WarCraft

WARCRAFT


DISCLAIMER: If I owned them, the show would be a
LOT different... trust me!

SUMMARY: AU! A world where people have ‘Talents'
that allow them to control certain elements.
Different Talents can ‘Join' to become a specific
entity - some can heal, some can repair damage
to land and buildings, some are weapons. The
Talents you ‘Join' with are called your Others.
The perfect Joining is of five separate Talents.
One lonely Fire Talent far to the North has
given up waiting for his Others - good thing they
haven't stopped looking for him... It'll all
be explained better in the story.

CHAPTER ONE: Comes a Four...

Hopeless.

Wufei leaned against the far side of the Arena
and watched as other Talents, some he'd known
half his life, were met by their Others and left
the Arena. No one even looked his way, let
alone approached him, and they hadn't all day.
He didn't know why it was bothering him, it
was like this at every gathering he'd ever been
to.

Ah, well. Perhaps it just wasn't meant to be.

He pulled his cloak firmly around him, drawing
the hood over his face against the bitter wind.
It was time to leave, there would be no more
Matches made today and he had a job to get back
to.

He was in for a jolly round of teasing, too,
from Alvis and his friends - though he'd noticed
that none of them had been Matched, either.
It wouldn't matter. They were ‘waiting for their
perfect Others', while he was just pathetic.

Life wasn't fair.

He stepped out of the Gathering Arena and into
the street. Instantly the wind was trying to
steal his cloak and his breath - he was certain
it was after his very soul. It was so strong
it seemed to be pushing him towards the inn, like
his feet were taking steps twice as long as
usual. He slid inside the door with an unusual
feeling of relief - he hated coming back here,
but escaping from the wind dulled the usual
sullen throb of anger.

"About time!" Harris, the innkeeper, bellowed
at him. "I been waiting all the evening for you!
Alvis done told us you weren't chosen. Again."
He snickered, and half the crowded room echoed
him. "Don't see why you bother going. No
self-respecting Talents are going to choose *you*!
Might as well choose a donkey out of the stable!"

Now the room howled with laughter. Wufei just
hung up his cloak, doing his best to ignore the
jibes thrown his way, and moved around the room,
lighting the fires in the huge fireplaces with
his Fire Talent. Alvis and his friends were
sitting around the main table, candles set up around
them as they practiced their own Talents. Alvis
was a Fire like Wufei, and delighted in showing
off by lighting the candles and snuffing them out
in elegant patterns. His friend Gordon was a
Water Talent, who was teasing his friend by soaking
the candles, making it harder for Alvis to light them.
Alvis just sneered and stepped up his Talent, drying
the wicks before they flowered into flame.

Wufei ignored them, taking trays of pewter mugs
around to the tables, trading the beers for
coopers that he tucked into a pocket on his apron.
‘Another month.' he thought despairingly.
‘Another month until the next Gathering and my
next chance to get out of here.' If some poor
fool of a Talent would just Choose Alvis - he
didn't have to be Chosen, himself - without Alvis
to carry the news that he *hadn't* been Chosen,
he could escape, leaving Harris to think that
he was. The thought of never having to come
back to this hot, foul-smelling place put the
traceof a smile on his usually tightly-clamped
lips.

Bad move.

One of the strangers from Outside, here for the
Gathering, noticed, and when he came to his table
with the beer tray, he felt a hand slip up his
thigh toward his rump. With the ease of old
practice he managed to twist away and make it
seem like he was just moving on. The man scowled
after him, then signaled for the innkeeper.

~Well, shit.~

This was a bad thing - it was illegal for Harris
to sell him like that, but he knew the man had
been tempted before - it was only a matter of time
before someone made him an offer he couldn't
refuse, and this man looked well-off. He'd just
have to hope that the rest of his unattractive
person would cancel out the effect of that smile.
Harris wouldn't risk a fine and a public
out-calling for a handful of coppers.

He just had to hope the man wouldn't think he was
worth more than that.

He saw Harris shaking his head - must have been a
low offer - and the man's eyes turned to appraise
him again. He tightened his lips firmly and twisted
his features into a scowl. It worked, thankfully -
the man shook his head and turned back to his beer
and dinner. Harris snorted and went back to the bar.

