Category: Angst, Adventure, AU, Slave/Master Pairings: 1x2, 4x3 (eventually), 5x? Rating: R (?) Disclaimer: Standard. You know them all by now so I won't bore you with a repeat. Archive: Darkflame's Gundam Wing Fanfiction, on the q.t, , Boys in Chains, The End, Angel Ran's Gundam Wing Fanfiction The Best of Yaoi/Fanfiction, anyone else who wants it Warnings: This story does show how a lot of people felt about the owning of slaves, a feeling that was very alive in this country not that long ago, as well as in many civilizations down through the ages. There are some good owners and some bad owners, like in everything. If someone owning another person bothers you, you might not like this fic. But then I'm not forcing anyone to read it. There are also M/M relationships in this fic (I'm very much a 1x2/3x4 fan.) so if boys being together (and I do mean together) bothers you don't read. Golden Lights Part Twenty Four By SilverLady The crackle of the fire was about the only sound heard in the campsite. That and the sounds of people eating. Duo sighed as he stared down at his plate. While Sal was a good cook, her choices in meals was getting.... boring. He wasn't sure if she'd actually made something new tonight or had just snuck last night's meal in on them. He stole a glance across the fire, to where Quatre was sitting attentively at Trowa's feet. He still couldn't believe that the blonde had anything to do with the things that had happened a couple of weeks ago. When he had told Heero that, Heero had pointed out that there been no more incidents since then. As far as Heero was concerned, they had gotten the right person and no amount of arguing on Duo's part had changed his mind. Duo smiled slightly. And he'd used some damn good arguments, too. The smile melted away as he noticed Quatre slowly stand up and take Trowa's plate. He had thought that the original intent of this trip was to make Quatre feel better. But in the past two weeks, any good that had been done had been wiped out. Just as Quatre had begun to show signs of improving, this had happened and he'd retreated back into his silent shell. There was nothing golden about him anymore; even his hair seemed dull and lifeless. It was as if all the energy had been drained away. Duo was afraid that Quatre would try and kill himself again. If not out right, then slowly, wasting away from lack of interest in living. And there was nothing he could do but sit and watch it happen. Duo had tried on several occasions to talk to him, to find out what had really happened, but Quatre was following Trowa's orders to the letter. Duo had even tried yelling at him, but Quatre had simply stared at the ground and said nothing. It had been like banging his head against a wall. As he sat wondering about what else he could do, Sal walked over and sat down next to Trowa. Duo noticed that Wufei, who had been sitting on the other side, immediately got up and headed toward the tent. The two had struck sparks off each other from the first morning. Wufei was determined to find fault in everything she did and Sal was determined to show him up. It had become quite a contest. Duo personally put his money on Sal. There was one woman who knew exactly what she was and what she wanted. A small part of him wondered if Wufei actually liked that, that he enjoyed the challenge that Sal represented. "The trail tomorrow is going to be a bit rough," she told Trowa. Trowa looked at her for minute. "How rough?" "We'll have to ride pretty much single file. And there's always the chance of rockslides, so you have to be careful. Luckily, once we're past this part, it's clear sailing the rest of the way." Trowa nodded. He'd been pleased with his choice of guides and with his decision to no longer allow Quatre to be involved in the trip. Sal was an excellent guide and there had been no more attacks on anyone in the group. In fact, he'd berated himself for even trying to be friendly to the blonde slave. It was becoming apparent to him that there was only one way to treat any slave and that was with a firm hand. It had been foolish of him to even think of trying to make a friend of the boy. He frowned as he looked over to where Quatre was quietly washing his dishes. He'd decided that, for the safety of the others, Quatre was no longer to sleep in a separate tent. He'd found the past two weeks of having Quatre sleeping at the end of his bed... enlightening. Perhaps when we get back I'll get Hemlin to finish training him. I'm sure it wouldn't take much. ***** It was mid morning when they hit the strech of trail that Sal had warned them about. Quatre could understand why she had been concerned. The trail was not very wide, maybe seven feet from side to side, with a steep rise on one side and a long drop on the other. There were also loose rocks that testified to the area's history of rockslides. After about an hour of riding Quatre noticed that his horse was walking oddly. He didn't want the horse to suffer needlessly, but he was afraid if he said anything Trowa would be angry. Just as he was about to go ahead and say something Heero called out from behind him. "Trowa, I think that horse has a stone in its foot." Trowa turned to look back and noticed that Quatre's horse was indeed limping. Brining both horse to a stop he looked calmly at Quatre. "You may dismount and see what is wrong." Quatre nodded slightly then slid from the horse's back. Bending down, he carefully lifted its front left leg off the ground. Sure enough, a small rock had become lodged between the wall of the hoof and the soft area of the foot. Carefully, Quatre extracted the stone, relieved that there was no sign of swelling. Hopefully he'd gotten it out in time. Just as he stood up, there was an odd rumbling sound and a rock landed on the path not two feet from him. More rapidly followed the first rock, until the air was full of flying rocks. "Rockslide!" Sal called out. "Get out of here!" There was a sudden squeal from Trowa's horse as it was hit in the rump by a rock. Shaking its head, the horse bolted down the path, intent on getting away from the falling rocks. The other horses had the same idea and soon everyone found themselves clear of the slide. Duo sagged in his saddle, relief making him limp. Casting his glance around in concern, he was relieved to find that Heero had also made it clear. After a minute he spotted Wufei, who had apparently had an arguement with his horse about stopping. The horse was shaking his head and trying to bolt down the trail, but Wufei was too stubborn to let it have its way. Just then he realized that something was wrong. He'd spotted Quatre's horse, but there was no sign of Quatre. Twisting in his saddle, he looked back up the trail. The sight that met his eyes filled him with horror. Quatre was standing in the middle of the path, staring at the ground and making no move to escape the falling rocks. "Damn it, Quatre!" Duo shouted. "Get you ass out of there!" Quatre heard Duo's shouts, but didn't move. Trowa had been very specific in his orders and Quatre was determined to obey them. No matter what. ***** It had taken Trowa several minutes to bring his horse under control. The pain maddened animal had been determined to get as far away from the source of pain as quickly as possible. Finally, he got it turned around and headed back up the trail. He hoped the others had managed to clear as well. He was still around a bend and unable to see the others when he heard Duo shouting. "What the fuck are you waiting for?! Damn it, Quatre, quit standing there! Get you scrawny little ass over here!" As he rounded the corner he saw something he would never forget. Heero was physically restraining Duo, who was shouting and cursing at the still figure up the trail as well as at Heero. The braided boy was trying to escape Heero's grasp twisting and kicking in his efforts. Heero didn't budge, even when Duo came close to punching him in the groin in his efforts to escape. There was no way he was going to risk losing Duo, not for any reason. He couldn't understand why the blonde had made no move to escape the falling rocks. Trowa watched in horror as a rock glanced off Quatre's shoulder. Though it obviously staggered the boy, he made no move to evade it. Duo suddenly realized Trowa had returned. "You stupid bastard, look what you did. Quite fucking standing there with you damn mouth hanging open and tell him to get his stupid ass out of there. You fucking told him not to do a damn thing without your permission and that's what the fuck he's doing. You didn't tell him to him to move so he's going to fucking get himself killed. God damn fucking stupid mother...." The rest of Duo's tirade was muffled as Heero clamped his hand over his mouth. Trowa reeled in shock as he realized Duo was right. Quatre was obeying him, to the letter. And in obeying him, he was going to die. Because Trowa knew there was no way Quatre could move fast enough to escape the falling rocks. With no thought, Trowa spurred his horse forward, praying that he wasn't too late. Although angry at the boy, he'd never wanted to see him hurt like this. It seemed like forever before Trowa finally reached Quatre. He'd taken several hits from small rocks, but several very large rocks had narrowly missed him. He didn't even take the time to say anything to Quatre, he simply reached down and grabbed the boy, yanking him up in front of him as he turned the horse on the narrow trail and headed back the way he'd come. He'd barely begun to move when a huge boulder slammed into the ground where Quatre had been standing. There were several more close calls, but Trowa managed to evade the worst as he made his way back to the others. Bringing the horse to a stop he let Quatre slide to the ground. Almost flinging himself out of the saddle, he grabbed at Quatre's shoulders and gave him a hard shake. "Why didn't you get out of there?" he demanded angrily. He barely made note of the trickle of blood that ran down the right side of Quatre's face, evidence of another rock that hadn't missed. Quatre slowly looked up into Trowa's angry green eyes. "You didn't tell me too, Master," he whispered, before the blackness rose up and engulfed him. Trowa could only stand there with his mouth open as Quatre went limp.