Duo's head was swimming. He was not aware of much, but he knew when he was roughly
grabbed and thrown to the ground. He tried to blink open his eyes, but dirt was
quickly kicked into his face.

"Keep those eyes closed demon!"

Rough hands grabbed him again and bound his arms in front of his body. He tried to
pull free, but was forcibly pulled to his feet and yanked after someone. Suddenly
the terrain was very odd and difficult to maneuver, especially blinded the way he
was.

Duo felt himself be spun around and his back was pushed roughly up against some hard
surface. It felt like a post. A thick rope was wound around his middle and the post
securing him in place.

Finally Duo cried enough and blinked the last of the dirt from his eyes. He looked
around and shrank back in fear.

He was tied to a post in the middle of his old village. There was wood and kindling
at his feet and the men with torches were walking up to where he was.

He could recognize a few of the people... there was Jeb Septum and Zeke Tsuberov...
they were much older, but still recognizable. They were going to burn him... just
like they had burned his mother.

~Flashback~

Duo cried for a long time. After he sensed that the men had left he had gone back to
his home. There was nothing there but a burnt shell.

His momma was gone, and she was never coming back. He knew better than to go to
anywhere people lived... the same thing would just happen again once some natural
disaster hurt their animals and plants.

~I'll just stay here, in the forest!~ Duo nodded. It was a good idea, he would be
able to tell when there was danger just by speaking with the animal, and nobody ever
came too far into the forest for fear of monsters.

He could eat the plants and fruit that momma had shown him were safe... he didn't
know if he could eat an animal though. Momma had been the one to catch and kill game.
Even then he had to concentrate really hard on other stuff so that he couldn't hear
the screams in his head.

But he would be fine. He would survive, and someday... he would be with momma again.

~End Flashback~

The day had arrived. He was going to die.

~*~*~

Heero smiled s he mounted his beautiful Arabian stallion. The animal had been a gift
from Quatre on his seventeenth birthday. Pure white, with almost human intelligence,
Wing was Heero's favorite possession.

The rest of the party, consisting only of Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre mounted their
horses, and the group set out for the forest.

They hadn't ridden for long when they reached the small village of Sank that lay by
the edge of the forest. There wasn't much to the little place. It consisted of a few
houses surrounding a center courtyard where there would be a few places for the
merchants to sell their wares. Just like every other village in the surrounding area.

Heero wasn't even going to pass through. He turned onto the road that ran on the
outskirts, and he would have continued straight through to the forest if not for
two things.

Wing froze, and refused to continue down the path. Heero dismounted to check his horse's
hooves for a stone. He had determined there was nothing amiss when the second event
occurred.

A scream rang out from the village, it was so loud and full of fear Heero expected
the horses to get spooked and run.

Instead they took a few steps toward the scream's origin.

Heero leaped onto Wing's back and took off for the center of the village. The chaotic
scene made him gape.

A crowd of usually peaceful peasants was circling a bonfire while throwing rocks and
shouting. In the center of the bonfire was a person with extremely long hair struggling
against the ropes that tied them there.

Suddenly one of the rocks that the peasants threw struck the unfortunate captive on
the temple, causing them to stop struggling and slump in their bonds.

Then one of the men touched a torch to the kindling at the foot of the captive. Flames
quickly spread toward the helpless person.

Heero instantly sprang into action. He urged wing into the mass of people and struggled
to reach the helpless person. The crowd didn't seem to notice him they were so caught
up in the bloodlust. When Wing couldn't advance any further in the throng, Heero
vaulted from his back and made his way to the fire on foot.

Not caring about the flames he quickly ran to the stake where the victim was tied.

Heero didn't hesitate, but slashed the ropes holding the person up. The body slid down,
but he caught it in his arms before it touched the ground. The fire was still rapidly
approaching- it had reached the place where the captive once stood in fact- so Heero
clutched his burden close to his chest and ran in the other direction of the flames.

Once clear of the danger Heero knelt and laid the prone figure to the dirt. For the
first time Heero had a clear look at his unconscious burden. To his surprise he found
that it was a younger man.

His features were small and delicate, and his rich auburn hair was incredibly long,
but there was no mistaking the figure for anything but a man. Impossibly violet eyes
opened for a moment before fluttering shut once more.

Heero stood and glared at all the people surrounding him, and recognizing their king
they stepped back nervously. He whistled, and instantly Wing and his friends were by
his side. Heero lifted the boy into Trowa's arms before vaulting into his saddle. Once
settled into his seat he took back the boy and set him in front of him.

Heero turned to the crowd that still milled around the area. "This is not over."

~*~*~

Heero settled a cold cloth on the forehead of the boy. He had still not regained
consciousness and everyone was quite worried. Strangely, Heero felt drawn to the still
form and insisted on tending to him by himself.

He carefully brushed the long bangs away from the boy's heart shaped face. He was
exquisite.

And fey.

Heero had instantly recognized him for what he was- part fey. And those fools would
burn him like a demon.

