Stolen Petals
Elizabeth was looking for Hawk, again. She had ran off again after Meliodas threatened to cook her, saying he had a perfect dish that would go great with pig and off Hawk ran from the tavern. Huffing and crying at Meliodas about how he treated her wrong.
"Hawk! Hawk!" Elizabeth gave out a sigh as she wiped a light sweat from her forehead, she had wandered far from the tavern at this point. She was nowhere near the forest that the Boar's Hat was set in, she could tell that much at least.
Walking around and not really looking where she was going she bumped into someone. It was a young woman in her early 20's with long pink hair that flowed to her waist. Long lashes that kissed against her pale ivory cheeks. Her eyes the greenest of green, a mix of jade and mint. Her body was not as curvy as Elizabeth but still womanly nonetheless.
Her body was dressed in a black high waisted corset skirt that flared out towards the end with a white ribbon crossing and tying the skirt corset, as for her top she had on a red fitted long sleeves with a peek a boo diamond cut out that sunk to the middle of her bust. With skin tight black thigh socks and ankle boots that hugged her ankle tightly as well. Around her wrists were gold bands.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't really watching where I was walking, please forgive me!" Elizabeth bowed to the young woman, taken back by her beauty. The girl was definitely older than her and reminded her much of her eldest sister, Margaret.
"Oh, no worries! It was partially my fault too." The older girl smiled at her and picked up whatever she had dropped, a peach red pleated umbrella with a red tassel and jade beads hanging off the handle.
"What are you even doing here? This isn't a place for a young girl like you. The locals of this part of town are rather...touchy of pretty young things like you." The pink haired woman warned her as she tilted her head over to the group of 3 bulky men lurking in the corner.
"O-oh! Thank you so much for the warning but I'm looking for my friend. She ran off after our other friend said some mean things to her." Elizabeth explained as she blushed red from the staring eyes of men.
"A friend? Maybe I can help, what does she look like?" She smiled at the younger girl.
"Really?! Thank you so much. She's a very dear friend of mine. She's a pink pig." Elizabeth nodded to her in gratitude.
The pink haired girl stopped in her step and turned back to the girl, "A what? You mean she acts like a pig right?"
"No she's a pig. A pink pag with a tag on her ear. She's about this tall and this wide. Oh and she talks!" Elizabeth stretched her hand this way and that way showing her the general look of Hawk.
"Right. I'm Sakura by the way and you?" The girl laughed at the mere thought of a pretty young girl traveling with a huge talking pink pig.
"Nice to meet you Lady Sakura! I'm Elizabeth!" She smiled at Sakura and began to walk besides the girl and told her the events that lead to Hawk running away.
"Your friends seem rather fun to be around." Sakura laughed at the tales of Hawk and her friend's arguments.
"They truly are! I feel rather blessed to be able to travel around with them, they're the best people I've ever met!"
"How nice. I would love to meet these friends of yours'." Sakura laughed at the tales of her friends.
"Yes, I would love for you to meet them! They're very nice people, though they can get rather extreme." Elizabeth scratched her head and thought back to the times when Ban and Meliodas would fight and all their other challenges. And so they spent most of the afternoon looking for Hawk to only find her sleeping under a tree near a children's playground.
…
By the time Elizabeth and Sakura and the newly found Hawk had gotten back to the tavern it was nearing nighttime, "This should be around the time the tavern is the most crowded." Elizabeth began to explain the story about the Boar Hat, how the drinks were good but the food was like poison.
"Wow, so you can really drink a whole barrel of alcohol and still be okay?!" Hawk asked Sakura with much admiration in her eyes, she was really liking the new girl that Elizabeth had befriended.
"Yup, and you're really the Captain of the Order of Scrap Disposal?! I've never heard of the Order but you must be someone rather strong and important." Sakura laughed along with the pig, she was rather fun to be with and a very interesting pig to talk to.
"And here we are, welcome to the Boar Hat!" Elizabeth opened the door and allowed Sakura to walk in first. And the first thing that greeted Sakura was a flying knife aimed right at her head.
"It's rather cute, minus this rude welcoming by your friends, the Seven Deadly Sins. Might want to rethink about who you hang out with, Princess." Sakura smiled up at the shocked princess as another knife was thrown in her direction.
"What are you doing here?! And why is Elizabeth and Hawk with you?!" Ban screamed out at the girl as he charged full head at her but was thrown back behind the counter by Meliodas.
"No way, if it isn't Sakura! Haven't seen you in a while." Meliodas smiled up at her and greeted her with a punch but Sakura met it equally with her own punch.
"It's been nearly 10 years now, so nice to see you too Meli." Sakura forced out a smile as she and Meliodas began to struggle to overpower the other.
"Wa-wait you guys know each other? And you know who I am?" Elizabeth looked back and forth between the three.
"Oh yeah, me and Meli go way back. As for me knowing you, it's rather obvious with you flaunting your crest on your earring." Sakura then kneed Meliodas in the gut causing him to cough up the smallest amount of blood.
"Yup, same Sakura as ever! I glad you haven't changed much over the years!" Meliodas charged back at her with a roundhouse kick that she easily dodged with a simple duck, but her hair wasn't able to get away. Stray strands of pink hair swayed to the floor of the tavern.
"What about you and Ban?" Elizabeth sweat dropped at the way the two kept throwing hard hits at each other with smiles on their faces. It reminded her greatly of how he and Ban fought all the time.
