Title: Thunder Snow
Author: Rhyssa Fireheart
Pairing: None officially

Characters: Laxus Dreyar, Ciel Moorland (OC)
Fandom: Fairy Tail
Rating: T (PG-13) for language and situations

Prompts: NA
Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will. Just like to play around with it in my mind.

He woke up slowly, the headache pounding at his temples making him groan. His mouth tasted like sour milk and his eyes felt glued closed with grit. Trying to remember the previous night didn't bring up anything unusual and he was certain he'd had at most two mugs of the local alcohol to drink. That definitely wasn't enough to give him a hangover like this.

He sat up carefully, trying to move his head as little as possible, which didn't work out so well. Finally giving in, he opened his eyes but the room which swam into view certainly wasn't the one he'd put his belongings in last night. Bare, dingy walls covered in flaking plaster, roughhewn floor boards, a second basic bed with a woman sitting on the edge, a long narrow window along the top of one wall, blocked with bars, a solid looking door with another small barred window…

Wait…

Barred windows?

"Are you finally awake?" The woman's voice was soft and tired sounding.

"Who…where...no, who are you?" His voice came out in a scratchy rasp, making him cough.

"I'm Ciel and the two girls here are Ino and Shira. We're all prisoners in a mining camp, somewhere over the Bosco border, is my guess." For the first time he noticed the two young girls huddled under blankets on the other bed. "The guards dragged you in here a few hours ago, not sure from where."

"Mining camp? What's going on here? Is this a joke?"

"Definitely not a joke. Going by what happened with me, they probably drugged something you ate or drank because the bandits that run this place needed another body to work the mines. They have groups set up as "families" to work together – a father, mother, and two children. The fathers dig out the ore, the mothers carry it out, and the children sort through it looking for the stones the bandits want," she said bitterly.

"Good for them. I'm getting out of here though." He stood up a bit shakily and headed for the door, intending to drag it open. He grabbed the handle and for a second, it started to turn before he was thrown across the room to slam into the wall. He slumped there dazed, trying to figure out what had happened and watched dust float in the wan daylight slanting through the window. The woman stepped over to stand above him with hands on her hips.

"Let's start over, I'm Ciel and you are…?"

"Laxus. What was that with the door?"

"The door is locked by magic; it won't open unless you have the right key and the collars we're all wearing definitely aren't the key." She pointed at a silver band resting snugly above her collarbones. "This is how they keep everyone in line, too."

Laxus felt along his own neck, running his fingers along the smooth metal. His fingers gripped the object and yanked, intending to pull it off so the damn door would open. A shock shot through his body and he jerked in sudden pain, head cracking against the wall again. When he opened his eyes, Ciel sighed and crouched down before him.

"Okay, look, why don't you just let me finish explaining before you do something else stupid and get all of us hurt? Sound like a plan?" At his nod, she grasped his hand and helped lever him off the floor and back onto the bed.

"Let's start at the beginning again – we're prisoners in a slave mining camp. Groups are arranged in what the guards call families - a father, mother, and two children. We're being forced to mine some kind of mineral; I haven't been able to figure out what it is or why they want it. It doesn't look particularly special from what I can tell.

"They control us through these collars. There's magic sealing stone integrated into them so no magic obviously. I think it's tied to some body-link magic in the metal that prevents you from removing the collar. In fact, you can't even think about removing it or you'll be shocked, as you've already found out. The collars also control what areas we're allowed in; so if you try going somewhere you're not supposed to, again, you'll get a shock.

"I've been here just over two months now, the girls for even longer; they really can't remember. Today's a rest day so tomorrow we'll be expected to work. This little "family" hasn't had a father since I got here, but from what the other women have said and what I've seen, if one member screws up, the whole family gets punished. Now, I'm not too worried about myself, but if you're going to do anything stupid, stop and think of the two kids at the very least. They don't deserve getting hurt.

"Any questions?"

Laxus just stared at the woman. Her whole speech had been delivered in a tired monotone without pause. She sat on the edge of the other bed absently brushing her hand over the hair of one of the girls. Both children were huddled together under the blankets, their breath puffing out in white clouds. Once he noticed that, the cold suddenly seeped into every bit of exposed skin. He looked down at himself and realized his clothes were gone and he was wearing roughly woven shirt and pants. His feet were bare and uncomfortable against the scuffed flooring.

"Why is it so damn cold in here?"

"The bandits have decided that we can be warm in the mines. Otherwise, we get to huddle under blankets in the room here. It helps to keep the slaves in line if they're too damn cold to move around and rebel. There's some socks and shoes at the foot of that bed for you; you should put them on. I've been sharing the bed with the two girls to help keep them warmer at night, so you're free to have the other bed by yourself. " A pause. "And another one of the blankets if you want."

"No, I'll be fine," he said, looking around. At least with his feet covered he felt slightly warmer. "So what time is it?"

"Late afternoon, probably getting close to dinner. There's a communal dining room they feed us all in, so you can get a look at the other prisoners there. I've counted about 100 total, which would be about 25 families." As she finished speaking, a bell rang and the sounds of locks releasing filled the air.

"Everyone out! Time to eat! Move to the hall now!"

"Come on, they'll come in and drag you out if you try to avoid it. That's happened once that I've seen. The mother refused to come out and the father and two children were beaten pretty badly." She urged the two girls out the door, giving him a worried look as she passed. He sighed in frustration before getting up and following.

The hall was crowded with other "family" groups and Laxus took the opportunity to study the other prisoners as they headed down the hallway. As a group, the other men looked like a brutish assembly. Most he saw were smaller than he was, although several were about his size and all seemed to be a lot dirtier. One man had to duck his head to make his way down the hall, which told Laxus a lot about whatever control methods these bandits were using. The few guards he could see didn't look particularly threatening at all, at least not enough to keep this many people confined without strong measures.

"Come on," Ciel said, grabbing his arm. "We're supposed to keep together." She took the hand of one of the girls (he supposed he'd have to learn which was which) and lead them towards the dining room. They queued up for food, carrying trays to an empty table.

"This looks like crap," Laxus said, staring at the food on his tray.

"I know, it's not very appealing to look at, but it keeps us healthy enough to work. That's all the guards care about."

Later that night, after the lights were turned out (long before sunset, judging by the amount of light still coming through the window), Laxus sat on the side of his bed with the blanket draped around his shoulders and stared at the rest of his sleeping "family". The collar may be blocking his magic, but it couldn't do anything about his enhanced senses. The scant light was plenty for him to study the woman and two girls. Both the children clung to each other tightly and were in turn held protectively by Ciel. Even lying on her side with her legs bent, the bed looked far too small for three people.

Her, he couldn't figure out at all. She sounded tired and defeated, but for whatever reason, he was sure that was an act, or at least partially an act. He noticed that the slight scowl she'd had since he'd woken up was gone and she looked younger than his first impression, maybe not even his own age. In the dim light, the white streak in her dark hair stood out like a beacon. He hadn't paid close enough attention to see what color her eyes were, but he thought they were dark. She wasn't bad looking, he decided, although that really didn't make a difference. He wasn't going to be sticking around for very long.

Six weeks later, staring into a whirlwind of white, he reflected back on that thought and smiled grimly to himself.