Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Going For Gold ❯ Chapter 86 ( Chapter 86 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

It's now Heero's turn to ride for his country and he discovers just how difficult it is when you're at the top and the pressure is on.

Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Drama / Hentai / Romance / Angst | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.04.2009 | Pages: 9 | Words: 8.6K | Visits: 229 | Status: Work In Progress

“Going for Gold”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 86

Heero kept his eyes fixed on the arena entrance and rode in. He looked for where the judge was seated and aimed for the judges box. He brought Shini to a halt and saluted the judge. The applause died down, silence filled the arena and Heero swallowed the butterflies that were doing their best to escape.

Fixing his concentration solely on the jumps and course ahead, Heero slipped into the mindset of a competitor, totally focused on the job at hand. He shortened his reins and pushed Shini into a trot, circling around and giving his horse the chance to have a quick look at the jumps as they passed them on their way to the start flags.

The bell rang; Heero urged the gray into a collected canter and circled, turning to bring his mount straight through the flags and directly in line with the first jump.

Duo watched his lover enter the arena, listening to the applause and then took off at a run. He scaled the steps into the stands two at a time and was quick to find his seat next to Treize and Zechs. His heart was hammering in his chest, a knot sat uncomfortably in his stomach as his eyes searched out his lover in the arena.

Shinigami looked fit and eager, Heero appeared relaxed and calm upon his back as he rode between the start flags and towards the first jump.

The gray's ears were pricked and he sailed over the first jump, landing neatly and pulling against the restraining hold his master had on the reins.

“Steady, my son,” Heero muttered. “This is a difficult course and you're going to need to listen to me if we're to get around it without any faults.”

The stallion swiveled his ears, listening to his rider but keeping his attention on the jump ahead. Hind legs dug into the dirt as forelegs rose into the air and tucked up against the body. They arced over the jump, landing safely and cantering off towards the third element.

“So far, so good,” muttered Duo.

Zechs gave his fellow vet a sympathetic smile.

Jump three, the hogs back appeared in front and Shini gauged the height of the fence before launching into the air and clearing it with little effort. Jump four soon followed and was also cleared.

“Good boy,” Heero praised as they landed. Sitting a little deeper into his saddle, Heero checked the stallion's forward movement a touch, bringing more power into those hind quarters and making a slight, left hand turn to bring them into jump five.

Knowing the double was to follow and then the tricky turn to seven, Heero did his best to retain as much impulsion as he could but still let the horse stride out. The triple loomed ahead, Shinigami lengthening out his stride as he came into the jump. Muscles bunched and flexed as the gray drove himself into the air, hind legs left the ground and followed the rest of the body as they skimmed over the poles and landed safely on the other side.

“This is a tricky one,” Heero murmured as he took up a little more contact with the stallion's mouth. His legs pushed lightly against gray sides, the hands holding the forward movement as Heero rebalanced his horse and built up the energy. Three strides away, Heero came forward, urging the stallion on and letting his hands flow up the neck to follow the forward movement.

Shini pushed off from the ground, front legs curling up against his body, belly passing over poles beneath and then bringing those forelegs out to take the impact of landing. Immediately they touched the ground, Heero was there with his seat and legs, hands soft on the reins as he rode his horse forth for the two strides and then they were airborne again.

They landed clean, the gray giving a quiet grunt and pushing away from the obstacle. Heero's concentration was fixed on the next jump, eyes scanning ahead for where the fence was situated and working out exactly where he needed to turn. It was a tight turn, much tighter than Heero had anticipated despite his fellow team members letting him know how difficult they had found it.

The stallion listened to his master's aids and turned as sharply as he could, hooves digging deep into the dirt as he swung his body around. The jump was rushing to meet them, much faster than Heero had thought it would and he did everything he could to give Shini the best possible chance to clear it.

“Ah, crap. He's turned too sharp,” Treize groaned.

“He's not left himself much in strides before the jump,” Michael noted.

Duo remained silent, opting to chew his bottom lip as he watched the gray doing his best to gather himself together for the jump ahead.

There wasn't any time to berate himself for not taking a slightly wider turn, Heero had his hands full in doing all he could to have enough impulsion in his horse to try and clear the jump. Before he knew it, the jump was upon them and Shinigami was gamely doing his best to clear it.

