Part 3
Duo sighed. Wufei laid sprawled face down on the floor, where he had been for the last hour. Duo's
chains weren't long enough for him to reach the unconscious dragon so he was unable to check the
dragon's injuries. Not that he was worried about the dragon, Duo told himself. He just wanted to know
if he had killed his unsuspecting captor. The bolt shouldn't have killed him but, he reminded himself, he
hadn't expected to knock the dragon out either. Duo plopped down cross-legged on to the floor,
propping his chin up with his hand as he surveyed the room.
Eyes ignoring the prone body on the floor, Duo took in the dÚcor of the room. Besides the overturned
chair the room was clean with no sign of dust. The room was devoid of decorations. The room, though
large, sported only various types of furniture: a desk, a large couch, a table, chairs, and the most
noticeable of all, a bed. The bed was massive, large enough to hold at least 5 people comfortable. The
pillows and sheets shone brightly in the lamplight, bringing out the blood red color of the fabric. From
where he was positioned he couldn't tell what the sheets were made of but they were most likely silk
sheets.
He was interrupted by his thoughts as groan came from the prone body on the floor. Duo stood up and
walked as close as the chains would allow him. Wufei groaned again and slowly opened his eyes.
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His body ached all over. Pain. It had been such a long time since he felt pain. He was the best fighter of
his kind. Since he was very little he was trained in the arts of fighting; both magic and hand to hand
combat. He had become so good that none of the other dragons could touch him. He tried to
remember why he was feeling pain. And then he remembered. The demon had somehow been able to
shoot a levin bolt(1) at him. 'How is that possible?' he wondered. As far as he knew, magic could only
be released through the hands. Nevertheless, he would have to be more careful around the demon.
Wufei opened his eyes. All he saw was the ceiling to his room. He looked to his right, the demon was
standing as close as the chains would allow him and was staring at him with what looked like concern.
In what seemed to be a nervous action it reached for it's braid and fiddled with the end.
He sat up and couldn't help the groan that escaped his lips, his body hurt all over. It felt like every
muscle in his body had been pulled. Wufei stood up and picked up the chair and set it back on all four
legs. He sat in the chair and rubbed his head. He looked up at the demon, it was still standing there
nervously, playing with the end of its braid. "If you ever do that again," he began. "I'll cut off your braid
myself. Now I'm going to call some servants to prepare a bath for you and to give you some clothes.
Okay"
The demon nodded and sat down on the floor. Wufei stood up and walked out of the room. He thought
about what the demon had said about its family. He didn't know why he believed the demon but then no
one could have faked that kind of sadness and anger. He couldn't believe that his people would take
part in the burning of innocent children, even if they were demon children. He had to talk to Heero and
Trowa about this. Maybe they knew something about it.
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Duo stared at the door where the dragon had left. He had been sure the dragon would punish him for
hitting him. He had expected some kind retaliation, not a small threat. Within a few minutes everything
he knew about dragons was questioned by the actions of the only dragon that had been able to capture
him. Dragons were ruthless, bloodthirsty, power hungry creatures. Then why had this Wufei showed
him a generosity that never had been shown before? The questions were mind boggling, and he felt
guilty for hurting the dragon but how was he to know that the dragon would be courteous?
Duo shook his head; he had killed a dragon before. Then why was this one different? He didn't
understand. He didn't get much time to think about it for the door opened and several human servants
came in carrying a large tub and buckets of water. After a few trips the tub was full of hot water.
Several female servants pulled him over to the tub, stripped him of his pants, and pushed him into the
tub.
They washed his body first and then unraveled his hair and washed it with a shampoo that smelled
faintly of strawberries. Once his hair was washed and rinsed out they washed his wings; politely asking
him to spread them, to bend them this in certain directions, and to flap them gently to dry them off.
When they were done they dried him off and brushed his hair, putting it back in its regular braid. One
servant went to the door and pulled out a small bell. When she rang it, several men came in and took
the tub out of the room.
Another servant came in with a set of keys and what looked like a small necklace. The necklace was
black, but when the light hit it in a certain way violet streaks could be seen. The servant placed the band
around Duo's neck, it closed with a loud snap. The servant then took the keys he was carrying and
took of the shackles around his wrists and legs. Once he was finished he turned and left as quietly as he
had come. The women surrounded him again and slipped a dark red, sleeveless shirt that had slits in the
back to slip over his wings. Two of the women buttoned up the slits while two others put a pair of loose
pants on him. When they were done dressing him they got up and left.
Duo wasn't sure why they let him out of the shackles unless the necklace they put on him had the same
spell on it as the shackles. Surprisingly enough, they had actually left him alone. Duo yawned, the only
sleep he had gotten in the last two days was when he had been knocked out. Duo glanced at the king
size bed in the middle of the room. It looked so inviting, he couldn't really help himself. Duo pulled back
the covers and crawled into the bed. He stretched out his wings as an added cover. 'I hope that Wufei
doesn't come and bother me. I really need to catch up on my sleep,' was his last thought before he fell
asleep.
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Wufei walked down the hall wearing nothing but white loose pants and a towel wrapped around his
shoulders to keep his hair from dripping down his back. The bath was what he had needed to refresh
his mind so that he could think.
He had talked to Trowa and Heero but they didn't know the answers to his questions. The humans did
the searches for demons with a dragon overseer to make sure they didn't try to escape themselves.
He never went on the hunts; he had always let his people mess with the demons. However, Trowa and
Heero had said that their people didn't burn the demons, it wasn't their style. But when he had asked
about the killing of children they had denied any knowledge of children in their territory.
He knew they were suspicious of his intentions. Dragons were taught since birth that the demons were
evil beings, bloodthirsty mongrels that would kill their own parents to survive. They had been taught that
they all had to die. Wufei wasn't so sure anymore. Granted he had never met one until today; but he
didn't seem evil or ugly. He had been angry of the deaths of those who weren't even related to him. The
demonàno...Duo was the total opposite of what he had been taught.
Wufei sighed and shook his head. He didn't know what to think but only time would tell. He stopped at
his bedroom door. He listened for Duo but didn't hear anything. He knew that the demon hadn't
escaped. He couldn't as long as the black necklace was on him. Wufei slowly opened the doors and
walked into the room. Duo was asleep underneath the covers of his bed. His mouth slightly open, hair
in a braid trailing behind him, wings spread wide like a thin black blanket. He was beautiful.
Wufei shook his head at the thought. He couldn't think a male was beautiful and a demon one at that.
Unlike most of the nobles he didn't bed his slaves; not even his personal slaves. He wanted Duo to be
his personal slave to keep an eye on him and to get information. It wasn't because he wanted to be near
the boy.
'Or is it?' a small part of his mind questioned. He pushed the thought aside and pulled back the covers
to wake the Duo. Then he realized that there was nowhere else for the boy to sleep. He had forgotten
to have a small bed to be put in his chamber for his new slave.
Wufei pulled the covers back over the sleeping boy and walked to the other side of the bed. Pulling
back the covers he climbed in moving the wing out of his way. Once Wufei was settled the black wing
stretched out and covered him gently.
As he was about to fall asleep he thought he felt a warm body move closer to him and what felt like an
arm wrap around his waist.
TBC....
(1) I had a hard time thinking of a name for these. I couldn't go on saying balls of energy through the entire fic.
Stephanie Maxwell