A little of the starch went out of Wufei's shoulders,
but he was careful to keep the scowl on his face the
rest of the night.


***** (Later and Elsewhere) *****

"This is hopeless."

Heero turned to gaze at his Second, his Water

Talent. "Duo - it can't be."

"I don't mean completely hopeless, Hee-chan. I
mean hopeless *here*. There isn't a decent
Talent in the place. I don't feel anything. Do
*you* feel anything?"

"No," Heero was forced to agree. "What about you?"
He turned to his Third and his Fourth, who both shook
their heads mutely. He sighed. This was the thirteenth
Gathering they'd journeyed to since the Oracle in Helia
had told them their long-awaited Fifth was somewhere to
the North. The enthusiasm they'd begun with had rapidly
faded. Too many disappointments were wearing them
down.

"There's no point in even staying here," Duo grumbled,
curling his lip as a plump female Fire Talent tried to
catch their attention.

"I agree." Quatre said softly. "If our Fifth was here,
we would have sensed them already."

Heero sighed again, and looked to his Third. It was
just as well to get everyone's opinion. Trowa just
nodded, agreeing with the others.

"Let's go then." Heero said.

"Back to Helia?" Duo asked, sadness in his voice.
It had been a long, hard journey, but they'd been so
eager to find their Fifth, the missing piece of
themselves and the key to finally becoming a WarCraft.
Their Commander had given them as long as they needed,
knowing that when they finally found their Fire, they'd
be a force to be reckoned with. Not that they were easily
dismissed now, even as an unfinished Four, but he had
high hopes of their powers once they were
Complete.

Now it was over - this was the last town they knew of
on this road. Any further and they'd be in enemy territory,
where no Talents were even permitted to live - they were
killed at birth.

"No, not back to Helia." Heero said, surprising them.
"I heard a soldier speak of a small town off to the East
of here. It's still North of Helia - as long as we are
here, we may as well visit. Next week is their Gathering."

"All right. Maybe we'll get lucky." Duo tried to get his
old cheerfulness back into his voice, but it was a hard
fight. They were rapidly running out of hope.


***** (Later and Elsewhere Again) *****


"Don't tell me you're going to try again," Alvis sneered
as he watched Wufei put on his ragged cloak. "No one ever
picks you. I would think you'd be tired of the humiliation."

‘I would think you would, too.' Wufei thought to himself,
keeping his head down so the other boy couldn't read the
thought on his face. It wasn't a good idea to anger the
Mayor's son, after all. Wufei had carried bruises from his
fists before.

‘Please, *please* let him be Chosen this time.' He begged
the gods as he trudged down the cold, muddy road to the Arena
again. He'd long ago stopped asking for himself, but he'd
never give up hoping that Alvis would be Chosen and taken far,
far away from here. If he was just Chosen by a local Talent
life wouldn't change enough. He'd just be strutting around
the village prouder than ever.

Wufei slipped into the Arena and let his eyes run over the
Joined Talents and the Singles who were waiting inside. Not
many different from last time, and no one who called to him.
Ah, well. At least a few of them were looking at Alvis.
Perhaps today would be his lucky day, after all. He tightened
his arms around the small bundle of belongings he'd hid inside
his cloak and waited, hoping hard.

He was watching as a prosperous older Water Talent spoke to
Alvis when there was a sudden commotion near the entrance.
One of the younger Talents, not old enough for Gatherings yet,
came rushing inside.

"There's a Four coming!" He gasped, setting up wondering
cries among the unChosen inside. "A WarCraft Four, searching
for Fire!"

Alvis drew himself up haughtily, as if he were already
Chosen by so prestigious a group. The other Fires, except
for Wufei, began detaching themselves from friends and
Possibles and drifting toward the door. Wufei shrank
back into the shadows, clutching his bundle tighter as
hope blossomed in his heart. Surely this would be the
‘Perfect Match' Alvis was always going on about?!

He could almost taste his freedom.


*


Outside, Heero and his Others swung down from their
horses, gazing around at the dilapidated little
village with obvious distaste.

"Ugh. At least if our Fifth is here, they ought
to be glad to leave," Duo snorted, staring at
the refuse piled in the streets.

"This place is disgusting." Quatre agreed, wrinkling
his nose as the breeze carried the stench to them.
He didn't usually use his Air Talent for such frivolous
things, but he couldn't resist sending the breeze in
the other direction.