Reaching for the height, Shini pushed off hard. Passing over the top pole, the gray twisted his hind legs in an effort to keep them from hitting the poles - unfortunately, his left hind hoof tipped the edge of the pole and rolled it in its cup. They landed and a split second later, the pole fell and bounced as it hit the dirt.

Duo groaned as he watched the pole fall, Treize shook his head.

“Damn!” Zoe moaned.

“That was a bit of bad luck,” Kyle stated.

“He cut that a bit too fine,” Noin said as she continued to watch.

Back in the arena, Heero mentally chastised himself for being too confident and taking a sharper turn than he should have. Putting the four faults behind him, Heero set his jaw and with a determined look in his eye took a firm hold of the reins, sat deep and rode his horse together.

* * *

“Trowa, wake up. Heero's jumping.” Quatre gently shook his lover who had dozed off.

“Uh? Wha...” Trowa blinked open sleepy eyes. “What's happening? Why'd you wake me?”

“Heero's jumping,” Quatre repeated with a snicker. Trowa was really adorable when he'd just woken up.

“Ah, okay.” Trowa stretched and yawned, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned to look at the television. It took a moment for his eyes to focus properly and for a minute there he was watching two Heero's in the ring.

“He's doing well so far,” Quatre commented, eyes glued to the screen.

“Good,” Trowa replied.

Quatre was almost holding his breath watching his horsey 'nephew' going around the course and jumping with confidence.

“I hope he keeps this up,” Trowa mumbled.

“He will, Shini's going to go clear, just you watch and see,” Quatre replied, his voice full of confidence.

The pair continued to watch as Heero cleared jump five; the triple and proceeded towards the double.

“You were saying?” Trowa asked with a raise of his eyebrow as they watched the pole fall to the ground from jump seven.

“Yeah, well; it's a difficult course,” Quatre huffed.

Trowa gave a soft snicker and pulled his lover closer. “I'm cold, I want my huggy toy back.”

Quatre happily snuggled closer, eyes still glued to the screen.

* * *

Shinigami fought against Heero's hold on the reins but his master didn't give an inch. The gray steadied and slowed his pace a little, allowing his master to collect him up. His ears went forward as he spotted the next jump.

Hay bales.

He gave a snort as they approached, ears pricked and eyes wide. That hay looked really tempting.

“Oh no you don't,” Heero growled as he felt Shini's stride slow. He sat down harder and drove his legs against the stallion's sides.

Shinigami ignored the aid for the moment, he would really love to stop and sample some of that delicious looking hay. The stallion still couldn't understand why he had to jump his supper.

Heero wasn't about to take any chances. Knowing Shinigami and his 'thing' with hay jumps, Heero pushed harder still with his seat and leg, to the point where he gave a sharp kick to the gray sides.

The kick jolted Shini from his musings over the hay and he quickly decided he'd better listen to his master otherwise he might get a smack with the whip, and Shini didn't like that whip, it stung! Eyeing up the jump, the gray picked his take off point and began to lengthen out his stride.

“Oh shit, I can't watch,” Duo moaned as he noted Shinigami slowing a little.

“Its okay, Duo. I know exactly how you feel,” Zechs soothed and patted Duo's knee.

“Shini doesn't like hay jumps, he tries to stop and eat them,” Duo continued, a slight tremble in his voice.

“I don't think Heero's about to let him even think about stopping,” Treize stated. “He's really riding him forward.”

Duo buried his face in his hands. “Tell me if he gets over it.”

“Go on, get over it,” Heero growled as he gave Shini another hard kick, his seat pushing the gray forward.

The stallion took the last three strides and launched into the air, poles and hay passing underneath. Heero went forward, hands sliding up the gray neck to keep a light contact with the horse's mouth whilst his weight was taken on his stirrups. As they descended again so Heero brought his hands back and lowered himself back into the saddle again.

“Good boy,” Heero praised and risked a quick pat to the gray neck. Leaning slightly to the right, Heero began to turn his horse and ease off on the reins. Legs urged the stallion forward, Shin responding and lengthening his stride out.

The water was next.

“You can look again now Duo. They made it safely over the jump,” Zechs murmured.

