Title: The Forsaken
Author: Link Worshiper
Pairings: 1=2, maybe some others if I feel like it
Rating: PG-13
Stuff: Fantasy AU, fluff, sap, language, adventure, WoW nerdiness
Disclaimer: I own Gundam Wing action figures? Warcraft and its lore belongs to Blizzard Entertainment. Both things are being played with out of fangirl love.

Thanks to danse and Natea for the once over. Despite the fact this is part of Natea's birthday present, I still needed her to fill me in on the Alliance history they don't teach us on Horde, so thanks for that also =P

++++

Part VIII
Light As A Feather

++++

++++

"I do hope my interruption was not at an inconvenience," Quatre was saying as he dragged Relena away from her study, "but I panicked, and I need your help."

"Where are we going?" Relena asked, more than happy to help Quatre if it meant buying her some time to think about the things Thrall and Wufei had told her.

"This way," said Quatre, leading her back towards the library where he had been speaking with Trowa. He had been so startled when he saw the blood elf prince literally wilt right before his eyes that he had abandoned everything almost immediately to seek out Relena. She was one of the most powerful mages in Azeroth; surely she would know a way to help him get to Trowa quickly.

Their robes swished around their legs as they shuffled onwards, and before long, Quatre was ushering Relena into the library, where the communication portal still lingered in the middle of the room, glowing with the hazy image of nothing more than sheeting rain. She lifted a curious finger at it, wandering closer to investigate while Quatre explained what had happened.

"I had originally been planning to make something very powerful in hopes he wouldn't bother me for a while, but he surprised me today," Quatre said, stooping to pick up the feather he'd been in the middle of enchanting when Trowa had passed out. "He sounded desperate, but while I was throwing together a more last minute solution, he just... toppled." He made a cascading motion with his hands to illustrate. "I guess he needed it far more than I imagined."

Relena nodded, a hand curled beneath her chin as she tried to think of a solution. "I don't know where he is, so I'm not sure I can create a portal to his side," she mused aloud, "but maybe we can do something more makeshift?" She glanced back at Quatre, who was twirling the quill around his fingers nervously. "What is it exactly that you want to do?"

He abruptly stopped, clenching the feather tightly as he said, "By the Light, at no end do I want to end up anywhere near the likes of that" - he gestured towards the communication portal with a nod of his head - "but I still need to help him."

Furrowing her brow, Relena stared at her friend quixotically. She didn't understand how a person could want to both help and deride a person at the same time, but she supposed it wasn't her place to judge. "I'll leave you to your reasons," she said with a shrug, stepping towards the portal. "Though perhaps you will want to finish that spell before I open a pathway between here and there."

Quatre nodded and turned to do just that, though he couldn't help but crumple the quill into a clenched fist as he distractedly started to murmur an incantation that would give the feather holy revival powers. The plain writing implement began to shimmer gold and white as it absorbed the magic, transforming the everyday item into a trinket that any careful adventurer would do to keep in his pocket should he require a healing aid. Finished, Quatre faced Relena again, holding the feather out wordlessly.

"I'm going to try and convert this portal of yours into one that will let us pass the quill through," Relena explained, already rummaging through her robes for the rune she used to manipulate her transportation magic. "I've never tried to do something like this before, though, so I have no idea if it will work." She tried to offer Quatre a reassuring smile as she took the feather in one hand and held her rune-inscribed stone in the other. Shoving both objects into the glowing portal, she started to chant, focusing all her will into the experimental spell that it might be successful.

"Please work," Quatre muttered under his breath, wringing the huge, white sleeves of his robe. "He's our only clue to finding Heero."

Overhearing what Quatre had said, Relena nearly broke her concentration at the startling bit of news. Luckily, she was able to instead use it as further incentive to assert the triumph of this spell, and soon found it was beginning to work. With a flash of purple and green, her hands began to sink into the portal's image, and soon, were becoming damp with the rainwater splattering down on the other end. Giving the feather a wave, it glowed and poured its reviving light over Trowa's comatose body before she let go of it and drew her hands back into the library. Then she gave Quatre a sharp look and said flatly, "You didn't tell me everything, it would seem."

Quatre's face was fraught, obviously wracked with guilt. "I didn't mean it that way," he insisted, flapping his sleeves frantically. "I just... well... I didn't think that it was something that would concern you, that's all." He knew Relena fancied Heero, but he'd always written that off as a frivolous interest, even though she had been carrying a torch for him since her student days in Dalaran. If he hadn't known that their lack of real interaction there had been at the expense of Heero's fascination with someone else - another boy, to be exact - he might have even facilitated her a bit, but that would have only been giving her even more false hopes.

