by: Tanith
Author Note: C&C.. please?
Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing, but I've asked Santa for a Hee- neko and a Duo-chibi! *bounces* BUT! I *do* own Magda and Evagail. Please don't steal them, I love them too much! I'd be sad!! XD
Warnings: Total AU. There is no war. There are no Gundams. And Duo's a... Nevermind! *grin* There will most definately be shounen ai/yaoi. Also. There is an original character, and there may be more. If that bothers you (o.O?) don't read.. ehhh... Okay! I'm done!!

Crystalline Blue + Chap 2

Duo slowly swam up through nearly overwhelming waves of exhaustion, fighting his way toward consciousness. His head pounded, feeling as if a herd of elephants had graciously decided to hold a parade over it. His eyes lifted laboriously, then snapped back closed again as he groaned loudly in protest of the light, the noise only succeeding in making his head ache worse. "Nng... when... did I fall... asleep?" he croaked out, his voice barely a whisper, still sleep-fogged. He sat up, leaning heavily against the tree behind him, one hand buried in wrist deep grass, the other raising to rub futilely at his temple. His eyes blinked open slowly, allowing himself to adjust to the glaring rays of sunlight that were painfully magnified by the smooth blue water across from him.

"Gods," he raised bloodshot eyes slowly toward the sky as if in supplication. "What did I do to deserve elephants? Damn sadistic animals," he grumbled lowering his gaze to take in his surroundings, dazedly marveling at the new life the centuries old trees seemed to radiate. The lake, his sanctuary. Everything was exactly the same as it had been when... when... He scrunched his face up in concentration, trying to sort through his fuzzy thoughts and remember just what had happened. Then it all came flooding back. The swan, the trees, their reflection, cool air washing over damp flesh where there should have been water.

He sucked in a deep breath, violet eyes shooting to the almost eerily still blue surface of the lake. Still. Completely and totally tranquil. That did not help. Just what had happened? As if to answer his question a gentle breeze started up, the leaves above dancing gaily on it's lift. Duo's gaze was riveted on the now gently rocking water a mingling sense of relief and... disappointment?... roiling inside him. All reflections moves as the should have, twisting and blurring as the wind picked up. Including the still evident impression of the looming oaks surrounding the lake.

::A dream...:: With a short sigh Duo stood, his movements halting and dizzy. Finally gaining his feet, he brushed the back of his tight black pants off, glaring over his shoulder at the grass that clung there. He stalked toward the trees to his right, wanting nothing more than to get away from the taunting blue water behind him. "A dream," he repeated out loud, raking a hand through his choppy bangs, wondering why that didn't quite ring clear. "My luck, Magda'll end up being a dream, too," he muttered with a pang of... something, shaking his head as he wandered aimlessly through drowsy oaks and tall pines.

As Duo moved deeper into the forest, what little dim light that had been filtering through the thick overhang of various greens disappeared completely. Duo's step faltered, eyes widening, but not being able to see even his hand held out before him. There was a sharp wooden snap behind him, the sound echoing loudly in the eerie silence that had fallen with the darkness. Duo whirled, his braid flying wide then smacking almost painfully against his back. Heavy panting reached his ears, hovering in the air before him, but not moving closer. Duo strained to see what was there through the nearly tangible darkness, taking a halting step backward as the heaving breaths became a low growl.

The thing staggered forward noisily. A small noise escaped Duo's throat and he turned sharply, bolting to where he had seen a climbable tree before the darkness had descended. He searched blindly for the branch he knew was there, finally latching onto it, pulling himself up hastily, ears picking up the lumberous sound of the monster's pursuit as the thing finally tried to catch up with Duo. ::Shit, shit, shit... that thing has got to be huge.:: Duo tried to swallow past his tightly clenching throat, scrambling higher, slipping continuously in the nearly tangible lack of light, but catching himself before he could tumble to the ground and the creature waiting below.

He finally stopped his halting ascent, unable to climb anymore as his clung tightly to the trunk at his side. Bright light suddenly filled the area, blinding him for a minute before his vision returned and Duo got a good look at the beast directly below him. The thing's mouth was wide, a sickening howl tearing free, clawed hands clutching at it's head in agony. Matted gray hair clung damply to nearly every bit of his body, pinkish flesh peeking through the miniscule gaps. Dark yellow eyes blinked rapidly, still not conquering the obviously uncommon brightness. Drool oozed sluggishly from the corner of it's mouth and a purplish tongue snaked out reflectively, capturing the dull green fluid.