Duo opened up his fingers a little and peered out between them. He gave a loud sigh. “I don't think my heart can take all this adrenaline.” He looked at the sorry state of his fingernails and frowned. “I don't think my nails can take much more either. Why couldn't my boyfriend be into something tamer like formula one car racing?”

Treize snickered.

Shinigami spotted the water ahead and began to stretch out. Heero's legs were urging him on but hands kept a light contact on the gray's mouth. Heero knew that he didn't have many strides after the water in which to get his horse rebalanced and the impulsion there to clear the following jump.

The course designer had been very smart when designing and building this course. When they had walked it, it had seemed simple and straight forward enough; now they were actually riding it all the traps were being exposed - and they had caught many of the horses and riders unaware.

The gray body flattened out further, speed picking up as Shini aimed for the water jump. Heero went forward with his horse, allowing the gray the freedom he would need to clear the spread of water.

Reaching his take off point, Shini dug in with his hind legs and simply flew over the water.

“That's it, boy. Fly over it,” Duo whispered and absently grabbed his braid.

Zechs glanced at his fellow vet from the corner of his eye and couldn't help the small smile.

Front feet reached for the safety of the sand on the other side and bit deep. Hind legs followed quickly, sending a shower of sand back into the water. There was no way Shini was going to get his feet wet!

Immediately they landed, Heero shortened his reins, fighting to bring the exuberant stallion back to hand. His seat and leg worked hard to check the forward movement whilst still retaining the energy and building it in the hind quarters. Jump ten was coming up fast and Heero fully intended to have Shini under control and listening to him.

“Steady him back, Heero,” Zoe muttered.

Michael gave Zoe a comforting squeeze and a loving smile. Zoe returned the smile and then switched her attention back to the arena.

“He's doing fine,” Michael reassured his wife.

“They have certainly come a long way,” Zoe replied absently.

“That they have.”

“Easy,” Heero murmured, still checking his horse's pace. Shini had responded well and Heero was pleased that the gray was listening to him. The impulsion was there in those hind quarters, all Heero had to do was give the aid and the stallion would go forward.

The oxer lay ahead and Shinigami lined it up. His master's hand eased on the reins and the pressure to his sides increased, the gray automatically lengthening out and then launching into the air. The gray body flew over the jump in a perfect arc, landing neatly on the other side.

“Almost there,” Duo muttered to himself and crossed his fingers for added measure.

“Good boy,” Heero praised and then fixed his sights firmly on jump eleven.

Shinigami gave a snort as he spotted the next jump. He was still traveling forward quite well, but some of his energy was starting to run out. Heero could feel the horse settling further and knew he needed to retain as much impulsion as possible as there were still another four jumps to go and one of those was the triple. In one way the hardest part was yet to come.

Keeping the contact with the stallion's mouth, Heero rode towards the hedge, seat and leg working in tandem with his hands as he guided the stallion forward.

* * *

“Yes! Go Shini!” Quatre cheered as his horsey 'nephew' cleared the water jump.

Trowa jumped a mile. “Where the fuck is the fire?!” he yelled as his body jerked awake.

“Ah, sorry. I didn't realize you'd gone back to sleep,” Quatre apologized sheepishly, and then his look changed.

“What the hell are you doing dropping back to sleep anyway when Heero's jumping?!” he demanded.

“Um...”

“That's not very patriotic of you. I would have thought you'd at least remain on the conscious plane and support Heero.”

Trowa just sighed and let his lover rant.

* * *

Shinigami cleared the hedge with inches to spare and immediately he landed, Heero was there. Hands took a firm hold on the reins, effectively slowing the gait and stopping Shini from going forward. Heero looked over his shoulder to where the triple lay in wait and focused on making a good turn; one that would see Shini have the room to come in straight and build the impulsion as they went.

Having judged they'd traveled far enough forward, Heero sat hard and applied his right leg whilst his hands put more pressure on the left rein. The gray felt the aids and began to turn his body, swinging around within a couple of strides to line up for the triple ahead.

Gray ears pricked forth as liquid eyes took in the combination before him. It was high - and the last two elements were wide as well.