Meanwhile, Relena reached up to run her fingers along the twin braids that wound around her head, a nervous habit she'd picked up ever since becoming the ruler of her own city-state. "Quatre," she said, her voice soft but firm, "just down the hall is the orc chief of the Horde, who has come to us because he is concerned about a cursed amulet that was stolen from his ranks; my cousin's prize guild of thieves is missing, and you think that Heero's whereabouts are of no consequence to me?" She dropped her hands and let them hang limply at her sides as she added a bit more frantically, "You know he is the leader of that very guild, and I refuse to believe they are unrelated."

Conceding that Relena did have a fair point, Quatre sighed an apology. "He said he and his traveling companion had made some sort of pact with Heero," Quatre went on to inform her, recalling the first conversation he had with Trowa. "They're keeping him their hostage and are clearly traveling somewhere, as they seemed to be in a glade before this rain-soaked plane. But to where they are going, I have not a whit." He shrugged helplessly, wishing there was more he could say.

Relena frowned, not sure what to make of this new revelation. She didn't have much more time to consider it, though, for behind her, there was a brilliant flash of gold within the stormy portal, and then the clink of rustling chain mail. Both Quatre and Relena whirled towards the portal, staring almost idiotically at it as the proud figure of Trowa Sunbender rose to fill its scope. He still looked like a drowned rat, but there was definitely something more confident and sure about him that extended beyond his royal blood, clearly a byproduct of Quatre's magic. It was then that Quatre realized what an imposing creature the elf truly was, and wondered if he had really done well to revitalize him. He silently thanked Elune that Trowa was at least a kind of ally for the time being, shuddering to think what sort of enemy he would make.

"I thank you, priest," Trowa said airily, the best impression of gratitude that he could muster, though it wasn't very good. "You can rest assured that I will not murder your sneaky friend in the night with skills like yours."

Quatre wasn't sure such a promise comforted him very much, but he muscled a strained grin nevertheless. "Then can I count on you to tell me what it is you are seeking in Azeroth?" he asked, deciding that there was no sense in playing word games with Trowa. "You cannot hope to persuade me that you are venturing forth without cause."

Trowa was only slightly moved to tell Quatre the whole of it, despite what he had promised before. Vaguely, he replied, "Not seeking, but quelling."

Both Quatre and Relena tensed at these words, sensing the correlation between the news borne by Thrall and Trowa's clue, scant as it was. Subtly, Quatre gripped Relena's wrist, a silent entreaty not to alert Trowa to the fact that what he had said meant something to either of them, and she pursed her lips accordingly.

It was then that Trowa cast a glance in Relena's direction, and he arched his eyebrows with amusement at the sight of her. "Ah, the Lady Proudmoore," he greeted her, though his voice was still twanged with a hint of dissonance. "Are you here to weasel out some sort of negotiation for our rogue friend? I wouldn't count on it so easily...."

"Your secrecy is unbecoming, fair prince," Relena tartly retorted.

"As is your diplomacy," said Trowa, his eyes narrowed. "You would do well to know that under such circumstances, your friend's life rests in his ability to keep his word."

Quatre chose that moment to ask an all-important question: "And what, exactly, is it that Heero has promised you?"

There was a pause as Trowa mulled over an answer. Then, his lips curled up into an almost dastardly smile as he said, "To betray the Alliance."

++++

Trowa trekked back through the rain to the dry encampment under the rock ledge, where he'd left Duo and Heero. Heero had curled up near the fire and was asleep, while Duo still huddled in the same place he'd been when Trowa had left. He was staring contemplatively at Heero's balled up form as it rose and fell with his every breath. He barely even seemed to notice Trowa's return.

"Put out that fire," Trowa announced abruptly, only vaguely concerned by Duo's uncharacteristic silence. "I saw some Allies while I was mucking about. We need to move before they find us." He neatly avoided detailing that the Allies in question were far away in Theramore, but it wasn't something he probably could have explained well, even if he wanted to.

A low growl rumbled in the back of Duo's throat at Trowa's words, indicating that he wasn't as dazed as he initially appeared. It was hard to tell if he was more annoyed at Trowa for compromising their position or if he was just loath to move so suddenly. Warily, he got to his feet and nudged Heero with his toe as he walked towards the fire, which he then smothered with his cloak before tossing it back over his shoulders.