A slight movement he caught from the corner of his eye drew him gaze away from the still howling beast. A small girl stood at the edge of the bright light, her black eyes wide, golden locks of hair falling over them, loosened from whatever was tying the majority back as she shifted her gaze from Duo to the monster. Her pink lips moved, whispering to herself before she locked eyes with Duo. "Otae nakon [1]!" her voice carried up to him, then she turned and dashed away, taking the light with her. Duo blinked as darkness enfolded him again, his jumbled thoughts rolling over the girls softly voiced words.

He did not have time to puzzle out their meaning, though. The beast below him stopped emitting that horrid noise a few seconds after the light disappeared. The tree began rocking violently, the beast obviously deciding he had waited for his meal to come down of his own accord long enough. Duo's grip on the trunk slipped painfully, rough bark cutting into pale flesh as he tightened his hold in an attempt not to fall. The beast picked up it's efforts, guttural growls reberverating between sharp thumps as it slammed itself bodily into the tree.

Duo clenched his teeth, shutting his eyes against the near suffocating blackness. His muscles screamed, their strength dying out, his arms falling limply to his sides as he tumbled backward off his high perch, hitting the hard ground with a sickening thud. He lay unmoving, disorientating as the sound of heavy feet moving toward him reached his ears. There was a painful tug at his leg, then he was lifted, head spinning dizzily at the suddenness of the movement. He hung upside down, the blood rushing steadily to his head threatening to make him pass out. The thing grabbed his heavy braid, tugging at it hard, pulling it up toward Duo's legs, forcing him to follow until he was folded nearly in half.

There was a sound of movement, soft noises of a slight being's footsteps. His braid was released abruptly, sending his top half flopping downward, the grip on his ankles not faltering as a dim light filled the darkness. Duo avoided looking at his captor, his gaze instead drawn to another slender blond, male this time, a long oaken staff gripped tightly in both hands, the ivory globe on top glowing dimly, soothingly -- the source of the light, it's glow reflecting off of the wicked looking blades on either side of it's rounded surface. "Ebadi wotu il," the blonde spoke, his soft tenor commanding.

The beast flinched slightly before it's grip on Duo's ankles tightened painfully, causing bone to grind into bone. "Ahh!" Duo cried out before he bit his lip hard, his vision fogging, but he didn't take his gaze off of the blond. The beast raised a clawed hand, tracing one nasty razor over Duo's cheek, only pressing hard enough to draw blood at the end of the line. The blond's aquamarine eyes narrowed dangerously, "Ebadi watu ao il!"

The beast loosened it's grip on Duo's legs but didn't let go, it's hand moving to slice through the sleeve of Duo's back shirt, cutting into the tender flesh of the braided boy's shoulder. Duo flinched, a slight whimper catching in his throat and the claw moved dangerously close to his neck. The blond gave a curt nod, his hand bringing the long wooden staff to stand before him, then both hands moved away and to the side, the staff hovering in place before him. "Sta no..." he murmured, bringing his arms up, over his head. Duo watched, violet eyes wide as the blond threw his arms forward and the hovering staff lifted and flew toward himself and the beast, making the wind whistle shrilly as it spiraled through the air.

Duo's eyes snapped shut as the staff, and more importantly it's blades, came nearer. And then he was falling as the beast's hand sprung open reflectively when the twin blades on the staff buried themselves into it's chest, flames engulfing the area around it, burning brightly but not spreading and surprisingly odorless. Duo rolled when he hit the ground, thankful that he had as he saw the huge creature fall as well, landing with a thunderous crash exactly where Duo had landed before. He lay there for a moment, staring at the blackish ooze bubbling up around the staff where it still lay embedded in the beast. The blond walked over then and Duo sat up slowly, his hands flying up to his traumatized head. "Too much falling..." he muttered to himself.

The blond wrapped his hands tightly around his staff and pulled the blades out of burnt flesh with a nauseating slurping noise. He turned to Duo then, walking toward him gracefully and held out a hand to help him up. "Ewi po kiyne an?"

Duo blinked at the hand for a moment, then accepted it gratefully, searing pain shooting from his ankles. "What?" he managed past the pain, taking in the boy's appearance fully to divert his attention before looking into aquamarine eyes warily. He was about the same height as Duo, a soft white hooded robe draped over his slight shoulders, the cuff of the sleeves and hem lined with intricately embroidered silver patterns. It hung open in front revealing tight, dove gray leggings and a light blue tunic which fit his finely boned form loosely, laced from chest to collarbone and cinched at the waist by a corded dull silver belt.

The blond shook his head slightly, a patient look on his kind face, now that all traces of lingering anger were gone. "Mor ewi po fiwani an?"

