*~*~*~*
‘Another slow day. Oh well, I’m sure something will pop up soon.’
The boy sighed and sank down further into his giant plush
pillow. He reached down next to him and picked up a glass of water.
Just as he brought it to his lips and was about to take a
drink when the flap of his ten was pushed aside. The boy glanced up
at the intruder. “Yes?”
“Sir, we’ve spotted some travelers.” The boy instantly sat up,
his interest piqued by this news. The man, seeing the boy’s
response began to make the full report. “There are two wagons. One
is going at a slower pace than the other causing a lag, it
is suspected that either people or weapons, or both, are in this wagon,
the other wagon is believed to hold supplies. The boy
smiled and set the glass back down beside his pillow then stood.
“Thank you. Get everyone ready and I’ll be out momentarily.” The
man bowed low and then exited the tent. ‘So much for a
slow day,’ the boy thought. He walked over to what looked like a
giant cupboard and opened one of the doors. Inside was a
pair of white, baggy trousers, a white shirt, also baggy, and a white
cape. He quickly changed into those items leaving his
regular clothes in the dresser and exited the tent.
When he exited he was greeted by the site of at least a hundred smiling
men, if not more, and all were older than he. He
returned their smiles with one of his own. “My friends, as much as
I would like to be with all of you I only need a few to come
with me on this small excursion.” There was a murmur amongst then
men as they all began to discuss who would go with the
master. Finally three men stepped forward. The man who had entered
the boy’s tent earlier came and stood beside him
making the boy seem the size of a dwarf with his towering height.
“Will they be enough, Master?” he asked the boy. The boy nodded, the smile still present on his face.
“Yes they will. Thank you for volunteering.”
“Think nothing of it, sir,” said the soldier with the dark tinted
glasses. His friend, the man with the moustache, nodded in
agreement as did the third man. The boy nodded and turned to the man
standing next to him.
“Let us be on our way then.” The man bowed, as did everyone else,
then he went to fetch the horses. There were five of them;
three brown, one tan, and one white. He helped the boy into the saddle
of the white horse, who the boy had fondly named
Arashi, then settled himself on the saddle of the tan horse and waited
for the other three men to mount. Once the others were
settled he turned to the boy, waiting for orders.
The boy nodded and whistled making his horse speed off with the other
four following behind in the dust. The boy smiled as
they rode across the vast expanse of hot sand. ‘It’s almost like
flying.’ Quite suddenly the tan stallion came next to his and he
looked up at the man, made even taller by the horse.
“Lead the way,” he told the man, who nodded in agreement and went
ahead of the boy. The boy and the three men followed
the course of the tall man and his tan stallion until they came to
the top of a sand dune. The man stopped his horse and the
others followed suit and stopped close to him. The boy had his horse
walk next to the tall man’s tan stallion and stopped him
there. “Is that it?” the boy asked him.
“Yes it is,” came the deep reply. The boy nodded and turned to face the other three.
“Alright they’ve made camp right on the other side of this dune.
Remember: do not use force and do not under any
circumstances harm anyone.” All three men nodded and got ready to
make a dash over the side of the dune at their master’s
command. The boy nodded and let out a piercing whistle that set his
stallion in motion.
Down at the camp the sound of the whistle and the sight of the five
men on horses alarmed everyone and they all scrambled
about trying to gather their belongings in order to escape. Before
they could get anything packed away, tho, the five
horsemen, with the white stallion in front, rode into the middle of
their camp. The women took the children inside the wagons
and pulled out weapons, ready to defend themselves and their children
from any threat. The men took up arms as well and
watched the five horsemen warily.
The boy urged Arashi forwards a bit closer before stopping. He held
up his hands showing he had no weapons and he drew
aside his cape as well. “Please,” he said, “drop your weapons.
We do not wish to harm you.” To further show that he had
come with peaceful intentions, the boy got down from his horse and
held out his hands to the people.
Sensing no threat from the boy the men and women lowered their weapons,
but held onto them tightly in case a threat did
arise. Slowly, cautiously, one of the men stepped forward. “Who…are
you?” The boy opened his mouth to speak but was
abruptly cut off by a little child who had poked her head out of the
wagon and was watching.
“It’s the Desert Prince!” she squealed in delight. The man who
has spoken turned to her then turned back to the boy. The boy
smiled at the little girl upon hearing the name that people had been
giving him.
“I-is that true?” the man asked. The boy nodded and tugged on his
cape so his face could be revealed. The people of the
camp gasped. Could this blond haired, blue-eyed angel really be the
Desert Prince?
“Yes it is. I am Quatre Raberba Winner, more commonly known as the
Desert Prince. I am very pleased to meet you.” His
voice was soft and sweet, like that of a child, and his eyes sparkled
so brightly with innocence that any bad thoughts that the
travelers had of him were erased with just a glimpse into his eyes.
“Wh-what do you want?” asked one of the women. Quatre turned his bright blue eyes to her and smiled sweetly.
“Do you have any supplies? If so we are in need of them. Anything
at all but only what you can spare. You still have quite a
ways to go before you get out of the desert and you’ll need all you
can get with such a large group.” The woman nodded and
turned to the little girl to tell her something. The girl nodded and
went back into the wagon. When she emerged she has with
her more children and all of them had something; be it flasks of water
or small sacks of food.
The children walked to the blond boy without fear or hesitation and
gave him their “gifts”. “Here you go, Mr. Desert Prince,”
the little girl said. Quatre smiled at her and took the precious “gifts”.
“Thank you, little one, and please call me Quatre.” All the children
giggled and nodded then ran back to the wagon. Quatre
walked back to the four waiting men and distributed the “gifts”
equally amongst them so one wasn’t weighed down more than
the other then mounted his horse. Before leaving he thanked the people
again for their kindness. He then let out the whistle
and the five men rode off leaving the camp in stunned silence all except
for the giggling children.
Once they were back over the sand dune the men stopped again. The tall
man turned to the boy and shook his head, smiling.
“You never cease to amaze me, Master Quatre.”
“How so, Rashid?” the boy asked.
“Your kindness. If they could not spare anything you would not have
pressed them. You are truly great.” The boy blushed
causing the other three men to laugh.
“Oh stop it!” Quatre said rather childishly. He them whistled again
and shot off towards the camp leaving the other five men in
the dust.
*~*~*~*
My longest one yet! And, to me, the best! Ah my sweet Quatre, my dear
little favorite. How’d you like it minna-san? Oh and the
cape thing was like that thing he was wearing in the episode where
he returned to Earth and was walking through the desert.
Yeah. Okies onto chapter five!!! I’m on a roll here people! Ja ne.