Heero blearily opened his eyes, confused by the midnight interruption. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, frowning at the sight of Trowa and Duo hastily packing up their bags. Though he'd been sleeping under the Epyon demon's power for some time, he hadn't had any real rest in what seemed like an eternity, and he was absolutely shattered. "Where are we going?" he wanted to know.

"Onwards," sighed Duo, who sounded very weary, despite the fact that the Forsaken had no need for sleep. He kicked the provisions pack towards Heero and added, "I'm sorry."

Heero swallowed the rest of his discontent and shouldered the leather satchel without a word. He'd been trained in survival skills since a young age and had managed to endure far less savoury situations than this. Complaining wouldn't change things, so he bit his tongue and followed his keepers back into the rainstorm.

It was pitch black in Arathi as they hustled across the stony terrain, careful not to slip on the slick rock beneath their feet as they headed south towards the wetlands. It was ironic that Trowa had moved them out to escape Allies by rushing them into enemy territory. The wetlands weren't overly populated, but what few settlements existed there were very prominently Alliance affiliated. It was doubtful that the tricks that had worked to move Heero through the Horde villages would have the same effect if they tried it on any Allies.

"I can tell you right now, I'm sick of this damned rain," Duo muttered as a fierce lightning bolt crackled overhead, illuminating the area for a scant moment. They had to be careful as they continued: there were ogres living near the border, and they were hostile towards everything.

"Don't expect it to let up anytime soon," said Trowa, obviously happy to put a further damper on Duo's disposition.

Heero kept his personal thoughts to himself as they continued, privately glad that they would soon be heading for more familiar territory. Despite what Duo and Trowa seemed to suspect, he had no plans to try escaping from them with the demonic curse still plaguing him. He even supposed it was more beneficial relying on the two of them as opposed to a fellow Ally, who was likely to send word to King Milliardo about the whole thing. Truth be told, the more Heero thought about it, the less he liked the idea of Milliardo knowing anything at all. Better the Stormwind monarch think him dead until he was certain the demon's power was silenced. He wondered if that was considered betrayal.

Thunder boomed loud in their ears, rolling across the sky like the drums of the Tauren. Something about its grandeur instilled a quicker pace in the trio as they hurried onwards, though wet as they were, it wouldn't have done them much good to find shelter at that point. Another flicker of lightning came, almost immediately followed by the rumbling of thunder, and the rain started to hiss down upon them even harder. The pattern continued, slowly becoming more and more intense with each repetition, almost as if the very sky was trying to spite them. The thunderclaps became more and more intense, almost as if they were sounding over top one another. Even the ground seemed to rumble underfoot as the surrounding mountains started to funnel the land into a narrow pass.

Suddenly, there was a great roar that rose up above the tumultuous storm, and the trio skittered to a stop, realizing that the shaking earth and echoing thunder wasn't a trick of the sky. In a flash of lightning, they saw, looming before them, a great Boulderfist ogre brandishing a spiked club at them. It had a mighty girth and an ugly face that looked as if it was a great mass of dough that had been beaten into shape with a tree branch. It was then that they realized that they had strayed a bit too close to the Boulderfist caves, though it seemed a hazard that anyone looking to cross the Thandol Span would have to overcome.

They stood there hesitantly, all three staring back at the enraged ogre as if they had no idea what they ought to do. But when the ogre let out another yell, rallying more of the brutes to come crawling out of the caves, Trowa simply growled, "Run."

At the sight of more warriors and even some of the double-headed shamans of the Boulderfist clan, neither Heero nor Duo needed a second urging. All three of them broke into a sprint with Heavypaw blazing ahead towards the great canyon that separated the highlands from the low wetlands of Khaz Modan. The Thandol Span, once a mighty dwarven bridge that connected the two landmasses, now lay in ruins and had been replaced with only a meager, wooden footbridge to act in its stead. It was shaky and unreliable, and all of them prayed that the storm hadn't managed to destroy their only escape with the ogres hot on their heels.

"Just keep going! Don't even stop!" Trowa shouted, urging them onwards as the wooden bridge came into view, swinging perilously over the gorge. Heavypaw leapt forward, landing on the first few planks of the bridge with a nerve-wracking creak as Trowa charged on not far behind.

Duo, however, did stop, long enough to summon his blue genie companion from the nether. He bade it to try and slow the oncoming ogres as he and Heero made for the bridge as well, and it obeyed with an exaggerated bow before executing the command. The voidwalker brandished its fearsome talons and soon set to the task of ripping into the first ogre it met, while Heero and Duo used the time they had been bought to distance themselves even further from the Boulderfist threat.

