brother to serve him in Coneria ever since he left Romefeller for the arranged marriage between him and Noin."
Shallowly bowing her head, she said, "Relena is just fine. And I am very happy to see that you are still well under the circumstances of what you have been through."
Blinking his enlarged eyes, Quinze fought the blush that wanted to come to his cheeks. "You always were too kind," he grinned back while righting himself. "Both your presence here and the message of hope that you have brought regarding the Alliance has breathed new life into those of us that had been hanging onto our resolve by a thread... not to mention what you have done in bringing forth a movement that will strengthen our revolt."
The Queen did blush at the praise and waved shyly, "I only did the right thing and with a great deal of help." Raising her head and turning it towards the south, she frowned deeply, "Our fate truly falls on the shoulders of the Keepers and Heero who has been bringing them together. I pray at every opportunity for their success in rising against Mariemaia."
"Heero?" Trent repeated, his back straightening rigidly from his shock. "Heero Yuy? He was the Romefeller Fighter sent off to collect the Keepers?"
A wistful smile spreading across her face, the royal was the image of pride and adoration as she nodded, "Yes. I have always known that he was meant for greatness in this world. The prophecy that called upon his selfless courage to venture into the Unknown alone to bring our saviors together was only too fitting for him."
The Fighter couldn't help but grin along, even if he was a bit heartbroken over the fact that the object of his own affections was still enamored with one of his best friends. To the best of his knowledge, Yuy was either never interested or completely oblivious to the long-time crush that Peacecraft had on him. But it seemed that even that and time never changed some things.
Sincerely, Quinze commented, "I will be certain to include him in my own prayers for a safe journey, then. And I also agree that there was no better suited person for the responsibility that the Creator has bestowed upon him." Those sentiments won him such a brilliant smile that his breath hitched in his throat.
From the tall bushes around, the crack of a sharp slap instantly followed by a yelp had the pair jumping from their skin and turning in the direction of the sounds' origin. "What was that for?! I did not do anything!" another voice that Trent was all too familiar with exclaimed in a half-moan.
"That was for what I saw you were about to attempt," a female timbre admonished. "Do be sure to keep your hands to yourself. I may be a gifted, but I am very capable with the knife at my belt." The protester fell silent while two others snickered into amusement just as the bushes shifted to reveal the small band entering the clearing.
Mueller nursed the bruise settling into the right side of his face as Dorothy retained a small smirk with her nose in the air when he tried to shed an apologetic look her way. And just behind them, Alex and Meiran could not have looked more amused in the midst of their containing the remainder of their laughter.
The Peacemillion soldiers were now the embodiment of perfect form thanks to the additional Healers that had come in to treat them and it was pretty clear to Trent that they were back to their good spirits as well, much to his relief.
Facing the Oracle, Quinze winked, "Please forgive my friend, Catalonia. Sometimes he needs a good slap to remind him to be more respectful of our young women around here." Repeating the comment under his breath in a low and high-pitched mumbling taunt, Mueller gave him a half-hearted glare.
Introductions were quickly made before Alex stepped forward, nudging his counterpart aside in the process to reveal the bedrolls, pillows and other comforts that the foursome had brought with them. "We thought that you good ladies could use some accommodations to make your nights a little more tolerable than sleeping on the cold ground."
"Ah, thank you," the Queen replied happily. Together, she and Dorothy filled their arms with the offerings then focused back on her former neighbor. "It was good to catch up with you, Trent. Hopefully we will be crossing paths again on a more regular basis now. Have a good night."
Lowering his head, the Fighter replied softly, "Sleep well, Relena." With her Oracle right behind her, Peacecraft nodded in appreciation and headed into their tent, the flap of the opening swinging closed behind them. His shoulders slumping at his former Queen's departure, Trent sighed quietly and slipped past his friends to walk back through the thick foliage around.
Running to catch up with the Coneria Fighter, Mueller reached his side and clasped his hands together to prop his tilted face against them. "Sleep well, Relena," he said in a falsetto as he batted his eyelids rapidly. Snickering, he nudged his comrade and smirked, "You must have it pretty bad for her. This is the first time I've ever seen a girl make you act like such a love sick pup."
Quinze simply rolled his eyes and only let out the start of a growl from deep in his chest.
Meiran strode up behind the smug officer of their group and smacked him on the backside of his head, warning, "Leave off, Mueller. I could always go on about your so-called prowess, or more to the point, the lack there of. Successfully wooing a few ladies to your bed does not make you an expert on how to keep a lover."
