Standard disclaimers apply. As much as I wish the Gundam guys were mine, right now there's not enough change in my pocket to buy a pop much less five highly priced pilots. In other words, don't sue me unless you want some money to get you a stick of gum.
"Which is more important...
the conditioning of the body or the conditioning of the soul?"-Anonymous
The fog was rich and thick. It plastered tiny droplets of moisture on his face as he plowed blindly through the midst of it. Somewhere on a subconscious level he could hear that old saying about cutting through fog with a butter knife. What a silly phrase. No, he couldn't let his mind drift. He had to focus on the task at hand.
Splash!
'Oh, great, why don't you make a little more noise while you're at it? Way to help him out, idiot.' He scorned himself in his head. That was the second puddle he'd splashed through while trying to escape pursuit.
Of all the nights it could have rained. It was bad enough that running through puddles made an abundance of noise, much more than needed, but on top of that the hill he had been running up earlier was covered in rain slicked grass. Scrambling up the sides through mud and gunk was not his ideal way of spending a Friday night.
Of course, he could stop running. He was tired after all. His joints ached and his side throbbed from the extended amounts of nonstop flight. Yeah, he could stop. But then he would lose. It would all be over for him. 'I give up.' is a sentence he never believed in saying.
He saw an opening in the forest to a trail that hadn't been worn down and decided it was best to cut through it. He had been scurrying out in broad sight through a field, not the best cover for a get away.
Yes, a get away. In addition, he wanted to get away as fast as possible. Right before breaking out over the hill he could have sworn he heard his pursuer splash in the same puddle of water he had landed in when jumping the fence. That meant he couldn't be too far behind. That meant he was hot on his trail. That meant... danger.
Nimble fingers raised the handgun closer to his face in a ready position as he entered the forest. You never know, the enemy could be waiting right beyond the brush line. After all, this enemy was very determined and extremely quick. Who's to say the chaser hadn't cut him off at the hill and beat him to the forest trail first? If there was one thing he had learned after all these years, it was to take every necessary precaution... and even some that weren't that necessary.
No sign of his pursuer.
He swiftly ran past the trees and the bushes with the agility and grace of a jungle panther, leaping majestically over fallen logs and shrubbery. He seemed to meld into his surroundings all too easily. The splash of his black clothing against the dark green vegetation was the perfect camouflage and he took advantage of that, sticking to the darkest shadows of the canopy. A branch tore deeply into his shirt, breaking the skin of his shoulder and pulling harshly at the hair securely fastened in a braid. He merely cursed in his head and trudged onward.
Snap!
He froze. Every muscle in his body tensed and flowed with anticipation. His heart beat rapidly against his chest and the adrenaline surged through him at light speeds. He had been found. The enemy had mindlessly stepped on a twig, alerting him of just how close he was to being captured.
He took off the safety of his handgun with his thumb and clicked the hammer into position. Quietly he backed up against a tree as his violet eyes scanned and searched every nook and cranny of the surrounding foliage.
Snap!
Another limb... where had that noise come from?
Then his eyes grew wide in understanding... above him! The pursuer was in the tree above him!
Duo swiftly rolled his body away from the tree and pointed the gun upward in anticipation, expecting a body to plunge towards him from atop the tree at any moment. He worried his lower lip as his eyes focused on the very top of the tree, searching for the target. The gun extended from his hands followed in every direction he looked, aiming at unseen objects. He was ready for the worse. Damned if he was giving up without a fight.
Suddenly, something swooped down low at Duo's feet, knocking him off balance as he fell face first towards the forest floor. Duo struggled to brace himself for the fall, never releasing his hand off the trigger of the gun. The only thoughts that ran through his head as he caught himself on his elbows was how stupid he was for letting the enemy sneak up behind him and catch him off guard. What an idiot he had been, and now he would pay the cost.
Before Duo could even think of rolling over into an attack position, he felt the cold barrel of a gun laid against his temple. His breath caught and he halted all movements. Any methods of escape he had proposed to use now were futile.. He felt a body hunch down over his own into a squatting position, straddling Duo's hips. Duo closed his indigo eyes and smiled deeply to himself.
"I lose, eh?" He said with a sadistic chuckle.
Slowly, so as not to arouse any doubts, he dropped the gun to the ground and rolled over to look at his assaillant face to face. As he moved, the gun remained securely at his temple.
"Looks like I'm dead." He opened his eyes to look up into the other boy's face.
"Yes... you are." The boy crouched over him said in a tone to match his face, devoid of all emotion. Duo heard an extended click of gears turning as the other boy slowly pulled back the hammer of the gun aimed at Duo's forehead.
Duo's smile widened at the sound of his oncoming death. Cobalt blue eyes met amethyst as Duo lightly shrugged one shoulder.
"So what are you waiting for, Heero. Finish it."
End Prologue
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Kirei
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