"Whew. Thanks, Quat." Duo said as they started for
the small Arena. "I was really going to be..."
They all stopped short as a dull surge of warmth welled
up inside them, burning hotter and hotter as someone
inside the building anticipated their coming.

"That's our Fifth." Heero's voice was reverent - as
one unit they broke out of their trance and raced for
the building.


*


Inside, Wufei reeled and nearly fell against the wall
as several unknown sensations roiled up inside him -
he didn't know what was going on, but he was sure he
was about to be sick.


*


The Four shoved the big wooden Arena doors open and
stalked inside. The sense of their Fifth grew stronger,
although they toned down their own reaction to it. They
knew they were probablyoverwhelming their inexperienced
Fire Talent. They expected to see someone prostrate on
the floor as they came in, with worried friends and family
around them. That was what it had been like when they
found Quatre, their Fourth.

They didn't see it, though - there was just a crowd of
country yokels, gawping at them. One redheaded boy with
a round, cruel face sauntered forward. They could sense
that he was a Fire Talent - but he wasn't *their* Fire
Talent. They stood regally waiting, their eyes searching
the room for someone else to come forward.

Alvis stood in front of them for a long moment, scowling
the longer he waited for them to Choose him. He tried
to meet their eyes and failed. Finally he stalked up
to the one with chocolate brown hair in an artful mess,
who had the emblem of a Spirit Talent on his armor, and
forced the blue eyes to look at him. He smiled.

No response. The beautiful blue eyes stayed blank, not
even a question in them.

"Alvis!" His father called, worriedly. "Come away!"
It didn't do to bother a Four - they might not be WarCraft
yet, but they were powerful enough to flatten the village
as they were. He didn't want them provoked, and even he
had to admit that Alvis was provoking.

"Father, I..."

"Come *here*!"

Alvis ignored him, turning back to Heero. "You're my
Others!" he said sharply, watching smugly as all four
pairs of eyes swung to him. To his surprise, the First
didn't speak - but the Second certainly did.

"Man - not even! We an barely tell you're there - and
you look like a fat weasel!"

Alvis sputtered.

The rest of the village guffawed.

Another Talent moved forward, a slim blond girl with
starry eyes fixed on Heero. "I'm Relena," she breathed,
gazing at him with a look that screamed, ‘I have found
my one true love!' "I'm a Fire Talent - you see?" A
flame danced in her cupped palm. Again, it was Duo who
answered her.

"Sorry, princess. You're not the one we're looking for."

Her lower lip wobbled, but she didn't give up. "You
can't be sure of that - it sometimes takes several hours
for Talents to recognize one another, you know!"

Duo shook his head. "Like I said, sorry, princess, but
our Fire has already Spoken to us." His gorgeous violet
eyes searched the room again, and he called out to everyone.
"Why are you hiding? We know you felt us... come to us!"

The four boys waited, but no one moved. Heero huffed.

"Where are the other Fire Talents? Bring them forward."
He spoke for the first time, ordering the Mayor. The man
obeyed him instantly, motioning to the two Fire Talents
left, a cowed looking brunette girl and a young Fire who
was at his first Gathering and wasn't quite sure of what to
do. The Four stared at them for a moment, then their eyes
were going back over Relena and Alvis.

"No!" Quatre cried, losing his patience. "No, none of them!
Aren't there *any* more Fires here?"

"No... oh, wait, there's the little inn boy. Where is he?"
The Mayor replied, ignoring his son's sudden furious scowl.
Everyone turned to look, and someone finally pointed to the
far wall,where a small figure sat huddled on the floor, with
his head on his knees.


*


Wufei had barely registered that something unusual was
happening - the odd feelings in his stomach had toned
down, but were still too much for him to handle at once.
He was sure he was going to pass out or be violently sick.
Hating his weakness, he'd slid down the wall to the floor
and huddled in on himself, folding his arms around his
stomach and resting his swimming head against his knees.
He vaguely realized that there were footsteps coming toward
him, but he didn't react until a hand stroked his hair.

He lifted his head, dark eyes black as night in a face
drained of color, and stared at the four pairs of eyes
that were nearly devouring him.

‘I think I'm in trouble...' he thought, then blackness
filled his vision and he faded away.