Hissing through his teeth as he rubbed the nape of his neck, the Peacemillion soldier groaned, "Well, that makes two good slaps from two different women in less than a handful of minutes. I must be losing my touch."
"Yes, best to keep your mouth shut for the time being or I will be compelled to stand by and allow my girlfriend to kick your ass," Alex smirked. He winked to the brilliant smile that the lovely rebel flashed him. Mueller simply harrumphed under his breath and waved a vulgar gesture over his shoulder to his chuckling 'brother.'
A deep frown of worry marring his face, Trent looked over to Meiran. "Was I that obvious when I was with Relena? Do you think that she suspects anything that might make her uncomfortable?"
Shaking her head of raven-black hair, the reformer reassured, "I do not believe so." With a bright smile, she added, "And I do get the strong impression that she truly is happy to see you again. I would not be surprised if she makes a point from here on out to try and run into you whenever she can."
Despite his glum mood over Peacecraft's undying affections towards Heero, the hope that came with Meiran's words had a small grin pulling at Quinze's lips.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, Trent Quinze," Dorothy mused aloud, smiling back at her 'sister' as they finished unraveling their bedrolls atop the flat mattresses that were waiting inside of their tent for them. "What a nice thing to be in his company once more. Thank the Creator for making him such a fine Fighter that he has survived this long."
Relena brushed down the top of her covers as she nodded, "Yes, I admit that I had been worried about him knowing that he has been one of Zechs' personal guards for some time now."
Blinking her blue eyes that narrowed in confusion, she turned to face her Oracle, asking, "You were not at all surprised to see him when you arrived a moment ago. Either you had known through your gift that he was fine or the two of you found each other since we first arrived at the encampment... and yet you never mentioned anything to me."
At that, Catalonia hid her little smile before she met her Sovereign's gaze. "Well, both circumstances did come about as his path and mine had crossed earlier today. I simply had not said anything because I was not aware that you were so concerned for Trent's well-being. My apologies for assuming as much."
Stunned, Peacecraft folded her arms across her chest and insisted, "Of course I would be concerned! Trent is as good a person as any I have ever known! Not to mention that he has been a friend of ours for years! His move to Coneria with Zechs would never change that."
Humming, the gifted sat on the edge of her bed and crossed her legs at the ankles as she tilted her head and commented, "Perhaps, but for as long as I have known you there has really only been one Fighter who has managed to occupy every bit of your attention. No soldier other than Heero existed in all of Gaia by the way you act sometimes."
Those words struck as effectively as an actual slap to Relena's face and she reeled back a bit from the blow. Her shock quickly boiled over into anger, causing her to snap, "Just because I am especially fond of Heero does not mean I am incapable of caring for another Fighter! As Queen, I worry myself over the safety of all of Romefeller's guardians!"
"You could have fooled me," Dorothy went on to taunt with a lopsided smirk. "Maybe to prove me wrong, you could spend more of your time getting reacquainted with Trent. You might actually enjoy more of his company since Yuy is so occupied with his own mission at the moment." Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "You would not want to be a distraction to him or his responsibilities in this war should he and the Keepers reunite with us, would you?"
Any bit of frustration that the Queen may have felt instantly evaporated and her mouth fell open while her arms fell at her sides. "No," she breathed, "no, I would never want to stand in Heero's way of what he need to do."
Quickly regaining her composure, she gave a smug grin, placed her hands on her hips and raised her head as she said, "Fine. You do not think that I would spend time with another Fighter and I will, indeed, prove otherwise. At my first opportunity tomorrow, I will seek Trent out and ask him to show me through the camp."
It took ever bit of resolve on the Oracle's part to not cheer, laugh or both. "Well, I think that would be a step in the right direction, dear."
She winked and rose to her feet as she suggested, "Just be sure to give him your full attention lest he feel at all unappreciated or missed." Pulling back the blanket of her now prepared bed, she kicked off her boots and leaned over the headboard to blow out the glowing candle on the small table behind it to cast her half of the tent into darkness.
Thoughts flooded Relena's mind over their conversation, causing her to stare blankly beyond the flickering light surrounding her. Making out her 'sister's' outline enough to make out her face perfectly as the Oracle lay on top of her mattress, the Sovereign inquired, "If I am going to be up to this challenge, will you be doing the same in making nice with Mueller? Boys will be boys, after all."
