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The Shadowman	By : ColdSilence Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2329 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Title: The Shadowman

Author: Cold Silence

E-Mail: writer.coldsilence@gmail.com

Category: Alternate Universe. MedieTimeTimes.

Pairings: So far: 4 x Relena, 5 x Meiran, Odin x Catherine

Warnings: NC-17. Yaoi. OOC. (I'm trying to keep them IC, but I don't think I've succeeded.) Death. Squick. Incest. Rape.

Website: http://coldsilence.tumblr.com/post/433113072/index

Note:  This chapter contains squick.

The Shadowman

-Chapter Ten-

(The Farming Arc - Day Five)

When Duo returned from the previous night's excursion, he found much to his relief that everyone was fast asleep. However, when morning came, there was an air of barely checked anger in the Lowe household. Obviously, while he was out hunting for Alex and Mueller, the others had found out what happened to Trowa. Not a word was spoken as their chores were done in silence, and the Shadowman found himself on the end of scathing glares filled with betrayal from Heero.

Duo tried to guess why Heero was looking at him that way, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what he had done. Little did he know, the prussian eyed boy had mistakenly thought Duo abandoned them when he disappeared the day before, just like every other rich snob that turned up in the outskirts. A heady mixture of surprise, relief and anger surged through the shepherd when the Shadowman returned in the dead of the night to the room they shared, but he pretended to be asleep while Duo went to bed.

Besides going somewhere without telling them, he wasn't around when Trowa was well enough to speak. After the night the three of them spent together, one would think the gaijin (1) would spare just a smidgin of compassion and support the stablehand when he needed it. Just when Heero was beginning to think that the braided boy wasn't so bad, he was changing his mind yet again. Nothing could ever be simple with Duo.

On a lighter note, the next day was Catherine and Odin's wedding, and nearly everyone on the countryside pitched in to make it happen. Between rushing for the celebration and tending to Trowa, Odin didn't have time to discipline Duo just yet - of which the Shadowman was grateful for. Instead, he ordered the boy to accompany his son to the market, for Catherine was in need of jewelry that only the inner city of Sanc held.

Duo would have protested, but one look at the barely held anger in Odin's face had him marching to the road. He could FEEL Wufei's eyes burning a hole through his shoulderblades as they hitched a ride into town; the earlier threat of tanning his hide ringing through his ears in memory. If the Dragon Leader didn't get him for returning to the very place he was supposed to stay away, then Heero's father would turn him over his knee for abandoning his chores. He just couldn't win!

        Tenseness. Heero was tense because of his issues with Duo. Duo was tense because of his issues with the Mystics. Together, they were a powdered keg waiting for a spark. They searched for jewelry in the marketplace, or at least Heero did. The braided boy was scanning every nook and cranny with wide, cobalt eyes, looking for cloaked Mystics. Unfortunately, nearly everyone in Sanc owned a hood due to the ongoing festival, and added to the fact that they were walking in broad daylight, it was only a matter of time before the Shadowman was spotted.

"Heero wait," said Duo, who decided to break the silence all of a sudden.

        A scowl marred the features of Heero's face as he fixed a glare on his skittish companion. "What's the problem?" His words were close to a growl as they filtered through gritted teeth.

"Ah heh heh... well its just... I've never been to the Fair, and um... I want to get a mask!" said Duo nervously.

"...."

"You should get one too!"

"Duo. We are here to get Catherine's jewelry. Then we leave," said Heero in a flat tone.

"Ok, you go get the goods then. I'll go get us some masks."

"You wouldn't know fashion if it bit you in the ass." Mockingly throwing Duo's words back at him, Heero took a step forwards, almost as if he could nail the fidgity boy to the ground with looks alone. "You're here to help."

Damn. Duo absently lifted his palm to rub over the studs surrounding his obsidian collar, a habit he had developed as of late. If only he could get the Gundam off, then everything would be fine! Mustering up a grin, he tried to convince the other boy once more.  "It's just a mask! It'll only be a second."

"I don't want - Duo, matte!! Kso." (2) Heero's discontent etched itself even deeper on his features when his partner turned around and sprinted into the large crowd. He wondered if he should just abandon the braided baka (3) and search for the jewelry on his own, but he really did need help picking out a good fashion. Setting his jaw, he angrily folded his arms across his chest and waited.

