CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: On a Journey

Wufei looked up at the horse.

The very, very big horse that was not the horse Torlin had given him.

The horse looked back down at him and made an odd huffing sound.

He had the feeling it was of the same opinion as him.

There was no way this was going to work.

"Wufei?" Trowa spoke from behind him, a slim hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

"I am not getting on that horse!"

"Why not?" The taller boy tried not to show any sign of amusement. It wasn't easy - Wufei looked like a kitten meeting its first bulldog - not sure whether to fight or run away.

"You have to be joking," the Fire Talent replied. "Look at it - it's twice as tall as I am! Where's my other horse?"

"We put her with our pack horses. She's a nice horse, but you really can't ride her now - she's not a war horse. She's not trained to act properly in battle. She might throw you."

"Who says this one won't?"

"I say he won't. Come here." Trowa took Wufei's arm gently and tugged him closer to the horse. The great beast lowered his head and snuffled at the very small person in front of him. "This is Naztar, Wufei, and he's been specifically trained to carry Fire Talents. Flames don't frighten him at all."

Wufei stood perfectly still as a velvet-soft nose brushed against his cheek.

Trowa went on. "He's been trained since he was a foal. Once he realizes you're his rider, he'll never throw you, nip at you, or pull the reins loose. He'll even protect you in battles, and defend you if you're down."

"Really?" Wufei eyed the horse, still looking distinctly unhappy. "And how, exactly, is he supposed to realize I'm his 'rider'? When I get on him and he can tell I've ridden a total of two horses before? and that most of the time they were just following other horses around?"

Trowa grinned. "Don't worry; he'll train you fast enough. And no - he'll just know you're his. It's a Spell, cast by an Animal-Talker. He's been trained for a Fire Talent, like I said, and when I called out your name by the corrals, he's the one who came forward."

"Weird," was Wufei's only comment, but he carefully put out a hand and patted the horse's neck.

Naztar looked distinctly amused.

So did Trowa.

*

General Athar turned in his saddle and gazed back over the columns of soldiers behind him. His quick grey eyes searched for any problems; finding none, he moved on to survey the supply wagons and the herd of extra horses that followed, then spared a quick glance for the half-dozen carriages that were the usual tag-alongs to his troops.

Nobles, usually, and not his concern.

Unless, of course, they caused trouble.

His eyes went to where his newest Commander was riding, with the man's WarCraft Spirit right by his side. They were deeply engaged in conversation, not paying much attention to what was going on around them -

- except for the periodic checks to make sure their Talents were safe and happy.

All Spirit Talents did that - he himself checked on his own Others every seven minutes. It was pure instinct; he could stop himself about as easily as he could he could chop off his own legs.

Just wasn't going to happen.

Even with his regular checks, and the constant reports he heard from his Lieutenant, he had another concern today.

A small, too-thin concern, riding on a horse far too big for him.

Xiong Ru's son.

Even now, he could hardly believe it.

He needed to talk to the boy - he'd come close to it the last evening, standing by the Training Arena, but Wufei had looked so fascinated by the practicing Fire Talents that he couldn't bear to pull his attention away from them.

At least he'd finally been able to see the boy with his own eyes - he looked so much like a miniature Xiong that he'd had to keep himself from hugging him. He was just glad that he'd arranged to have Zechs and his WarCraft traveling closer to his own entourage today. He wasn't sure he could bear it if the child was out of his sight. Xiong's death didn't cancel out his responsibilities as Wufei's Guardian - if anything, it only enhanced them.

He had yet to explain all of this to Zechs, but he knew he had to soon. He needed to explain things to the boy, and military courtesy required him to speak to his Council, then his Spirit, first. That would be a good thing, anyway - he needed to reassure those two that he was not going to attempt to undermine their own responsibilities to the little Fire.

Or try to take Wufei away from them.