Dorothy turned her head so that their eyes locked once again. Under the covers, her shoulders shrugged as she smiled as simply as she would were she discussing the weather, "Oh, I am destined to be with Mueller. I am already falling in love with him as I have seen happening in the near future, but I need to break him in a bit before anything between us would ever last. No worries. He and I will be getting along better than fine before long. Good night."
Gasping sharply, Peacecraft watched with wide eyes as Catalonia spun back to her. "G-good night," she stuttered in little more than a whisper. So the Oracle was with her potential soul mate... and here was the Queen without her knight in shining armor. But until she was reunited with Heero-
Instantly cutting that train of thought off, Relena shook her head. She would not be a distraction. Until the war was over and they were all still hopefully alive to see the fall of Mariemaia, she would wait for her time to finally win Yuy over. In the meantime, Trent would be enough of a diversion for her.
A moment later, the young royal was slipping under her covers and blowing out the candle behind her headboard. Morning's arrival was going to bring a new day for her. Of that she was certain.
* * * * * *
The end long muzzle of deep blue scales lightly nudged at the blanketed heap stretched out by the lowly burning campfire at the center of the sleeping bodies ringed around it.
Blinking his onyx eyes open at the same time, Wufei raised his furry head and looked back at his peaceful lover wrapped around him. At the cold nose that pressed against her cheek, Anna mumbled something unintelligible as she crawled back into the world of the living.
Slowly pushing himself onto his back, Trowa stared up to the face of the dragon that had woken him. "Thank you, friend. Sunrise is coming, then?" he greeted, reaching over to shake his sleeping partner beside him.
Grunting an affirmative as it reeled its horned head back, the beast let out a plume of white smoke through its nostrils. "Good," the Dragoon nodded and pushed himself to sit up while his comrades stirred awake around him.
Her arms raised high over her head, Chang released a wide yawn. "So," she smirked to her brothers, "We have no official plan other than get as high and as fast as we can to find the Air Stone while hoping that we don't meet resistance along the way up, right?"
"That pretty much sums it up," Duo nodded at the end of his own yawn as he reluctantly untangled himself from Heero beneath their covers. Focused on the redhead, he asked, "You ready?"
A wide smile tugged the Fire Keeper's lips and she replied cheerfully, "Yep." Without pause, Anna shoved a hand into the pack at her side to take up one of the vials inside.
Quickly biting the cap off, the redhead threw the contents back and down her throat in one gulp. Her lifeless upper body falling back, it was caught in two strong arms before it touched the cold cavern floor at the same time that the flames in the fire pit died. The dragon standing close bent his head in sent a few tongues from his mouth to bring light back into the 'room.'
Curled up close to her where his returned human body now sat, Wufei held his wife against his bare chest in a tight cradle and his onyx eyes filled with worry automatically set on the Black Mage. Smirking, the violet glow in Maxwell's eyes faded as he opened his hand to reveal the brilliant spark of the thief's soul safe in his care. "Got her," he reassured quietly.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief, the Monk cupped his partner's cool cheek as he placed a soft kiss against her temple. Carefully setting her down, Chang rose to his feet and gave a nod of gratitude while accepting his robe from Quatre. Tying the material closed around his lean form, he centered on Heero.
"I see the point in using my abilities early out," the Earth Keeper commented. "Considering how we have no idea what we will be climbing into, my powers would be of more assistance in the beginning. Once we know what we are getting into, we will have to decide quickly on the right time for Anna to be restored."
Both pleased and honored that the dark-haired warrior agreed with the strategy that he had concocted, Yuy climbed to his own feet, replying, "It seemed the most logical plan of attack. That mountain can still be affected by your powers, so we can get an early idea to whether or not we have anything standing in our way."
Snorting, Duo finished tidying up the fresh braid of his hair as he muttered, "Of course, it would be fantastic if all of this prep work was unnecessary. It would be a nice change for us to just once have something come easily for us."
Quatre shrugged, "Well, like Howard had said, 'No great achievement comes without great sacrifice.' Since the whole world is counting on our obtaining the Elemental Stones, it would only be fair to assume that nothing from here on out is going to be handed to us on a silver platter. If the Creator wants us to climb a mountain, that is just what we are going to have to do." Turning around, he frowned deeply at the sight of his soul mate standing in the entrance of the cave.
