Chapter One – The Mysterious Woman
A soft cool breeze rustled the leaves of the trees surrounding the pair. Aside from the distant bird song all that was to be heard was the crunch of leaves and twigs beneath their feet.
"Rika… Where are we going?" She yawned stretching her arms above her head. Smoothing the mass of her lower back length platinum silver hair behind her ears as she brought her arms back down. She caught herself glaring down at the orange striped cat pulling her along, easily keeping pace with the cat as she pulled her through the many trees and bushes.
"Mizuki I found something over here you are going to want to see." The cat mumbled as she continued to pull Mizuki at a quickened pace through the trees. Rika's paw trembling as she clutched the woman's pant leg.
Soon the faint whispers of a flowing stream filled their ears. Following the cat deeper into the forest they finally came up to a stream. The stream was nothing extraordinary but what was peculiar was the man laid up against the base of a large tree on the opposite side of the stream. He was an obviously tall, muscular man. His wind swept hair was an amazingly brilliant blonde, almost comparable to the to the bright color of the sun. The features of his face were very sharp and defined, graced by the appearance of the lightning bolt shaped scar donning his right eye.
"I wonder who he is…" Mizuki muttered glancing over the man cautiously from across the stream. Quietly deciding to get a closer look she hopped over the stream. Landing in a crouched position she slowly approached the man.
The distant sound of a twig snapping nearby had Mizuki looking up from the man, studying their surroundings quickly. In this moment she seemed like more of a wild animal than her petite figure would suggest.
"Be careful." Rika whispered to her as Mizuki crouched near the man, brushing away the hair from in front of his eyes. She heard a soft groan escape his lips. Feeling an intense heat radiating from his skin, she moved her hand away from his face, a troubling look upon her own.
"Rika… Go get our stuff." She sighed, knowing she couldn't leave him there like this. She pulled his body down gently, with some ease, until his body laid fully on the ground near the tree.
As Rika returned with a large canvas bag, Mizuki had finally gotten the man settled on the ground. Kneeling between him and the stream she began to look over the man's condition. She couldn't help but think about how handsome the man was, but at the same time she wondered why he was out here. Rifling through the bag Rika returned with she removed a small cloth and jar from within. Quickly she soaked the cloth in the cool water of the stream and gently placed the folded cloth on the man's forehead. Moving slowly she started to remove the bandages from the man's body. She accessed the majority of the man's wounds, taking the jar she pulled from the bag and applying the paste within to the worst of the man's wounds. After having applied the medicinal paste she carefully replaced clean bandages over the wounds and moved to lay his head in her lap. Deciding she would wait with him until he woke.
"Rika…" She spoke finally in a soft quiet tone. "It will be dark soon. Could you start us a fire?"
Hours later and the sun was almost fully down, Mizuki was shaken from her dazed stare as the man began to stir. Opening his eyes slowly, they immediately met hers.
"So you're finally awake huh?" She smirked down at the man who had yet to move from her lap. "How are you feeling?" Instead of answering her he scoffed at the woman and sat up to move away from her. Her venom green eyes grew soft and never left him, his action enticing a small giggle from her.
The sound of amusement coming from the woman caused him some confusion. He could not help but wonder who she was, he was being rude to her and yet she returned his rudeness with a smile and a laugh. The cloth that was on his head fell into his lap, the bandages she'd replaced still laid on the ground behind her, making it obvious that she was tending to him in his sleep. Yet he was rude to her, this made him wonder what type of person he had become all the more.
Lost in his thoughts of confusion, he almost didn't realize that she had started to dab the cloth across his forehead. She gave him a soft reassuring smile when she turned to the stream, soaking the cloth again in the cool waters.
"Why are you helping me?" He questioned her softly; however soft, his voice was still coarse and deep.
"We found you passed out, with a fever, injured and alone." She looked back at him, her expression was now somehow sad. "What kind of a person would I be if I just left you here?"
"What if I had hurt you?" He questioned again, this time his voice took on a ping of guilt and sorrow.
She didn't answer at first, instead she took a small cup from her bag and dipped it into the stream. Turning back to him, she offered him the small cup of water. Once he'd taken the cup from her she resumed dabbing the cloth across his forehead and down his large neck.
She gave him a soft smile, "I have been around enough bad people in my life to know who is and is not." The tone of her voice now reflected his, only heavily filled, casting more mystery onto who she was and where she had come from.
Her eyes reflected the pain she felt inside her heart for her past. You would have thought her to be a saint the way she cared but, the pain in her eyes would tell you otherwise. It was plain as day that this woman had to have been through some sort of hell before and this had made her a much more kind and caring woman. He figured he might as well return a little of her kindness.
"Laxus…" The sudden sound of his voice surprised her, causing her to give him a sort of confused look. "My name is Laxus." He rolled his eyes at the dumbfounded woman.
"Well Laxus, it's nice to meet you." The little orange cat, Rika, stepped into the conversation. She had moved from her spot next to the fire to sit beside Mizuki; but neither Mizuki nor Laxus had noticed until she spoke.
"This is Rika," Mizuki smiled looking to the cat and back to him. "Where'd you come from?"
"Do I really have to tell you my life story?" He grumbled; sort of glared at the woman now, almost annoyed with her question.
"Well seeing as I might have just saved your life, and am curious… yes." She smiled victoriously, causing him to left out a defeated sigh.
"Magnolia…" He sighed again. Looking up through the trees he stared at the night sky as he continued. "I was part of the Fairy Tail guild, but my own stupid Grandfather kicked me out. My grandfather was the Guild Master, and he kicked me out." His voice was becoming angry now, without any thought at all she reached her hand out and placed it on his arm, immediately calming the storm raging within his own mind. His face was twisted with mixed emotions of anger and surprise. Unsure how to feel he looked away from her.
"Laxus, listen we all have pasts we're not proud of. Perhaps he was trying to get you to understand something, but you wouldn't and this is the only way to force it? Even if that's not the case the only thing you can do is strive to be a better person today than you were yesterday." She looked at him sadly, she hadn't moved her hand from his arm, but she was surprised when his hand then covered her own.
"Who are you?" Laxus questioned her, what was it about this woman that made it so easy for her to understand where he was coming from? He wanted to know everything about her, but why? He had never been this interested in another person before, the only thing he had ever cared about was getting out of his grandfather's shadow all these years.
"Mizuki… I'm just Mizuki. I'm really nothing special. I've done some things in my life to make the world a darker place, not I'm simply trying to make it a better place, before I am no longer able to."She sighed. "I was a broken person, driven by nothing but hate. I've been running away from that life, but it has continued to haunt me since I left."
Her sudden explanation of who she was and where she was coming from caught Laxus off couldn't understand how it was so easy for her to tell him this, or how she knew exactly which questions he wanted to ask and how to answer them in such a roundabout way.
"Thank you." He spoke quietly, the anger in his expression faded and he showed her a small half smile, letting his hand squeeze hers gently.
A faint blush crossed her cheeks, but she returned the smile. "Laxus, I don't know what you did to get yourself kicked out of Fairy Tail but I think you're a good person." She smirked; pulling her hand out from under his she turned to tend the fire before laying her head down. By now the stars were out in full and it was becoming late in the night.
The comment left Laxus with a surprised look on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard her say. She, who had no idea who he was or what he had done, yet she still thought him to be a good person. Who was this woman? That question would bring an end to their night, all three falling fast asleep near the fire and close to each other.