Soon Heero and Duo were on the bridge as well, though the weight of their entire group only did to make the rickety passageway swing more violently in the wind. Heero had never been afraid of heights, and in the past, had launched himself off many a precarious ledge, but this was entirely different: once glance over the side of the bridge sent a disconcerting swallow down his throat, and he tried not to think about whether or not his death would be worse if he smacked the water or bashed his skull on the rocks when he fell.

Meanwhile, Heavypaw and Trowa had managed to get safely to the other side, while the other two were still about halfway across the bridge. The elf was shouting back at his two companions, but his words were drowned in the howling gales, and they missed Trowa's warning that the voidwalker had been defeated by the ogres, who were now charging after them once more. In fact, it wasn't until the bridge suddenly lurched with the weight of the first ogre that either Heero or Duo even glanced behind them, and the realization that their time was starting to run dangerously thin struck them more savagely than even the pelting rain.

When two more ogres clambered onto the narrow bridge, the urge to react to the situation filled both of them, though both thought to do so in completely different ways. While Duo, who was ahead of Heero, thought to kick in and run as fast as he could towards Trowa, Heero resolutely planted his feet and turned around, ready to hold his ground even though the only weapon he carried was a dagger Duo had stolen from the Syndicate thieves earlier. He was still afraid of falling, but he knew if he didn't get those ogres off the bridge soon, there was no way both of them would be able to make it across before the whole thing snapped beneath them.

Heero's plan, though noble, was not very well thought out, and was over before he even had a chance to swing his blade once. With the weight of just one more ogre on the Arathi side of the bridge came the unsettling groan of straining rope as the bridge's lashings started to give way. Heero could hear Trowa screaming insults and Duo yelling unhelpful advice from somewhere behind him, but he only had the sense to take a few, slow steps backwards.

Then, almost unexpectedly, there was a sudden crack, and the bridge surrendered to the force bearing down upon it. Right in the middle, where it was the weakest, the bridge snapped in half the moment the leading ogre set his heavy foot down, sending him plummeting down into the rapids churning at the bottom of the Thandol gorge. The two halves of the bridge swung apart, dumping a few more of the clumsy ogres into the ravine on one end, while Heero, who was smaller and lither, clung like a drowned rat to the last few planks of his.

"Oh, for the love of Elune!" Duo swore as he watched the spectacle from Trowa's side. He had just managed to scramble to safety when the bridge had fallen apart, but he had only just realized that Heero hadn't been right behind him until he turned around and saw the human clinging to the end. He glanced over at Trowa, who was frowning deeply, but wasn't making any moves to lend a hand. With a heavy sigh, Duo cast off his robes and deftly started to scramble down the planks in only his vest, britches and boots, ignoring Trowa's clear disapproval.

Descending the now-vertical bridge as if it were a swaying rope ladder, Duo was nearing Heero at a pace that was perhaps a bit too hasty for safety's sake, though such a thought never even entered his mind as he moved. All he could think about was making sure that Heero got out of this mess alive. Finally reaching the bottom, where Heero was struggling to keep his grip on the splintered wood. Gripping the planks with his skeletal hand, Duo thrust his fleshy forearm down towards Heero, offering it in such a way that it would be easy for the clambering rogue to grab on.

It took Heero a few moments to register what was going on: his eyes were full of rainwater, and he felt as if the amount that he had swallowed would be enough to drown him right there. Squinting up at Duo, he could barely make out Duo's rotted face, distracted by what appeared to be a scarred emblem burned into the underside of Duo's forearm. He stared at it, unable to make himself react until his brain managed to recall the seal as that of the Scarlet Crusade. This, of course, only served to bring a hundred more questions to mind, but at least Heero was able to force himself into reaching up to grab onto Duo's proffered arm with that unexpected distraction out of the way.

Duo helped Heero hoist himself out of peril, and soon, they were both clambering back up the bridge-ladder to where Trowa was waiting impatiently. The climb back up was much less harrowing than the one going down, and they were both able to move faster, eager to put that danger behind them. When they got to the top, Trowa grudgingly hauled them back up, and they both collapsed onto the ground to catch some air, despite the storm that was still hounding the land.

Despite this, Heero still noted how quick Duo was to throw his robes back over his decrepit body, tucking the peculiar Scarlet emblem away from his prying eyes. Willing himself to look away, he fought to swallow his curiosity about it and chose to pretend like he'd never even seen it.

++++

[last]
[next]