Violet eyes stared at the blonde boy blankly. The language sounded oddly familiar, though he could not understand why. It was definitely not one he had ever heard before. And the merciless pounding in his temple was not helping matters. "I don't understand," he said quietly.

The blonde just smiled, the motion lighting his entire face. He stepped forward, the hand not holding his staff coming out, pressing the index and middle finger the to center of Duo's forehead. A dark blue fog swam over Duo's eyes, blocking out all outside vision, his headache intensifying almost unbearably then disappearing completely in an instant. He blinked and the world came back into focus, violet eyes flying up to meet aquamarine questioningly.

"Are you okay?" the blond asked, his soft tenor genuinely concerned as he pulled his hand away.

"I-I think so..." Duo started hesitantly, not understand how he could now understand what the blond was saying but deciding not to question it. Much. "Who are you? And what was that thing?!" he queried, motioning to the corpse behind the blond boy.

"I am called Quatre," the blonde stated simply. "And that was a gwenlyr. Beast native only to this forest. It... likes to slowly mutilate it's prey before eating it," the boy's gaze ran over the cut on Duo's cheek.

"Gods..." he breathed, hand coming up to itch at the drying blood on his shoulder before he could stop himself. "If this gwenlyr thing is such a threat why did you try and reason with it?!" Duo asked, his mind flying back to earlier, now able to understand what Quatre's words.

"I don't like to kill if it's not needed," the boy said softly, his blue-green eyes darkening visibly for a moment before they resumed their previous cheerfulness.

"But you expected it to actually listen?" If he had not been before, Duo was now immensely confused.

Quatre looked at him oddly for a moment they beamed brightly. "Of course. All forest animals are supposed to listen to and obey forest elves' commands That one... that one was mad. Nothing could be helped."

"Elves?"

Quatre nodded slowly, his pale, slender hand reaching up to brush back the locks of golden hair covering his ear. Pointed and curving downward at the tip, but definitely not oversized. Duo just stood there, staring until Quatre began to fidget. "Um... can I ask you why it is such a shock I'm an elf?" the boy tried to smile in a friendly manner, not wanting to seem rude. Duo did not seem hear him.

"Elves," he murmured, chuckling softly to himself as he sank to his knees. "Elves... I don't know why I'm so surprised. I mean, first Magda and those cards, then lake, then that... that... 'gwenlyr' thing. Shit. I must have hit my head harder than I thought. Right. Yup, that's it. This is all a dream and I'm laying in a coma at the lake. Yes..." he nodded to himself, his reasons sounding completely rational to himself. Or not. ::But a guy can wish.:: he thought almost petulantly, quieting his rambling, his headache threatening to return with this sudden rush of confusion.

Suddenly, the blond boy spoke up. "Magda? How do you know Magda?" Quatre's voice was tinged with thick disbelief.

The braided boy looked up, violet eyes brightening considerably as he swiftly stood, ignoring the rush of dizziness. "You know Magda?" his voice eager as he took a step forward. "Could you take me to her?" ::She should know what's going on...::

Quatre's kind aquamarine eyes narrowed very slightly. "You didn't answer my question."

"What..? Oh, she read my fortune just before I got lost here. ...Why?" Quatre's gazed searchingly into that open violet gaze then he reached his mind gently toward the other boy's, not wanting to startle him if the braided boy could sense his extremely subtle probing. There was something about this boy. Something his empathy had never felt before. There were definitely secrets locked in a dark corner there, some he was sure the boy himself did not know about. But above all, he realized this odd braided boy could b0e trusted. "Well, Magda doesn't... She's not very... social. Only a few people actually know her and... well... I've never seen you before," he smiled warmly.

"Understandable," Duo gave a half grin. That definitely did not sound like the Magda he knew, but he was not going to press his sorely limited luck. He cocked his head to the side, his braid falling loosely off his shoulder. "So, can you take me to her or not?" he beamed appealingly, widening his eyes adorably at Quatre. Quatre laughed, lips stretching into a wide smile, "Of course."

+

1. This is no real language, just a bunch of letters I thought sounded okay together, but I have choreographed the dynamics of the speech pattern. n.n(aka I have no life. But I've been told I'm a master at languages so I though, what the heck! and created my own XD) Maybe I'll explain it sometime. *beams* Now... if I could only get English right.... XD

Otae nakon -- Do not move.
Ebadi wotu -- Let him down.
il -- commanding / no real meaning
Ebadi wotu ao -- Let him down now.
Sta no... -- As you will...
Ewi po kiyne -- Are you alright
an -- questioning / no real meaning
Mor ewi fiwani -- Why are you here?

*feels suddenly silly for creating her own laguage* But I didn't think they would speak English and I wanted to seem a little more real!! XD

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