And here I am again, with another little random thingy. I've been bit by the Saint Seiya bug (as far as the writing department goes) and just had to do something. So here it goes, my first try at a fic. The three dots that seem kind of random, indicate time passing or scene change. Oh, and I don't own Saint Seiya either

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Chapter One: Jungle Fever

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Everything was eerily silent as the knights made their way to the next check point. They were deep in an unnamed jungle somewhere they'd never really heard of and had forgotten immediately upon hearing. It was a final test in their preparations for attacking Sanctuary. If they could get through to her satisfaction, then they were ready for anything. Athena had seen to it.

"Remind me never to insult cold weather, Hyoga. This is much worse." Seiya dropped the box his cloth was kept in and stretched. The group of four had been hiking for the better part of the day- along with many others- through humid foliage that never seemed to end.

Hyoga chuckled and joined Pegasus against a tree to take a well earned break. Three of them were covered in a fine sheen of perspiration from their day's walk- all except Swan. Hyoga was using his manipulation of the cold to suit his own needs, much to the irritation of Seiya who continued to whine and complain.

"Oh, I don't know. I don't mind it that much." Shun carefully placed his Andromeda cloth next to the other boxes and took a sip from his water bottle. He wiped his green hair from his eyes with the back of his hand.

Shiryu, the Dragon, sitting on his cloth, smiled. "I think that would be because of your older brother, Shun. You can't grow up with Pheonix without becoming at least a little adjusted to heat."

Shun shrugged and tucked away his water. He missed Ikki and wished he were with the rest of them. But Ikki had politely- for him- refused to travel with their group and instead had chosen his own route. They could faintly feel his cosmo when they concentrated, but beyond that, it was just the four of them. And even then, Shun wasn't sure that they were all together.

Seiya was to brash and headstrong, always doing things to suit him instead of thinking of the rest. Shiryu liked to lapse into long stretches of reflective silence where he would puzzle out concepts that no one had bother to think about- like the potentials of their cosmo and their cloths. Ikki, like Seiya, was a bit arrogant and preferred to work independently instead of getting mixed up with the other bronze knights serving Athena. And Hyoga was distant and detached, as though he would only react to crisis. That left Shun to try and bridge the gap, but he always fell short. So instead he kept to himself, and only really talked to Ikki. But Ikki was never around anymore...

"We should get going. There's still a lot of jungle to cover before we can stop for the night." Shiryu shrugged on his box, as did the others, Seiya making complaints loudly.

"I just hope we get a bed this time. I'm sick of lying on the ground." The knight of Pegasus, now committed to continuing, charged ahead and was soon gone. Shiryu followed next and then Hyoga, both falling back into their own little worlds- still alert for danger, still able to respond to Seiya's loud jokes and comments, but otherwise dead to the world. Shun brought up the rear, deciding to take an interest in where they were instead of dwelling on his own thoughts. The jungle was rather interesting after all.

...

"If you want through here, you'll have to get through us!" Another nondescript bunch of what the bronze knights had come to call 'pseudo- knights' blocked the entrance to the clearing where the check point lay. At each such designated point, where they were supposed to check in and spend the night, group after group of attackers had lain in wait. And each one was more fervent in their goal than the last.

"That suits us just fine." Seiya abandoned his burden and slid into his battle stance. The other three knights followed quickly after.

"Bring it on!" The group of green and brown clad men- even a few women if what Shun could make out was true- spread out, waiting.

It was Seiya who made the first move.

With his usual tactless battle cry, Pegasus charged in and managed to take down nearly a quarter of the fighters with one blow. Shiryu launched himself through the air to deliver a series of flashing kicks, knocking back several more. Hyoga followed quickly with swift punches of his own. Shun remained back, wary of this new group. None of them had defended the onslaught, or made any mover to counterattack.

The three knights of Swan, Dragon and Pegasus tore through their foe with relative ease. When they had finished, none remained standing except them. Shiryu and Seiya exchanged congratulations while Hyoga started back to gather his cloth. Shun eyed the fallen warriors with uncertainty. He could've sworn he saw one of their hands twitch or a pair of eyes open marginally...

"Now!" In a surge, all of the fallen leaped to their feet. A few then propelled themselves forward quickly towards the now caught off guard knights while the rest started preparing something. With his hands full defending against punches and kicks from several, Shun couldn't tell what they were doing.

He could hear his three companions struggling against this surprise attack, unable to regain their footing in the face of such a fast barrage. Shun ducked and weaved his way through the blows sent his way, forearms already smarting from defending. It was complete chaos.

Phut.
A strange coughing sound caused all those attacking to suddenly back off. Then Shun found himself tangled in netting and his own limbs as he was forcefully thrown back against a tree. His breath was forced out of him painfully with the impact and stars flashed briefly before his eyes. A series of coughs, shouts and thuds told him that the others has been similarly caught.

"Hey, get him before he reaches his cloth!"

Shun twisted himself around with discomfort so that he could see through the mesh at whomever they were referring to. He discovered that Hyoga had dodged capture by shoving a subdued fighter into the path of the net before it reached him. Now the blonde was trying to fight his way through a mob of attackers toward his cloth as still others readied a large firing mechanism with another net.

Hyoga's hand closed on the edge of his boxed cloth and a bright flash of light flared around him. When it faded, Swan stood at the ready, fully clothed in the bronze of his constellation. He began to move gracefully, deceptively slow. Shun shivered. The temperature was beginning to drop.

"Don't back down. Our orders are to keep pressing until we're certain they've won, or they've yielded. Get back in there! Now!" The captain shoved a few fighters forward and then began forward himself. The whole group pressed in towards the lithe, swaying form of Hyoga.