But he had things to tell the boy, things to give him. Memories, knowledge, the treasures that Xiong had left in his safe keeping. He wouldn't be able to give him his family's ancestral sword, since that had disappeared along with his friend, but the scruffy scabbard the boy had worn across his back the last night had looked highly familiar, so he might not have to worry about that. He hadn't been shown any memories of that Trainer in Haven Village returning the relic, but he obviously had.

Good. He wouldn't have to hunt the man down and demand it.

Besides, he had plans for this Torlin, and he was looking forward to implementing them.

*

"How's it going, 'Fei?" Duo asked, moving his horse up next to Naztar.

"Okay, I guess," was the reply, and Duo noticed that Wufei's grip on the saddle horn had loosened from white-knuckled to just tight.

"Good. Talk to me for a while, take your mind off of it."

"Talk about what?" Dark eyes slanted to him for a moment, then back to gaze intently at the horse.

"Tro said he told you some of his story. Want me to tell you how we met up with him?"

"Yes!" Wufei abruptly forgot that he was on a horse that could kill him without even trying hard, his face losing its scowl and lighting up with delight.

Duo saw several other soldiers, who hadn't particularly noticed Wufei before, slow their horses and stare.

He glared at them, then turned his attention back to his Fifth.

"'Kay - it's a long story, but Quatre's off hob-nobbing with Sally and Tro' and 'Ro - sounds like they're twins, don't it? - are up there with Zechs, so we prolly got time. Here's how it went..."

********(( City of Helia, Four Years Earlier ))********

"Hey, Hee-chan - what does 'C-i-r-c-u-s' spell? It's on a poster by the shops, with some pictures of weird people."

"Sound it out," Elaira ordered, not looking up from her needlework. She was teaching Duo to read, but it was uphill work when Heero was too soft-hearted to make him do his own studying.

"I can't; the 'c's are all weird. I don't never know if they're the 'kuh' sound or the 'sss' sound." Duo pouted, giving her those stellar puppy eyes.

She smiled at him. "I'll help you out this once; the first 'c' is 'sss', the second is 'kuh'."

"Sssir-kuhss? Is that it? What's it mean?"

"Circus," Heero spoke for the first time, not looking up from the knife he was polishing. "It's a group of people who do tricks and performances for money."

"Whoa! Can we go see them?"

"A circus is nothing you need to waste your time on," Lord Jarren snarled, appearing suddenly and frowning at Duo. He still was far from reconciled to his prize accepting such trash as a Second. "You both have studying and training to do, and..."

"...and one afternoon's break will be good for them." Elaira interrupted. "Of course you may go. I remember being fascinated by the circus when I was small." She smiled at the two boys. She didn't get to see them often; they were usually consumed by their Military training, but they spent three days a month with them and she was glad of it. Both of them were gems and she loved them dearly.

Which meant she enjoyed giving them these little treats, whether her husband liked it or not.

He was glaring at her right now; she gave him her sweetest smile and he blinked, confused.

Ah, men... if one had a pretty face it was so very easy to distract them!

*

Heero and Duo paid the entry fee outside the large tent, one boy standing solemnly and waiting for their change while the other nearly danced beside him. Duo had never seen anything like a circus, only bad street performers, and he was excited.

He didn't understand how Heero could just stand there!

"C'mon, c'mon, let's go in, Hee-chan! I don't wanna miss anything."

Heero allowed himself a small smile at his Second's eagerness. He would admit he was rather looking forward to this, himself, and his Trainer had once mentioned that the acrobats who were good enough to be in the traveling circus' were worth studying. One could pick up on a few good techniques from watching them. A good Soldier could always find something to learn from watching professionals at work, even if it was only seeing the intense concentration on a blacksmith's face as he hammered thick metal into a thin, beautiful sword.

The tent was huge, and smelled of beeswax, straw, sweaty people, and musty animal fur. There were wooden benches rising up to a rather shaky height. Heero decided not to risk his life or his Seconds by climbing up there, even if that was where most of the boys from town were sitting. He chose a more solid-looking seat on the front row.

That was fine with Duo. It was closer to the action.