The dark haired rider did everything he could to assist his horse; fingers were sympathetic on the reins whilst weight and leg guided and balanced the gray.

“Oh shit, this is the hard one,” muttered Duo.

“Yeah, it's not an easy one by any means. It's really hard to keep your horse together and maintain the impulsion as those jumps are really big and wide,” stated Treize.

Duo's eyes widened a touch as he looked sideways at the other rider. “Thanks, I think.”

“Treize!' admonished Zechs.

Seeing the look on Duo's face and the paleness of the vet's skin, Treize realized his mistake. “Oh. Errr... Sorry, Duo. That jump isn't all that difficult, really. It's just a case of keeping your horse together and balanced; and Heero's more than capable of doing that. Shinigami is also an excellent jumper so they shouldn't have any problems,” he trailed off. “Maybe I should shut up now?”

“That might not be a bad idea,” Zechs said. “I think you've put enough of your foot in your mouth to cause an epidemic of the disease.”

“Point noted.”

Duo fixed his attention back on the arena and his lover. Hands strayed to his mouth and teeth began to gnaw on a slightly less mutilated thumbnail. Zechs raised his hand and gently grasped Duo's wrist. He pulled the abused thumb from Duo's mouth as Duo looked questioningly at him.

“Chew that much more and you'll be gnawing on the bone,” the blonde said softly. “Here.” Zechs handed Duo the end of his braid. “Hair balls are much easier to treat.”

Shaking his head but appreciating the offer, Duo took his braid and began to fiddle with the end of the thick rope.

“This is a tough one, boy. I need you to listen to me and work with me if we're to clear each element,” Heero told his horse.

Gray ears swiveled back and forth as the stallion listened to the tone of his master's voice. That tone told him this was a time for complete obedience.

The three elements of the triple lay ahead, poles shimmering in the soft sunlight. Collecting Shini up, Heero pushed as much power and impulsion into the hind quarters as he could, all the time remaining focused on the first part of the combination and using his hands to restrain the forward movement. The stallion slowed the pace but elevated the movement as he approached the first of the three elements.

Three strides away and Heero was starting to lift his body weight out of the saddle. Two strides and he was coming forward, hands starting to slide up the gray neck. One stride out and Heero eased off on the reins and allowed the stallion to surge forward.

They met part A square on, the stallion launching into the air and folding his forelegs against his body, safely out of the way. They cleared the element and came back to earth smoothly. Immediately, Heero was there, his seat, leg and voice all working to push the stallion forward.

They took a stride and were airborne again, muscles straining under the gray hide with the effort of lifting both horse and rider off the ground. Once they were safely over part B, Heero was again driving Shini's hocks underneath him, asking for the stallion to give it his all.

Two strides and they were pushing up and away from the ground once more.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the horse and rider appeared to hang in the air over the jump; then gravity took hold and began to pull them back to the ground. It was a wide jump and Shinigami had to really stretch to reach the far side of the poles. His hind end twisted a touch in the air, back cannon bones sliding across the top pole and rolling it in the cups.

Front legs gouged the dirt as they took the force of landing, muscles, bones, ligaments and tendons all screaming in protest as the full weight of the stallion and his rider were absorbed on the fragile looking limbs.

Heero returned to the saddle, hands coming back down the neck to follow the movement of Shini's body.

The pole continued to rock in the cups.

In the stands, Duo's eyes were glued to the pole, praying for all he was worth that the pole would remain where it was. Beside him Zechs, Treize, Zoe, Noin and all the others were similarly converting to the faith.

Someone must have been listening though as the pole gave a couple more rolls and then decided to stay where it was.

Eight sighs of relief and one soft moan (Duo) came from the Australian contingent.

Oblivious to the drama playing out in the stands caused by the indecisive pole, Heero continued on.

Shinigami was getting tired, the triple had taken a lot out of the gray and his stride had lost a lot of its bounce. The stallion continued on though, willing to give his all for his master.

Knowing how tired his horse was getting, Heero nursed the stallion along, sitting lightly in his saddle and encouraging his horse with soft words and gentle pressure from his seat and legs, Heero guided them both away from jump twelve and towards jump thirteen; the wall.