Although it didn't take a 'second', Duo returned within five minutes sporting two masks. No doubt he had liberated the items from some poor shopowner, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Remembering what Wufei had done a couple nights ago, he stuffed his braid down the back of his tunic and slipped on what appeared to be a mask modeled after a cheeky red demon with long horns.

Heero didn't see the boy coming, and he grunted in indignation when a mask was roughly shoved over his face. The horridly pink, pigshaped caricature was pushed up, causing it to snag in his messy dark hair. Unwilling to make himself prematurely bald by ripping it off, he left it on his head and gave Duo a sizzling look.

"What? I think it looks good," said Duo. It took tremendous force of will not to burst out laughing. Heero's bangs were pushed back from the pink monstrosity on his head, exposing his smooth forehead. Little tufts escaped from the sides of the paper mache, and coupled with that evil look he was giving the Shadowman, he looked completely wild.

Tantalizingly wild, like a beautiful steed who was a virgin to man straddling its back.

        ..That was a strange thought. Why was he thinking it?

"Can we please get back to work?" Heero said frostily.

        That brought Duo back to reality. He asked, "Ever since this morning, you've been soooo congenial. Just what did I do to put you in such a good mood?"

At first, Heero took his words at face value, and a confused look spread across his face. He was feeling anything but congenial. Then realization dawned on him, and immediately he hardened once more.  "Where were you yesterday?" he demanded to know.

        Crap. "What's it to you where I was? What are you, my keeper?" said Duo flippantly.

Such was the beginning of one very heated argument.

        Nearby, a pair of hooded figures watched the milling crowd.

In her clan, Dorothy was known as "The Widower". In every generation of Mystics, a select few were born especially powerful in one particular talent. She was one of the fortunate, and it was because of her specialty that she earned her title.

She could see the threads of fate.

They were everywhere; binding, leading, twisting through people's lives to lead them to their destinies. She could read predetermined paths as easily as a book, and it was this very power she was currently exercising. At a glance, she knew the man to her left would meet his future wife near the banana stall. A mere glimpse, and she knew the child playing in the streets would soon pick up a coin that would someday make him rich.

Not only could she view these threads, she could break them.

Dorothy casually told the man that fresher fruit could be found in another stall, causing him to miss his true love. Just as that small boy was close enough to see the coin, she placed her foot over it. The destinies of those people would never be fulfilled.

The Widower can change fate.

She laughed when the man ran into a harlot which would bear him three children out wedlock and grant him a miserable life. With a smile, she convinced the child to go find candy in a nearby alley, where a slave trader will snatch him up and put him in shackles for the rest of his life.

There was a certain thrill to playing god, and the biggest challenge was to come yet. There was a powerful spindle emcompassing all of the world, and it all centered on one person: The Shadowman. The chestnut haired boy was about to fulfill a destiny that would revolutionize the planet, and every person would be touched by his influence.

What a blessing it was to have her talent at this point in time! Manipulating a destiny that powerful could make anything happen, and if she played her cards right, the Mystics would be in the center of the change instead of the pampered fools in the castle.

Once more bringing her power to the fore, all she needed to see the threads was a focusing point. For this reason, she carried a small gold mirror in her palm. Lifting the object parallel to her face, her artic blue eyes dimmed to a dark purple as the magic was tapped within her. The reflective surface of the mirror shimmered in response, and displayed the same thing it had for the past five days - ordinary people, perhaps an occassional flash of white or black indicating half-breed Mystics or Warriors of Light, but she ignored them for they were not the prey she seeked.

"What a droll waste of time. The Shadowman is already in the castle, Dorothy. We should be searching for our quarry there."

The deep, rippling tones of Zechs caused Dorothy's elegantly forked brows to furrow. "The king is bluffing. No one has seen the Shadowman in days, and inquiries as to his whereabouts are brushed aside. He is here in Sanc, I can feel it!"

"You can feel him, hmm," Zechs's tone dropped to a low purr as he quietly added, "I'm jealous."

Dorothy couldn't help the quirk that graced her lips. Zechs had quite an interesting talent of his own.

Several shouts caused her to wrinkle her nose in distaste. These common folk were like mindless cattle, they had no clue of the events happening around them. Soon, she would have them all in the palm of her hand, directing their lives like the puppets they truely were. However, for now she would just have to settle with the handful of people she could ruin.