Rather good action, Heero was forced to admit. The Ringmaster knew his business - he had the audience enthralled as soon as he opened his mouth - and the first act, ladies in sparkling costumes practically dancing on the backs of horses, was well worth watching. He wondered if he could manage his balance well enough to stand on a galloping horse like that. One could get much better range for firing at enemies.

"This is so cool..." Duo breathed beside him, "how long do you think it took them to learn it? They must really trust those horses! How do they get them to keep a steady pace like that? Do you think those weird harnesses hurt them? I want to learn to do a flip like that!"

Heero was already long-practiced at half-listening when Duo chattered; it was the only way to keep sane around the constant flow of words. "We'll ask someone," he promised.

That was good enough for his Second, the boy tossed his now-braided hair over his shoulder and beamed at him. "Thanks, 'Ro."

"Hn."

The second act was considerable less interesting for both of them. It was jugglers, and good ones, but they'd seen plenty of jugglers in their lifetime. Duo could even do it himself, and found the routines a bit tame. He stirred a little when they started tossing flaming sticks, but that was all.

The third act was the lion tamer, rated excellent by Duo, and the fourth act was clowns, rated stupid by Heero.

It was during the fifth act that something unexpected happened.

Acrobats took a quick bow in the ring, then started climbing up impossibly high posts. Their movements were quick and graceful as they went up and up and up. All eyes were riveted to them.

Well, almost all.

"Hey, Hee-chan," Duo whispered, "hold on to your money, man. Those kids in the circus clothes are stealing people blind."

Heero took his attention from the performers to gaze at the small urchins flitting through the audience. They were carrying platters of roasted peanuts or the wispy 'cotton' candy that Duo had already eaten far too much of -

- and they were, indeed, slipping their hands into pockets or in belts and removing money purses.

He thought about stopping them, then decided to report it to the Town Guard, later. It wasn't his fault that these people were too dumb to realize they were being robbed. It didn't excuse the criminals - but then, he had a feeling none of these children were doing this on their own. Their movements were too co-ordinated, and their young faces were tense and strained. He noted the way they continually glanced at the Ringmaster and decided to report that, as well.

A roll of drums pulled his attention back to the performers.

A tall, slim girl in a green and gold dress-like outfit pranced out onto the high wire. Her movements were graceful and sinuous, the slide of long legs, the languid turn of a slender white arm. She danced back and forth, turning and twisting and occasionally doing some sort of dangerous trick. She was lovely to watch.

A few moments later, she was joined by a taller man in a matching outfit, whose grace was equal to her own. They danced together for a moment, then he lifted her to his broad shoulders and they continued the act that way. He balanced on the wire and she balanced on him, and the audience held their collective breath.

Only to applaud wildly as the two bowed and ran lightly to opposite ends of the wire and the safety platforms there.

The next people on the wire were children, of various ages and skills. All of them wore odd costumes in the same green and gold as the man and woman.

Heero and Duo both frowned. So did most of the adults present; there was no safety net and there were no wires fastened to the young ones. This was dangerous.

The children didn't seem to think so - they did tumbles and flips with complete confidence. The best of them was a tall boy with auburn hair covering half his face. He moved among the other children easily, touching a shoulder here and back there when one of them looked a bit shaky. He did his own flips and turns with the ease of long practice.

For some reason, Heero couldn't take his eyes off of him.

Then, just as the young performers were obviously ending their act and getting ready to leave the wire, he felt the subtle, warm rush of an Earth Talent fill his soul.

Beside him, Duo gasped and latched onto his arm with fingers so tight they hurt.

Not that he noticed now - he was looking around wildly, searching for the Talent who was Speaking to him, Calling out to his own Spirit Talent - and apparently to Duo's Water Talent.

Some dark power dragged his eyes away from the audience and back up...

To where the tall boy had paused on the wire, trembling, the sudden paleness of his face visible even from down here...

Heero got to his feet without realizing it.

Duo stood, with him.

The boy's face turned, and they knew he was looking down at them.

Then his foot slid off the wire...