How to punish the villagers... He certainly couldn't have his people going around burning
innocent people... nor could he punish them too harshly. It really wasn't their fault
they were uneducated. If it had been one or two people imprisonment could be
considered... but a whole village?

"Heero?"

He looked and nodded at Quatre to continue.

"The villagers have all been gathered in the main hall. We await your decision."

"Fine."

Heero left the blonde to tend to his patient as he went to deal with the matter.

He quickly stalked into the room and inwardly grinned as silence fell over the entire
place. Heero sat upon his throne and glared out on the crowd before motioning the
leaders to step forward.

"Today we stopped you from burning a boy on the stake. What was your reason for
disobeying our laws?" Heero loved to use the royal "we" in situations
like this. It never failed to unnerve his opponents and give him the advantage. Not to
mention it reminded him that he was the one in charge- a fact he sometimes forgot.

"We... uhh... that is to say..." The man was pushed aside by an older grizzled
man- Tsuberov if he remembered correctly stepped forward.

"Sire, the boy is a demon sent to destroy our crops! Just like his mother- so
we-"

Interested by the family mentioned Heero asked. "Where is the boy's mother?"

"Burned eleven years ago."

Heero raised his eyebrow. "Indeed?" Outside he was cool and calm but inside
he seethed with anger. He wanted to punish all those responsible for the woman's death
and the boy's injuries. He was sure that Tsuberov was behind most of it... but he had
no real proof.

It was time for a lesson.

"You claim that the boy is a demon. What is your proof?"

Tsuberov smiled as if sure of himself. "His purple eyes sire!"

Heero nodded. "Yes, violet eyes are not humanly possible."

The crowd began talking amongst themselves.

"But violet eyes are not the sign of someone being a demon!" Heero felt an
acute feeling of pleasure as the people instantly silenced themselves. "Violet
eyes are the sign of the fey! You tried to kill one with faery blood, one who could
have helped your crops and healed your cattle." He saw the looks of utter shock
on their faces and took a twisted pleasure in their guilt.

Heero stood and glared at the crowd. "Now I want the entire story. And leave
nothing out."

He listened stonily as the entire story unfolded- about the way his mother had defended
him, and later how they had set upon them in the middle of the night.

"I see... so this is not an isolated event! On two separate occasions your village
has willfully defied our laws." Heero paused. "Because an entire village
cannot be held to blame, and because one crime happened so long ago, we are forced to
take this action; those of the village that were present at both burnings will be
imprisoned." Heero pinned Tsuberov and Septum with a glare. "It is our belief
that once can be considered a grievous error... but twice defying our will is not to be
tolerated." Heero waved to his guards. "Remove them."

~*~*~

Duo cocked his head and listened... there was a beautiful melody coming from nearby...

He frowned and tried to decide what it was. It was no bird that he'd ever heard
before... and he was so curious!

He carefully crept through the stone building trying to find the source of the sounds.
Duo finally found an opening that led into a small patch of forest that seemed to have
been placed down in the middle of the stone building.

He really wanted to investigate further. There was only one thing that held him back.
There were men again. A much smaller group this time, but Duo knew that he should still
be cautious- he wasn't fully rested from using so much of his power last night, and he
was still hurting from what the villagers had done.

Duo crept to the edge of the clearing and watched with great interest. A boy with hair
like the sun was making the beautiful sounds... it looked like he was rubbing a stick
against an oddly shaped box. [1]

It didn't really matter to him how the sound was made... it was just so beautiful!

Suddenly another boy walked up to the bright haired one. He was taller with hair like
autumn leaves. It fell over one of his eyes giving him a mysterious look. He held a
shiny tube up to his mouth and also began to make pretty sounds! [2]

If he wasn't afraid of being discovered Duo would have clapped in delight. The funny
box thing's pretty sounds and the shiny tube's pretty sounds mixed together very
nicely! Duo closed his eyes and he could almost imagine that they were having a
conversation, like birds, in their own beautiful language that he didn't understand.

Duo was so captivated by the new sounds that he didn't notice when he broke cover and
moved closer to the origin of the pretty sounds.

~*~*~

~Well, even if this day did begin horribly... now I'm getting a private concert from two
of the best musicians in the kingdom.~ Heero shifted into a more comfortable position
in the grass.

What Heero never expected to see was a dirty, longhaired boy step out into the courtyard
as if in a daze.

Heero saw the surprise on Wufei's face, but he gestured for the Chinese man to keep
silent. This day was becoming interesting. Both Trowa and Quatre had yet to notice the
new member of their audience as they played with their eyes closed.

With the boy thoroughly distracted by the music, Heero took the time to observe him.
He had seen him when he first brought him back to the palace, but that had been a while
ago, and he hadn't been moving then. The boy moved with an unconscious grace that
invoked images of wild animals moving through the forest.

The king was intrigued.

[1] Ummm Duo probably wouldn't know about a violin... I mean, he was very young when his
mother died & he went to live in the forest.

[2] Same thing... He's never seen a flute before.

Next!