Following the surreptitious glances people were throwing in the direction of the yelling, she spotted the two figures who were in the middle of a long winded argument. One wore a red mask, and the other had his over the top of his head instead of his face. Annoyed, she lifted the mirror to see if there were any interesting destinies she could steal away from them.

What she saw made her gasp.

Light. Light so brilliant it made her eyes squint, and it surrounded the brown haired boy like a silver halo. And dark. Dark so endless that it seemed to draw her in like a black hole, surrounded the one with the red mask. She had no doubt who that person was, but the child of light was a mystery. However, these were not the things that caught her main interest.

There were threads. Thick, blood red filaments that curled around their bodies and tied them together. Every angry guesture, every movement made it knot tighter, connecting their souls in ways they couldn't even begin to understand. Dorothy, on the other hand, understood perfectly. If she wanted to make the world hers, these were the knots she would have to unbind. A feral smile stretched her lips.

"I take it that you have found the Shadowman." Lowering so that he could peer over Dorothy's shoulder, a lazy grin stretched across Zechs' face. Nail blue eyes glued themselves to the slender form that had the loudest voice.

Just as Dorothy was about to answer, a distinct 'ssshk' caught their attention. Tilting their gazes upwards, they spotted the source of the noise: There stood Wufei on the rooftops, steel blades extended from his gloves and held in a threatening manner across his chest. Mahogany orbs glared from behind a few scant strands of onyx hair, daring the two blonds to try anything.

"Curse that meddlesome boy!" hissed Dorothy in a low voice. Upon discovering that the cloaked figure they were pursuing several days ago was none other than the Dragon Leader, she had immediately taken a personal dislike to the young warrior.

Normally, she would have launched an attack there and then, but several contingencies prevented her from doing so. First, she wanted their presence hidden. The city was swarming with the king's guards, and although she had power, something as simple as a knife in her back could be her demise. It was obvious that the guardsmen were not alerted to their presence, or they would be combing every inch of the streets for Mystics.

        The reason's weren't hard to figure out.  The King didn't want his people to know that the Shadowman was no longer protecting him. He kept this bit of information hushed while he increased the guard, and sent Wufei to watch over Duo. No doubt there would be riots and cries to overthrow Quatre if they knew.

Because of this, every encounter with Wufei was a stalemate. They didn't want to be discovered, and the king didn't want his weakness revealed. The young man would watch them with the readiness of a panther about to strike, and all it would take was a suspicious move or the slightest flicker of an eye to set him off.

"Curses!!!" This time, Dorothy daringly raised her voice loud enough for her enemy to hear, before pivoting on her heels and stalking off in a direction away from the two fighting boys. Bewildered, Zechs followed behind her, curiosity causing his slender brows to perk.

"You will leave your quarry just like that, Dorothy?" he asked.

        "Watching them will be pointless if we cannot do anything about it. I plan to strike when there are no longer any obstacles." Raising a palm, she caused Zechs to come to an abrupt halt. Her smile was suddenly serene as she added, "Besides, I read something in the pattern."

"Oh?" Zechs's gaze followed where Dorothy was pointing, and he spotted two boys leaning against a tavern wall.

They looked as if they had a rough night. Several bandages wrapped themselves around their foreheads and ribs, and the sandy haired one had to walk with a crutch. They sneered at anyone who stared at their swollen faces, both obviously thinking highly of themselves despite their current states.

Wearing an absolutely fake grin, Dorothy walked up to the two boys, who in turned gave the hooded figure odd looks and jeers.

"Excuse me, " her voice purred from the shadows of her cowl, "I couldn't help but be curious as to who did this to you."

"Some chikushoume (4) peasant came by the stables yesterday, claiming to be from house Winner." The way Alex wrinkled his nose in disgust said that he didn't believe Duo's claim to be true at all.

"Yah, after that I taught him what for. He was crying for mercy afterwards." Mueller's words were slightly distorted as they passed through bruised lips.

"Hmmm...yes.. did the boy have extraordinarily long hair?" asked Dorothy.

"Hai, that was him! The girly-boy!" said Mueller.

"He didn't look like he was crying for mercy to me --" Zechs' low mutter was interrupted by the prodding of Dorothy's elbow against his side.

She continued smoothly despite the interruption. "We'd like to know who his companion is. He's a bit shorter; dark brown hair, dark blue eyes."

"Was he in rags?" When Mueller's question was answered with a curt nod, his expression twisted in rage. "I should have known he was one of Heero's friends!"

"His name is Heero?" asked Dorothy.

        "Hai, Heero Lowe," confirmed Alex.

        The shadows hid the way her eyes flashed with malicious intent. "How would you like to get back at this Heero Lowe once and for all?"

Interested, the boys straightened up as best as their injuries would allow.

Dorothy managed to keep her voice controlled despite her mounting excitement over her upcoming triumph. "Tell me where he lives."

        "I don't have to tell you where I went. It's none of your business!"  Duo's cheeks held a light tinge of red as he shouted at the shorter Sanc native.
        Heero never raised his voice very high; instead he merely added just a shade more power behind his nasal inflection to make it seem bigger. "We needed you back at the farm. Everyone was working to get the wedding together and you were nowhere in sight. The least you could have done was stay with Trowa. He needed us too."

"Well I didn't want to okay, I was busy!"

"Busy doing what?"

"Beating the crap out of Alex and Mueller!" Breathless, Duo realized that he had just blurted everything because of his anger. A wave of self-deprication overcame him, particularly when he remembered Wufei's statement of being 'that desperate for companionship.' His voice was much more subdued the next time he spoke, "So there, are you happy?"

Heero reeled from the confession, his eyes wide as he took in the information. At first, he was too shocked to speak the common, and he faltered over a mixture of Nihongo and Duo's normal language.  "N.. naze...why?" (5)

"Well, it's not like you could have done it." Duo averted his gaze, his pouty lips settling into a petulant frown. "If you did, they would have just found ways to hurt you or your family. I know how those types work, it's better if the blame was on someone else. At least that way nobody important gets hurt."

You're important. Heero's thoughts supplied unbidden words that he refused to let reach his mouth. Just why did he think that anyway? "You did it for Trowa." Instead, he found himself stating the obvious.

An unnerving silence fell upon the two boys, and it lasted until Duo felt himself going stir crazy from it. "Aren't we supposed to be getting something?"

"Aa. The jewelry."

"Then lets go." It seemed for the moment that the topic was finally dropped, though it was far from forgotten.

        The events of the afternoon and evening seemed to blur together. They finally found a necklace of pearls, which Marie and Meia decorated with tiny blue wildflowers. With night came the anticipation for the grand celebration to occur the next day, and even Duo was affected by the contagous feeling. For some reason, Wufei never followed through on his threat to tan him the next time he went to Sanc, and even Odin forgave him after Heero explained where he disappeared to. All in all, everything ended well.

A contented look graced his features when he feel asleep that night, only to be disturbed a few hours later by a rough shake.

"Duo, wake up."

With an annoyed grunt, the Shadowman groggily cracked open his eyes, only to find an agitated Heero hovering over him.

"Mmn, what'd I do now?" Voice slurred by sleep, Duo tried to snuggle further into his blankets.

"Iie,(6) don't go back to sleep. I need you."

Heero needed him? That effectively caught his attention. Glancing up again, Duo could see slivers of reflected moonlight swirling in prussian eyes. "What do you need me for?" he asked.

"Stepper is foaling." Golden light suddenly burst into existence, and it took a few moments for Duo's eyes to adjust to the flame of the lantern. Heero was still dressed in his smallclothes, which consisted of a threadbare white shirt and an equally flimsy pair of shorts of the same fabric that ended just above his mid thigh.

Duo found himself staring.

"There's something wrong. Come with me." After speaking those words in a muted tone, Heero turned away from the bed and began walking towards the barn, the island of light traveling with him. A few more blinks, and Duo was up on his feet and padding barefooted to catch up to his friend.

Calloused hands reached out to push the barn door open, and they were greeted by a barrage of noise and smell. Stepper was lying sideways on the floor, her flanks heaving with each labored breath that expelled itself in a shuddering exhale. The ground behind her was drenched with her broken water, which was the source of the pugnent aroma.

Heero walked towards the horse and hooked the lantern on a peg that stuck out from one of the walls. Noting the absense of footsteps behind him, he turned towards the door, where Duo was still standing at the threshold with cobalt eyes wide enough to take up half his face.

"Duo.." began Heero.

"I am NOT playing midwife to a horse!!!"

Stepper emitted a low whinney, as if protesting the braided one's words. Gritting his teeth, Heero closed the distance between himself and Duo.

"Why can't Trowa do it? He's the horse expert! Or what about Odin, or Catherine, or somebody -" said Duo, his voice going shrill.