“Keep it going, Shini. Not much longer and you're home,” Duo muttered. In his hands the end of his braid had started to suffer, chestnut strands were pulling free from the hair tie and what remained didn't look much better.

“Two more to go, Shini and then you can have a good rest. You've earned it, boy,” Heero praised.

The gray gave a soft snort, sensing the end of the course was near and continued to canter on.

The wall lay ahead, a solid structure of seemingly endless 'bricks'.

“Come on, Shini; you can do it,” Duo encouraged, twisting his braid in his hands.

Zechs gave an amused smile as he watched his fellow vet's antics.

Heero shortened his reins and applied the leg, the gray listening and taking more weight on his hocks. Hind legs came deeper underneath his body, ensuring that Shini would have enough impulsion as they approached the last three strides to the jump.

Completely focused on the jump ahead, Heero rode his horse forward.

The gray rose upwards, hind quarters straining as they propelled the stallion into the air. Front legs folded against the body, hind end following over the top of the jump. Front legs unfurled and prepared for the landing.

In the saddle, Heero remained still, natural reflexes kicking in and following the movement of the horse. Touching down, Heero rode the gray on, re-balancing and steadying as they cantered towards the final jump.

“One to go,” Treize said and shifted in his seat.

“I think I'm having a heart attack,” Duo moaned.

“There, there. It's okay, Duo,” Zechs soothed and placed his arm around Duo's shoulders to give the vet a friendly and welcoming hug

Treize raised an elegant eyebrow in question.

Zechs shrugged. “He needs a hug,” he said in his defense.

“That's long enough,” Treize stated dryly.

“Jealous?” Zechs teased.

“You'll pay for that later.”

“Really? You promise?”

“Most definitely. You'll be begging me to...”

“Okay you two, I think that's enough information, thanks,” Duo interrupted.

“Why? Afraid you'll learn something?” Treize snickered.

Duo snorted. “Very unlikely.”

Before Treize could come up with a smart reply, Zechs interfered. “Heero's almost finished.” Immediately the pair turned their attention back to the arena.

“Last one, Shini. We only need to get over this one and we're home.” Heero shortened his reins and rode towards the final fence.

The gate wasn't a hard jump; the difficulty with it was simply that it was the last jump on the course. By the time the horses got there they were pretty tired from having negotiated the rest of the course and thus didn't have the energy left to get over it. Riders similarly had a problem, not just with trying to keep their horse going forward enough, but it was the last jump and concentration was starting to wane a little.

Heero was well aware of these problems and wasn't about to let any of them get the better of him. Yes, he was tired, yes, his horse was tired, but he was damn sure he was going to give this last jump his best shot.

Legs pushing hard, seat deep in the saddle and hands light on the reins, Heero rode his horse with determination at the gate.

Shinigami pricked his little ears and gamely went forward, stride lengthening out as he eyed up the jump ahead. Picking his take off point, the stallion drew on the last of his reserves and leapt into the air. Muscles drew taut under the gray hide, straining to propel the body into the air and over the gate.

Hands went up the stallion's neck, weight up and out of the saddle Heero balanced himself with his knees and stirrups. The breeze rushed past his face and then the ground was rushing to meet them.

Forelegs came out and took the force of the landing, hind legs touching down a split second later and then driving the stallion away from the fence.

Heero gave with his hands and urged the stallion for one last effort. Shini flattened out and put on a last burst of speed to take them through the finish flags.

As soon as they had passed through the finish, Heero shortened his reins and brought Shinigami to a slow trot. Looking around for the exit, he turned his horse and headed for it, applause and cheering raining down as the commentator announced his result.

“Four faults for Heero Yuy and Shinigami representing Australia.”

In the stands, Duo gave a deep sigh of relief and then followed it with a loud cheer and whoop of joy. Springing to his feet, he scrambled along the row and charged down the steps, practically running out of the arena and to the collecting ring area to congratulate his lover and stuff Shinigami full of carrots.

Noin breathed deeply, a small smile playing on her lips. She had no doubt the team had made it through to the second round, and if her record of the current scores was accurate, they should be fairly high up in the field. With the smile still in place, she got up to go and join Duo in congratulating Heero.

Treize, Zechs, Zoe, Michael and the others all followed behind their coach.

~ * ~

tbc...