Time of Ages    ( Chapter 7 ) .: Decision :.

   The night passed wordlessly and without danger. It seemed that the entire forest stood still as the near-full moon crept over the trees in the hazy sky. None of the girls dared speak for fear of saying something they might regret later. Sally said nothing more and went quickly to bed. The others followed suit. In the morning, a thick fog covered the entire forest.

   *~*

   "Why?" Duo asked, exasperated.                                                                         
   "I don't understand..." Quatre said quietly. Hiiro said nothing. Wufei paced the area nervously. He looked up at the moon.
   "I wouldn't expect you to," he said rather harshly to the blonde.
   "It's all a matter of emotion," Trowa said softly. He removed his pipes from the band around his waist and raised them to his lips.
   "And what's that supposed to mean?" Wufei growled, nearing Trowa. The brunette looked up from his instrument.
   "It means that you've never been keen for emotion, Fei, and you still can't figure out what's inside that head or heart of yours." In a moment Wufei's sword was at the other's throat. The taller boy's eyes gleamed.
   "Wufei, stop it," Duo pleaded. "That won't accomplish anything."
   "He's right," Hiiro grunted. Trowa's green eyes remained locked on his friend's darker ones for minutes afterward, until Wufei finally sheathed his weapon.
   "Fine," he said as he put his sword away. "Fine. All of you can do as you like. Seduce them, sleep with them, love them. Make them fall for you, but they cannot be like you. Soon enough you will find that out, and then your 'loves' will have been no more than passing desires. If you will all be so foolish as to fall for humans, much less humans that are here for the sole purpose of destroying you and your race, then I will have no more to do with you."
   "Wufei," Zechs said warningly, taking a step forward. The other boy raised a hand.
   "No. I know that I was supposed to be in charge. I was supposed to look after you all. Such responsibility to be put on me! Me alone! To protect you and lead you when the elders had died and the women were captured. I cannot help that you are among the few left of your race still in this forest, gentlemen. As soon as the women are free, they will flee along with their spouses. They do not posses the willpower to stay here, nor did their husbands. Why you five are still here is beyond me. But I will still fight for what I believe in. I will fight for what Merian thought was just and right. I will fight to be myself, for my people, for our lives. Do as you wish gentlemen, but do not expect me to look after you any longer." With this, he turned to leave.
   "Wufei," Quatre started after him. "Where are you going?" Wufei kept walking as if he had heard nothing.
   "He's leaving, Quatre," Trowa said quietly. They watched their friend's figure retreat into the shadows, leaving the circle of moonlight that they stood in. "Don't expect to see him again."

   *~*

   Hooves beat the ground in a percussive, minor symphony. The clang of metal could barely be heard over the impatient animals and harsh cries of men to one another. The new Lord Dekim watched his men with disapproval.
   "SILENCE!" he roared. The clamor stopped, save the few horses whose riders tried to calm them hurriedly. The high lord smirked.
   "Thhherree aarreee nnooottt mmannnyyyy hhhheeerrreeee, llliiieeggeeee," the shadow at his ear hissed.    "I do not require many," Dekim replied, surveying his small group of elite soldiers. "The rest are to guard the grounds in my absence." The shadow flitted to his other shoulder.
   "Yyeeessssss, sssiirrrr," it seethed.
   "You are to accompany me," Dekim stated.
   "Wwhhheeenn?"
   "We leave tomorrow morning."
   "Yyyyesssssss, lliiieggggee."

   *~*

   The morning came. Not one girl spoke. They went about dressing and eating in perfect silence. Catherine felt a terrible pulling in her heart when she tried to look into Sally's eyes. Upon finishing her meal, Sally rose.
   "Sal-" Catherine began, but was silenced with an icy glare. She stared at the ground. "Where are you going?" she asked timidly.
   "To finish my job," Sally snapped. "Which none of you seem to be able to do." Lucretia stood up.
   "Now that's not true, Sally," she replied indignantly.
   "Oh isn't it? I wouldn't talk if I were parading around with some long-haired pretty boy," Sally spat. "Tell me Lucretia, is it the hair or the eyes that get you into bed?" Lucretia gave a growl and sprinted toward Sally. Dorothy stopped her just in time to prevent a hazardous commotion from taking place. Lucretia's eyes shot daggers at her companion.
   "And that goes the same for the rest of you," Sally announced. "I was sent here to do a job. I was trained and hired. And I will accomplish what I was send here to do. Even if it means to kill your pretty little boyfriends." With these stinging words she turned and fled into the deep woods.
   "What is wrong with you?" Lucretia shouted at Dorothy. "She needed to be taught a lesson." Dorothy looked torn.
   I cannot tell you what to do if you do not feel the desire to do it in your heart. I cannot tell you what is right and what is wrong. The words haunted her.
   "She... she may be right..." Dorothy began, looking at the ground.
   "Dory!" Relena exclaimed softly.
   "You can't mean that," Hilde said, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes. "Sally hasn't had the same kind of experiences that we have with the elves. That was clear from the moment we saw who she was dealing with." Dorothy looked up.
   "She is right," she said with her jaw set. "I will do as I am supposed to do!" She turned and ran, eyes glistening with unshed tears, into the thick cover of trees.
   "Well?" Hilde looked desperately at her older sister. "What do we do now?!" Lucretia snarled.
   "Lucretia?" Relena asked.
   "It's simple," the older girl replied to her remaining friends. "We have to stop those two."