Staff gripped tightly in hand at his side, the Dragoon stared out to the frozen stretch of land leading to the great rise of silvered rock that they were intending to climb. Back straight and rigid, Barton never so much as glanced back at the rest of his team as he kept his head slightly raised to the skies... trying to see beyond the clouds for what belonged to him.
Noting Winner's concern, Heero was the one to step forward. Patting the Water Keeper's arm on his way past, he walked ahead for the wide mouth of their shelter to stand beside his preoccupied brother.
After a companionable silence that allowed the Fighter to watch the signs of wildlife waking and running along the snow-covered grounds in the early signs of daylight, he said quietly, "Quatre told me that being close to your Elemental Stones felt like coming home in a way... or like being reunited with an eternity-long friend."
"That... is a very good comparison," Trowa responded as softly as the breeze that entered the cavern. Never taking his visible emerald eye from the heavens, he sighed, "One good gust from my powers when we're airborne and we'll be able to see everything... whether we like what we will find up there or not."
Yuy nodded, "And whatever that may be, we'll face it with everything we have." Captivated by the sight of a massive and unseen creature as it serpentine beneath the hard earth a few feet ahead, he vowed, "Until you and your stone are reunited, we are not going to give up."
For the first time since their arrival into the Ice Lands, a real smile made its way across Batron's face and he met the soldier's cobalt gaze. "Of that I never had any doubt," he stated sincerely. When they looked back over their shoulders, they found the rest of the Alliance standing close and ready. Just behind them, the dragons that had stood watch waited patiently to be of service to the fight to come.
Carrying Anna's body in his arms, Wufei smirked, "If we are going to maintain the advantage of surprise, I suggest that we move as soon as we can." The scaly beasts in the background snorted and thumped their long tails in their own form of seconding the sentiment as Duo and Quatre snickered in amusement.
"Right," the Dragoon snickered. Easily sliding onto the back of the blue-and-gold beast that had woken him, Trowa rested comfortably between its wide shoulder blades.
Fittingly, Heero took to a white, winged steed and Duo climbed onto the back of a black monster of a dragon. Securing Anna on his lap, Wufei created a harness for her out of vine that the green reptile beneath them took on without complaint. And the most timid of all in the beginning, Quatre settled into the smallest, tan colored carrier of the present lot. Once he was safely in place, the White Mage quickly calmed and even grinned to himself.
Drawing a deep breath, the Dragoon announced, "Your scaly friends are more than aware that getting us to the top of that mountain is their ultimate goal. They will not allow you to fall or face any challenges alone. Once we reach our destination, they'll fall back with the others waiting in the distance to add their own offensive any way they can." Heads nodded, the message loud and clear.
Their horses looking on safely in the deeper confines of the cave, the warriors stepped out into the open atop their new perches. Once they were all beyond the opening, Wufei cracked his knuckles, murmuring, "Let's just see what we can shake loose." Fixated on a patch of ground ahead of him, he raised his arm to fire a powerful burst of energy the same as he would if throwing a ball.
At the impact, an impressive quake shot forth for a direct line to the mountain until it was trembling every bit as violently. In the wake of the nearly deafening rumble, the dragons took to the skies the very moment dark shadows in the familiar shapes of ogres, gremlins and other demons fell from the clouds to plummet to their ends... and there were thousands of them.
"Well, now we know for sure we're not alone!" Duo bellowed over the noise that now included the wails and howls of the beasts that continued to rain down. Gripping his scythe, he pointed its curved blade at three winged enemies charging for them to send off a black burst of power that disintegrated them before they could get close.
Never pausing in their sharp soar for the unseen zenith of the mountain, the dragons made sure to keep their charges safely on their backs. "Time to have a look at what you're hiding," Trowa growled under his breath to the clouds. Clapping his hands together, he spread his arms as far apart as he could manage. The movement served to part the shroud away in kind.
Eyes widening with sharp gasps at what was revealed to them, the journeymen froze in surprise.
...........
"They are here, Lord Dekim," a deep voice rumbled to the glowing image of the old man. "I will not wait for them to face me last. I will simply see that they never come near the Air Stone."
His sunken eyes narrowing, Barton smiled, "Good. Should you fail, you best hope that the Alliance finishes you off, or I will. Otherwise, I look forward to hearing of your success when this is over, Chaos."
TBC...
[1] Another bad Final Fantasy Boss, like the Hydra: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Chaos_(Final_Fantasy)
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