        "Duo." Interrupting his tirade, Heero stopped in front of the noble with a glare. "Trowa is not well enough to handle this. Papa and Catherine are with him right now, and it would take too much time to fetch them or anyone else. Stepper is running out of time."

"But I don't know anything about birthing horses!" protested Duo.

"Don't worry about that. Right now, Stepper is dying and so is her foal."

At the mention of death, Duo reluctantly returned his gaze to the scene before him. The white mare was practically motionless save for its breathing, and its fur was drenched and matted with sweat. He knew the creature was dying, because he could feel it. The Shadowman could always tell when a spirit was about to pass on, and both Stepper and her foal were hanging by a thread. "What do we have to do?" he asked reluctantly.

[Squick warning]

        "Fetch a bucket of cold water and some cloth." As Heero spoke, he knelt by the mare and began carefully touching her sides, his dark brows furrowing in concentration.

Duo did as he was told, and with the shepherd's instruction, dipped the cloth into the water and layed it across the horse to help keep its fever down. He grimaced and tried not to look at the horse's backside, which Heero kept peering at with increasingly disturbed looks.

"He's backwards. That's why Stepper is having trouble."

"You mean it's being born the wrong side first?" Mildly proud that he remembered something about giving birth from Tsuberov, Duo tried to gather his courage and look at what Heero was staring at. "What are we going to do?"

"Help turn it in the right direction."

If anything, Duo's eyes got even bigger as he watched Heero pull up his sleeves. "We have to WHAT?!"

He never received an answer. Duo learned he had a cast iron stomach as he watched Heero reach past Stepper's folds of flesh and began working to turn the baby in the right direction. His arm was soon coated with blood and bits of skin as he dug into her slippery insides, wincing everytime a powerful contraction threatened to break his bones.

It continued for about half an hour, until Heero tiredly leaned back and fixed Duo with a look. "You do it. I'm getting too tired."

        Duo felt his stomach lurch at Heero's words, though at this point he was too numb to do anything else. Heero maneuvered him to take his place, and quietly gave him instructions on what to feel for and what to do. The next thing he knew, he was elbow deep inside Stepper, but the urge to loose his lunch was quickly diminishing.

His fingers could feel the foal inside her, and all thoughts of disgust fled when he realized that he was saving a life. Never had he done this before; as far back as he could remember he was expected to be the Winner's personal executioner. Who would have thought he would be in this place right now, saving a newborn and her dying mother?

Duo suddenly gave a small cry of truimph. "I think I did it!"

Heero peered intently at Duo's handiwork, and sure enough, a couple contractions later small hooves became visible at the opening.

That was the first time Duo ever saw Heero smile, and it was breath-taking.

Within the next few minutes, the foal was halfway out, but they didn't wait for nature to finish. They carefully pulled it the rest of the way, and got to work tugging off the membrane that covered it since Stepper was too weakened to do it herself.

They rescued a small, grey creature that looked dead. Heero opened its mouth to help it drain the fluid from its lungs, and once the water spilled out, it gave a hiccuping cough.

Duo couldn't stop his pleased laughter as he scooted back at Heero's command. Stepper weakly licked her baby clean, and its fur began to hint at a beautiful white coat like its mother, though peppered with black spots. Within ten minutes, it was already walking.

[End Squick]
        "Its pretty eager to live, isn't it?" Noted Duo in a wondering voice. He was sprawled next to Heero on the ground, watching the youngling guess where its mother was hiding its teats.

"Aa."

A moment of contented silence fell upon them. For the first time, the Shadowman noticed how the barn was completely silent. Upon inspection, he saw that the other animals were awake, but they seemed to remain quiet in lieu of the current events. It was almost as if they were holding their breath in reverence of the occassion.

"Say Heero, how did you know Stepper was giving birth?" asked Duo.

Glancing over at the taller boy, the shepherd gave a miniscule shrug. "I woke up with a feeling. So I checked on the animals and there she was."

"Oh."

They continued to watch the baby live out its first few minutes of life. Caked in blood, sweat and fluid just like the spotted foal, it was almost as if they had been reborn themselves.

End Chapter Ten

(1) Gaijin: Outsider

(2) Matte... Kso: Wait...shit

(3) Baka: Idiot

(4) Chikushoume

(5) N..Naze: W..why

(6) Iie: No
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The Shadowman