"Diamond Dust!" With a two handed swing, Hyoga froze nearly the entire company to the ground and sideswiped the rest with what Shun was sure would be immediate frostbite, if only a minor case.

The powerful blast of cold swept past them and into the jungle behind them, covering a few trees with a layer of ice. Being unfortunately on the edge of the path the frost took, Shun was also hit with a gust of freezing arctic air, but not nearly as bad as the plants next to him. He tried to clutch the arm that was burning with cold, but was restrained painfully by the netting, a portion of which had frozen to him.

"We submit!" The captain yelled as he tried to work himself free. Hyoga nodded, unbothered, and the temperature began to increase. The Swan knight then set about freeing his friends, muttering only a brief apology to green haired Andromeda.

They gathered their cloths and other assorted items and walked past the shivering group to the clearing beyond. An inviting shack waited for them, along with the usual equipment for contacting Sienna.

...

"I am very disappointed in all of you. You shouldn't have been taken off guard so easily! If this were Sanctuary, you would all be at the mercy of the Master by now." Sienna's disapproving voice filled the room and caused the four knights to shift uneasily.

"But Hyoga got us out, princess!" Seiya protested.

"And he hit Shun in the process. Besides, there are a lot more at Sanctuary and most of them knights- bronze, silver and gold. You would not have gotten far."

Shun stood, uncomfortable, and strode to look out the small window. "I'm alright. It's not that bad." He suppressed a shiver.

"That's not the point. If you can't do better, all of you, then I may have to postpone the attack on Sanctuary until I feel you are ready."

"But we can't just wait for them to attack us!" Seiya was on his feet, fist raised, anger flaring.

"We can and we will, if it's necessary. Your lives are more important than making a frontal assault. And that's final."

Shun left then, not wanting to listen to the argument that was sure to follow. He walked away from the shack as Seiya's voice rose to a shout, soon joined by Hyoga's support and Shiryu's calmer protests. Shun had heard it all before. He continued walking, letting the voices fade away.

...

In the gloom of twilight Shun found the jungle they were in to be oddly beautiful. Some flowers were blooming and it was quiet. He found a spot to sit and relax peacefully, letting the stress of the earlier battle roll off his back. He still shivered occasionally, still not quite recovered from Hyoga's powerful attack, but otherwise relived to be alone for awhile. It was nice to have moments like this, he reflected. A long time ago restful moments like this had been common, but then had disappeared in the quest for becoming a knight and all that came with it. Shun sighed softly in the increasing darkness and fell into a light doze.

He startled awake when he heard a rather large branch snap nearby. Shun was on his feet quickly, looking around in the fading light for any sign of who was near. "Guys, is that you?" The silence felt oppressive now that it hid someone, or something. "This really isn't funny."

Something approached swiftly from behind and struck Shun hard in the back of the head. The next thing Andromeda knew, he was lying on the ground with a splitting headache. Murmuring voices seemed to come from every direction and what little he could see swam in a never still haze. Feet flashed in front of his eyes every now and then. Shun tried to pick himself up, but his body wouldn't respond. Then, he could feel himself being dragged away.

...

"And I win again," Seiya frowned as Shiryu laid down his hand. It was the sixth hand of gin rummy that the Dragon knight had won in a row.

"I say we play another game. How about," Seiya tapped his fingers as he tried to think of a game Shiryu hadn't won yet, "go fish?" He held up his hands defensively at the looks that Shiryu and Hyoga gave him. "Fine. Deal another hand, Hyoga."

As the three mulled over the cards they had been given, they heard a loud scream of agony. Instantly, their game forgotten, the knights were outside, scanning for the source of the sound. A quick movement caught Hyoga's eye and he moved to investigate. Lying half covered by thick foliage, was Shun's unconscious form. His clothing had been torn to shreds and deep scratches covered his body. Hyoga kneeled next to his fallen friend and checked him over carefully, wary of broken bones or more serious injuries. Shiryu and Seiya, noticing that something had been found, approached.

"What did you...oh."

Shiryu helped Hyoga clear away the tangled ferns and underbrush from Shun's legs. No bones appeared to be broken, although he was bruised badly along both arms and his chest, had deep cuts just about everywhere, and strange, bleeding marks on his forearms. In unspoken agreement, Dragon and Swan lifted Shun's slender form from the ground and carried him inside. Seiya was already trying to reach Sienna by the time they had set the green haired knight down.

"Damn, I can't get through. Something's blocking it either on our end or hers." Seiya slammed his fist against the card table in frustration, sending cards scattering to the floor.

"We have first aid supplies. We can take care of him until the problem gets fixed and we can contact the princess." Hyoga spoke calmly, as if nothing had happened, as he rummaged for a roll of bandages and his water bottle.

"I want to know who did this." Seiya began pacing around the small room, throwing angry looks into the night outside.

"We all do, Seiya." Shiryu took over cleaning the cuts on Shun's body while Hyoga bound the more serious ones.

No one spoke of how they hadn't felt the cosmo of another knight, or that they hadn't kept tabs on Shun when he left. They didn't want to think of how it might be their fault that the knight of Andromeda was now unconscious and bleeding.

"He has a fever." Hyoga removed his hand from Shun's now sweaty forehead and frowned. "That means he has an infection, and we have nothing that can help that sort of thing..."

The three knights looked down mournfully at their injured friend. "Hang in there, Shun." Seiya's voice seemed to echo in the room.

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There it goes, a start to something I hope will turn out okay. I do love Shun hugs him and most of the other knights. Just not so much Seiya, but for my purposes, he's not as bad. Well, tell me what you think! R&R!