"Ban? Who's that? A 'Ban' does not bring up anything to me." Sakura stopped her attacks as she and Meliodas landed back onto the ground with a soft touch. Meliodas and Elizabeth gave an awkward laugh at her facial expression on the topic of Ban.
"The one who threw those knives at you when you entered." Hawk explained as she began to set the chair back up.
"Oh yes him, well hm, I would say it's complicated." Sakura tilted her head in thoughts as she picked up the two knives and threw them right back at Ban and pierced the shoulders of his leather jacket.
"Hey!" Ban yelled back at her in anger as he tried to free himself of the deeply pierced knives.
"What's all this ruckus about?" Diane peaked through the window and spotted Sakura standing there with her usual umbrella on her shoulder.
"SAKURA!" Diane nearly reached into the tavern from her spot outside. She had just gotten back from exploring around so she had not seen Sakura and Elizabeth enter.
"Nice to see you again, Diane." Sakura smiled softly at the giant, she had always been like a younger sister to Sakura in a way.
…
"So you own this tavern now huh Meli?" Sakura took a sip of her drink. After greeting the Sins, Elizabeth had decided it was time to turn in, so now it was just the Sins and her plus Hawk who was relaxing and eating her scraps.
"Yup, it costed me my sacred treasure but it was a nice bargain." Meliodas smiled at her and gulped down the rest of his drink.
"How reckless of you to sell your treasure like that!" Sakura laughed out and punched him straight in the face. Causing the two of them to laugh with Sakura yelling at him in anger for his reckless behavior.
"Cut the shit, Sakura. What are you doing here?" Ban narrowed his eyes at her, he sat right across from her and Meliodas sat on her left.
"Always thinking I have a second motive don't you?" Sakura's eyes softened as she smiled fondly at the blue haired male
"What are you doing here though? You left us that night with no explanation." Meliodas stared at her with blank eyes and a face just as blank.
"When shooting stars fill the night sky in the form of crosses, Britannia will face her most desperate hour. This is a trail preordain since ancient times and will herald the beginning of a holy war between the guiding hand of the light and the bloodline of the darkness." Sakura told them, word by word. Just like the doctor had before. Her eyes now serious, mint green now a shade darker looking almost jade.
"What does a Britannia poem have anything to do with you being here?" Ban asked her.
"Nothing, but the holy war does. These things don't just happen by accident, it's starting. Sooner or later we would have been gathered either through our own will or by the fates. This holy war that the king foretold is happening soon." Sakura leaned into her palm as she swirled her drink with her finger hovering above. Bringing the liquid in and out of the cup with simple magic.
"So you really think this holy war is going to happen?" Diane leaned into the window more.
"I don't think, I know. The signs are right in front of us." Sakura swirled the drink faster now. Her voice as nonchalant as always.
"Well you can fight this war by yourself. I have no intention of working with you again, I work only for the Captain." Ban snorted at her and began to get up from his seat.
"Sit down." The drink stopped swirling and dripped back down into the cup.
Ban crashed right back into his seat with a scowl on his face, there she went using her ability of 'Absolute Order' to make someone do anything against their wishes again.
"What is it? Last time we talked you said you wanted nothing to do with me anymore. You said some pretty harsh words that can't be taken back." He barked at her.
"Sakura," Meliodas stared down at his drink. She glanced over to him with a glint in her eye, "If this holy war is to happen as soon as you think it will, than let it be. Right now we have something else to do. Elizabeth has asked me to accompany her in her search for the Seven Deadly Sins to save the kingdom. That is our top priority, not a war that may or may not happen."
Sakura looked at him for a long period of time before she gave a sigh, "Always so heroic, how tragic. Order Overlook." With a simple command, Ban was released from Sakura's Order and now stood from his spot and left them with nothing but a cold look at Sakura.
"Ban...Sakura-" Before Diane could go on with her sentence Sakura stopped her.
"Diane let him go. The past is the past, let it stay there. Absolute Order: Sleep." Sakura smiled at the giantess as she yawned out and began to fall asleep, Sakura then walked towards the door.
"Stay."
"Mh?" Sakura looked backed at the blonde captain.
"Stay the night. You can stay in Elizabeth's room with her, I can bunk with Ban tonight. Just like old times." Meliodas grinned up at her.
Sakura smiled over to him and laughed, "I don't think that would be a good idea, Meli. Ban has a rather ugly grudge towards me and you know how he gets when I'm involved in anything that he's involved with too."
"Please. I know you guys have bad blood but please. I know the Holy War is closer than anyone would like it to be, it's the main purpose as to why the Seven Deadly Sins were created but we also need you if we want to win. I couldn't care less if Ban is happy with you or not, this is what needs to happen." Meliodas tightened his fist as he thought about the oncoming war.
Sakura looked at her friend with blank eyes and a blank face before she gave a giggle, "No need to show this side to me, Meli. Anything you ask I'll gladly do. You asking me like this makes me feel more wanted than ever, don't show this side to anyone else, okay?" She giggled and teased at him as he scratched the back of his head.
"Anything for you, Sakura." He grinned as he finished the last of his drink and started up stairs to show Sakura the way to the room she would be sharing with Elizabeth for the night.
Absolute Order - The ability to give an order on anyone the caster wishes to order. Ranges from simple things like; sit down, sleep etc. to rather extreme things like killing others. A dangerous ability that should not be taken lightly.
Order Overlook - Ability to take away or stop an order.