   *~*

   "You can't!" Duo grasped Trowa's wrist.
   "Please, Tro, be reasonable," Quatre pleaded.
   "Don't be a fool," Hiiro added curtly. Zechs sighed.
   "I will go where I please. I could when Wufei was here, I can when he is not," Trowa stated. "I want to play for Adriel and Mytrica." Duo still held his wrist. "Let me go, Duo!"
   "But, but-"
   "They will hunt us now," Zechs said. "They have reason to. She will lead them all to hunt us, one by one."
   "Impossible!" Duo cried, releasing Trowa's wrist. "Hilde wouldn't kill me! She- she likes me! I know she does!"
   "And is that why you were so friendly toward her? To make her like you?" Zechs replied. "So that she wouldn't kill you?" Duo drew in a sharp breath and stepped backward.
   "How could anyone do that?" Quatre asked with concern in his eyes and his voice.
   "You couldn't tell, Quatre," Hiiro said. "You have too kind of a heart. People are manipulative. They will do anything to get what they want. Even members of our own race will do such things to avoid what they are afraid of." Duo shuddered and stared at the ground.
   "Duo! You couldn't have!" Trowa said. "...Could you?" They were silent.
   "No."
   Quatre's head turned toward his braided friend.
   "No. I didn't befriend her because I didn't want to die." Duo said. "I would die a thousand times at her hands. I..." he looked up, "I love her." Zechs' expression softened.
   "I knew you did. Damn that romantic elf who fell in love at first sight! You and I must be his kin, for I too felt love at her face," Zechs said. "Lucretia..." Duo laughed.
   "Then are we all related?" he asked, half-jokingly. "For I have never known the emotionless Hiiro to act on such pasion!" Zechs and Duo laughed while Hiiro flushed furiously. Quatre smiled.
   "Am I another kin?" he asked. "For though I do not know what to love feels like... I would like to believe it is the light, lifting feeling that seems to have taken over my chest..." Trowa laughed.
   "You've described it as no one else could, Quatre, as usual! I could not have said it any better. That is indeed the feeling that we all have for these huntresses. And what are we all to do if they come to kill us?"
   "Why, profess our love!" Duo cried, jumping about. "We are elven, brothers! Elves are not known for being dull and dreary. I say, if God wills it that I die at the hands of my beautiful love, then so be it! But I will do all I can to prove myself to her before that moment comes!"
   "Hai!" the rest shouted.
   "Come then," Trowa said above the rest. "Let us go to Adriel and Mytrica, for they must long for company on such a day!" With mocking laughter and gleeful shouts, they exited the glen and disappeared into the gilttering wood.

   *~*

   Dorothy ran blindly, not knowing exactly where Sally had gone. The fog created eerie shadows all around her, some trees, some rocks, others small creatures scuttling about in the underbrush. She was frightened, but would never admit it. She tried to guess where her friend would have gone. She was forced to move slowly because of the limited visibility. "I'll never catch up with her at this rate," she thought. She saw something dark on her left and barely missed hitting a large, dark tree. Something rustled near her foot and she stifled the urge to shriek. She stepped back into something wet and heard a strange cry at the same time. She started to scream but stopped when something cold touched her throat, directly under her chin. She stood perfectly still.
  "You'd better warn them," he said, deep, cool voice cutting through the darkness. She made no move to reply. He remained in the shadow. "They might get the others. But they can't get me." Dorothy shuddered a bit. It was cold and she was frightened. The cold steel was removed from her throat. "Tell them," he said. "Tell them to get away from me." She saw nothing, just heard a barely audible rustling as he sprinted away. As soon as she thought it was safe, she flew back toward camp.

   *~*

  "Where now?" Hilde asked.
  "Follow the tracks," her sister said. "Dorothy did not bother to cover where she went very well, although the fog is thick. We can still track her."
  "Sshhh," Relena hushed them quickly. "Listen."
  "Hilde! Sally! Lucretia!" a sad, lonely voice called longingly into the mist.
  "Dorothy?" Hilde asked in a whisper.
  "Dory?" Relena called quietly. There was no reply. Relena became worried. "I'm going to try to find her," she said to her companions.
  "I don't think you should, Lena," Hilde said worriedly. "She would have responded if she had heard us, and you may get lost in the fog."
  "I'll be fine," Relena replied. She disappeared into the thick mist moments later.

  *~*

  Relena muttered to herself as she stumbled against a rock.
  "Dory?" she called out softly. "Dory? Where are you? Dory, where did you-" she shrieked when a strong arm encircled her waist and another clamped over her mouth. She did not know this strength; it was so very different from Hiiro's... in Hiiro's arms she felt safe and warm, but this person, whoever they were, scared her. She struggled for only a moment before something sickly sweet smelling was put over her mouth and she blacked out.

*~*

  "I'm worried about Lena!" Hilde exclaimed to her sister. They had been waiting for nearly half an hour. "Do you think I should go find her?" Lucretia looked around suspiciously.
  "No, I think we should go find her. I sense foul play," the older girl said. "Hurry, and be ready." The sisters took a route similar to Relena's, passing the rock she had fallen against. Another minute and the mist was so thick they could no longer see each other. Lucretia kept checking to her right, left, and behind her, as if expecting something to happen. and be ready." The second she felt the presence near her get closer, she shouted to her sister.
  "Hilde! Hilde, run away! Get away! Run quickly!"
  Hilde's head snapped at the sound of her sister's voice.
  "Lucretia?" she called shakily. She heard a muffled scream and then silence. "Lucretia??" she cried out. A cloth was draped over her head and she fainted.

  *~*

  "Now I have all of them, the blonde one was too easy a target, running through the forest, frightened." He laughed to himself. "I just have to capture that last one, the 'Black Widow'. Sally Po, you are my next target."

   :. *~*~* .: