Well, here we are with chapter 2! Gotta admit I kinda pushed myself to get to this point with the story since the childhood stuff pre-magic is just something that I can't get into as well as the rest of it. Chapters after the next one will honestly take less work then this one, and the next one, but I won't say much more.
Also, thank you Meep718, CoolFirePanda, Readinglover3, and Marvel-comic-girl, for following this story! It's nice to know that people like what I did with this, even if its still really early on in the story. So thank you much!
Reviews:
Readinglover3: Glad to hear that honestly! I was nervous about this since this is a new story, but I had this idea for a while, and then there's this chapter, one that I'm honestly not as happy with as I could be. I Hope you enjoy this chapter just as well though!
One last note, I decided to try and do something that I had seen from 'Child of Heaven' at the beginning of this chapter, so tell me if I should try and keep doing this or not if you would please!
Chapter cover: Samantha and rob are dressed in Monk robes, the small robs to big for the girl, while she's greets Erza and Jellal with a smile, Rob holding in his laughter to the side.
The working conditions of the tower were a lot tougher then she had originally thought, but Samantha toughed through it considering the fact that Rob was always someone that kept her smiling once the days work was done. The old man had done more than just keep her from lashing out at any of the guards that would, more often than not, goad her. He also was there for her when she had received injuries from protecting other children that were working. Only 9 years old, and she was already trying to be a hero.
Not once had the girl given up hope that she could escape one day, however much the cultists, as Rob had called them, tried. She proved time and again that she was more stubborn than any of them, as she continued to work without speaking a word to them. It had led to more then one instance of them lashing out at her, trying their best to get the girl to retaliate, but nothing they did worked. It left them even more frustrated afterwards, but it did leave more than a few nasty bruises on Samantha in the process.
A wince left the brown haired girl as she tried her best to ignore the feeling she had with one of her legs, only for her to be forced to focus on it when a guard lashed out at her legs, the crack of a wooden staff causing more than a few people to look over in their direction.
"Look at me when I speak to you, your wretched little brat!" The man who had hit her shouted at the top of his lungs, causing more than a few of the other slaves to send worried looks around them "You think your so high and mighty that you can just ignore us when we talk to you?! I'll show you some respect."
Samantha let another yell of pain out when she heard a faint whining noise, which was followed by the cuffs on her hands lighting up with electricity. The painful charge last for only a few seconds, but it was more than enough for the breath to leave her. Despite this though, Samantha, struggling as she was, got back up and continued to work like nothing had happened.
The 'guard' looked like he was about to scream at the girl once again, or do something to make her to react, but a hand grabbed his shoulder before he could. Looking towards the owner, the cultist let out a 'Che' before he turned towards watching over more guards, the man who grabbed his shoulder being another cultist. The unspoken message between the two had left more than a few of the slaves worried, but they ignored it in favor of continuing their work.
Samantha herself, let out a shaky breath as she continued on with what she was doing, grabbing rubble and setting it into a minecart. Another wince left her when she felt that her legs was trying to give out on her, but she refused the urge, and continued to push herself.
The pain of the injury continued to nag at her in the back of her mind, but she ignored if in favor of continuing to work.. More and more the pain was starting to get to her, but she ignored it in favor of trying to make sure that she got through the day. She knew that Rob was going to be upset with her for not trying to slow down while working after this, but she had a stubborn streak that was worse than anyone from fairy tail, at least as far as Rob was concerned. That was both a good and a bad thing as it turned out.
Heart of fire.
Rob let out a sigh as he put his hands around the girls ankle. There was no doubt in his mind that it was broken now that he got a good feel of it. Of course the unshed tears in Samantha's eyes did little to help hid the fact that she was in a lot of pain. To make matters worse, of course, was the fact that she had been walking on it, trying to ignore the pain the whole day. No doubt it had been broken when that Cultist had hit her in the leg.
A sigh left Rob as his magic started to heal the girls leg "You are way to stubborn you must know. Most people would have collapsed from the pain of a broken leg a long time before they managed to get here again."
"W-well it's, good that I d-didn't!" The small girl spoke, a wince here and there breaking her words, the tears in her eyes still being held back "I-If I stopped, t-then someone e-else might have b-been h-hurt!"
Another sigh left the old man, his fingers purposely digging into her ankle only slightly, causing her to let out a yelp, the tears in her eyes finally starting to fall as a result "Samantha, if your injuries get to this point, then there is no point in trying to protect anyone. How can you help anyone, if you yourself are injured?"
Looking off to the side, the tears of pain did little to hide the pout that the girl had. Rob shook his head once more as he continued to heal the girls foot. Honestly, part of his was tempted to not heal it as a lesson to the girl, but that was quickly forced out of his mind when he remembered what the Cultists would do if they found that she was slaking in her work. No matter how much she needed a lesson taught to her, there was no point if it lead to more injuries then she already had.
Taking a few more seconds to use his magic to heal the girl, the Old man let out a tired exhale once he finished healing the girls leg. Taking his hands away, he allowed her to take her foot back as well, but not before he spoke once more "Now, remember what I said. There's no point in getting hurt like that. Not to mention i'm getting up in years you know."
"Your ancient Jiji!" Samantha giggled, causing the old man to frown in mock disappointment. Her giggling was quickly cut off, however, when said old man picked Samantha up, causing her to laugh as a result.
Giving a hum towards the girl, even as he held her above him, Rob gave a smirk "Ancient am I? I wonder then what you are? So little, you must be a Chibi! Someone forever to run under and around the feet of those that are older than you!"
"Nu-uh! I'm gonna bit taller then you when I grow up!" The girl spoke with a bit of a giggle as well "I'll be so tall that everyone will have to look up to see me! I'll touch the sky, and then you'll ride on my shoulders!"
Giving a grin towards the girl, even as he set her upon his shoulders during her declaration, Rob nodded "I look forward to seeing it then. I'm sure you'll be a great hero as well! Dispensing Justice to those who deserve it."
"Ne Rob-jichan. What does 'Justice' mean anyway?" Samantha asked while resting her head on Rob's own, tilting it slightly as well.
Looking up towards the girl, without moving his head of course, he chuckled "Well, Justice means that you want everyone to be treated fairly, even it means that they must be punished for doing something bad."
"Even the mean Cult-guys?" Her voice sounded out, confused.
Nodding, Rob look towards the night sky as he spoke "Even them. I know that you don't like them Samantha-chan, but everyone deserves to be treated fairly. Meaning, if you wanted the mean cult-guys to be treated fairly, you'd have them arrested and be sent to jail as punishment for the bad things they did."
He didn't receive a response from the girl, at least not right away, something that had confused him, at least until he heard the girl yawn before talking "Alright… I'll beat up all the bad guys and have them punished by going to to jail. Wanna be a true hero…"
Slowly but surely the girl ended up falling asleep on top of Rob, something that caused him to shake his head slightly, but only just, as to not jostle the girl. He was glad that the girl was taking to his lessons on morality well, he had been very worried that she was going down the path of a dark wizard if she had so much anger in her form still by the time she got out of this place.
Setting the girl gently down on the little bit of straw that had been available, the old man let a sigh leave him, his mind going towards how to get the children out in the first place. He knew that even weak, he would be able to fight against the mages that this place had, but not while also protecting the children and other people that would need the help as well. That really was the only reason that he hadn't broken out of here in the first place. If he managed to break out, there was no telling what the Cultists would do to anyone else that was still here. It was only cemented when he realized that children were here as well.
Letting his eyes close for the time being, Rob knew that tomorrow was to bring more slaves in, and that was never something he enjoyed seeing. More often than not, the adults were killed, leaving just the children. Years had passed with him hoping that someone, somewhere would find this island, but those same years had brought nothing but disappointment. Now, his only wish was for the children on this very same island to survive.
Heart of fire.
THe day would have started just like any other day, if not for the fact that Samantha had heard that the salvers were going to be bringing in more people soon. It was something that made her blood boil, but she knew better then to attack them, or else the fighting she would cause could end up with hundreds killed. The less people that die her, the less people that these monsters would need to take in return.
Sure enough the men in the black cloaks ended up bringing in more than a couple people, though she was probably just as sad as Rob about the fact that they were kids her age or younger. Even as they were pushed into the cell, Samantha saw the anger that appeared in the blue haired boy's eyes, something that caused her to frown for a second, before turning her attention towards Rob.
"Rob-jichan… Can I go over to them, or should you go first?" The young girl asked with a slight frown.
Looking down towards the girl, the old man gave a small smile before motioning with his hand "Your their age, maybe you'll be able to make them more comfortable Sam."
A nod was the only indicator that she gave that she had heard him, before she slowly walked over towards them. The blue haired boy was the first to take note of her walking towards them, his form tensing up. It didn't take him long to stand in front of the other children as well as another bigger black haired boy. Despite the hostile looks, Samantha gave what had to have looked like a lazy smile, her hand coming up to wave slightly, a wince leaving her from the injuries she received today.
"I know this isn't a nice place, but that doesn't mean we can't try and help each other." Her voice spoke out, causing the younger children to look past the two bigger boys.
The black haired boy seemed to relax slightly, but the blue haired boy stood straighter, his eyes glaring at Sam "How do we know your not lying? What is this place?!"
"This is the tower." Rob's voice broke through the air, causing the children to look towards him "There is no proper name for this tower, but we have been brought here to work, to finish the tower."
A sad smile made its way onto Sam's face, her silver eyes seeming to glow slightly, as she looked towards them "I'm sorry that you were brought here, but i'll do what I can to help you!"
The children behind the two boys started to cry once more, while the black haired boy seemed to be shaking, whether from unshed tears or some other reason, Samantha couldn't be sure, but the blue haired boys expression, one that she had seen many times from the broken slaves, was something that caused the brown haired girl to walk up to him. Setting a gentle hand on his shoulder to gain his attention, the girl gave a smile before pulling him into a hug.
Right away she could feel the tears that started to soak into her shirt, something that caused her to grip harder, even as she spoke into his shoulder "It's alright, trust me. I promise you i'll do whatever I can to help you, and someday we will have are freedom."
The tears that were going into her shoulder increased more after that, something that caused Samantha to look at the ground with a sad smile. Her eyes snapped up quickly, however, when she remembered the crying kids behind the two boys. Giving a soft smile in their direction, the brunette detached herself from the blue haired boy for a second, before looking towards Rob "Ne! Rob-Jichan, can you tell them one of your stories? I think it would cheer the them right up!"
"Oh? When did you get so demanding of this old man Sam? I swear you used to be so cute when you were smaller, but now your spoiled rotten…" The old man spoke with a sigh, turning his head.
The girl gave an annoyed growl at the old man as she spoke loudly "Rob! Don't make me sound like a spoiled brat in front of them! I want them to like me!"
"I'm just teasing you and you know it!" The Rob laugh, his smile showing that he was happy at the moment, the children had stopped crying after all "Now why don't all of gather around, while I tell you about the story of the Midget known as Makarov, and his adventures!"
Sitting down with the group anyone despite having heard this story a few times, the girl paused when she took notice of the blue haired boy that was sitting next to her, his expression, still subdued, but she could see that he had gained some life back. Giving a grin towards him, she held out her hand, causing the boy's eyes to widen in surprise, even as she spoke "I'm Samantha! You can call me sam though, it's nice to meet you!"
Look towards the hand, the boy slowly grasped it, his voice coming it weakly a few seconds later "Jellal…"
The grin on the girls face grew more after that, something about the boy causing her to be more happy than normal. Quickly turning towards Rob as his story started, Sam was smiling wildly as she realized the fact that she had gotten more friends. It wasn't something that she had expected with this new batch coming in, as much as she hated thinking like that. The rest of the times the cultists had brought in more adults to work since the older ones died. It still made her shiver thinking about them.
Ignoring those thoughts, her eyes trailed over towards the blue haired boy once more, the giddiness she felt growing once more, before her attention turned towards Rob once more. The warmth she felt was something that she honestly had no clue as to what it was.
She'd figure it out later.
Heart of fire.
It had been another few months before they had ended up bringing more people to the tower, something that had ended up worrying both Rob and Samantha, being the ones longest in the cell that they had. She wasn't certain what had happened, but from the anger that the other cultists had displayed over the past few weeks, it had to have been something that none of the men had liked in any sense of the matter.
But with the newest group, only a single person had been introduced into their cell. A redheaded girl with brown eyes. To say that same was captivated by the red locks would have been an understatement considering how she had stared at them. She had quickly knocked herself out of staring at the girl, however, when she saw that Jellal had walked up the girl and started talking to her. Some sort of heat ended up in the girls chest at the sight, but she quickly squashed the feeling, as she walked up to the two.
"Jellal! Whos this?" Sam ended asking when she was standing in front of them, the feeling ended up returning again, but once again she squashed it down and ignored it. Whatever that feeling was, she didn't like it.
The blue haired boy looked towards Samantha with a small smile, before motioning towards the redhead, who was sending a curious look towards sam "This is Erza. Since I saw you busy with Sho and Millianna, I wanted to make sure that she knew that this was somewhere safe, even if the tower itself isn't."
"I see." Sam spoke with a smile slowly creeping up her lips, as she looked towards the redhead, a smile on her face similar to the one she showed Jellal at first taking its place 'Well it's nice to meet you Erza…"
The redhead seemed to know what was being asked, as she looked down with a sad smile "My name is Erza… Just Erza."
"Hey! You can't be just Erza!" The voice of Wally, one of the other children, sounded out "Like, I'm Wally Buchanan!"
A laugh left Jellal as he looked towards wally "Your names a mouthful Wally."
"Like yours is any better?!" The boy laughed, his grin causing a small smile to appear on Erza's face as well "Jellal Fernandes, what the heck kind of name is that!"
The two boys looked as if they were going to bicker more, if not the light laugh that escaped Erza. A smile made its way onto Samantha's face, before she made a noise of realization "Hey! I've got it! Why don't you have your last name be Scarlet?!"
"Scarlet…?" Erza asked hesitantly, her voice showing her confusion, something that a few others shared.
Giving a nod with a bright smile, the silver eyes girl spoke "The first thing I noticed about you was your hair! I figured, why don't you have your last name be the same as your hair, that way you won't forget it!"
Samantha honestly thought it was a good idea, and it was also something that had honestly meant that no one would forget her name either. Seeing the looks she was receiving though, her smile slowly shrunk before she was standing there shifting her feet for a second. The stares were ones that she couldn't read, something that was about to have her apologize, until a soft hum left Erza.
"Scarlet…" The girl spoke softly, playing with a few strands of her hair for a second, before looking up towards Samantha with a smile "Erza Scarlet… It has a nice sound doesn't it…?"
The sound of Rob chuckling as he brought Millianna and show towards the group, showed that he had heard the conversation "It's nice to see all of you getting along. But Sam, Aren't you forgetting something?"
The brown haired girl looked towards the older man with a confused look, before she let out a noise of understanding, quickly turning on her heel and looking towards Erza "Sorry about that, My name's Samantha Rutledge, it's nice to meet you!"
The grin that appeared in response was that everyone was happy to see.
Heart of fire.
It had been a few weeks since Erza had ended up coming to the tower, Samantha still ignoring that Weird burning feeling when she saw Jellal helping Erza, but inadvertently it had caused the girl to start treating Erza a bit harsher then she did the others. No one really took notice expect for Simon, another boy that had arrived the same day as Erza did. Simon was a skinny boy, about the same size as wally at the moment, and he was really nice.
Simon had actually been the one to confront her and talk to her about it, something that she hadn't expected, and at the same time made her realize something. She actually felt Jealous of Erza for some reason, something that Rob wouldn't talk to her about. She didn't like the feeling though. A smile made its way onto her afe though when she realized that.
"Thank you for helping me figure out what that weird feeling I had was Simon." The girl spoke with a soft tone, her voice conveying that she was, indeed happy.
The black haired boy had smiled back before going back to whatever it was he had been doing, something she couldn't remember. All that she knew was that she had been acting like a Jerk towards Erza unintentionally, and she wanted to fix that. With that in mind, she headed over towards the redhead, an apology on her lips, but she never got to say it.
"Hey Sam… Do you like Jellal?" The redhead had asked once Sam was in range of her.
The brunette paused for a second to register what had been said to her, before her whole face burst into a bright red color, her eyes wide "W-w-what kind of question is that?!"
"I just was curious." The redhead spoke with a oblivious tone "The two of you seem close, and you make sure that Sho and Millianna don't cry all that much, while he helps with other things. I'm kind of Jealous about how close you to are actually…"
The apology from before completely forgotten, the silver eyed girl sat across from Erza, a few feet between them as she spoke again "But Sho and Millianna like you better than me. I think it's my eyes honestly..."
"Your eyes are pretty though." Erza shot back, the red heads brown eyes filled with mirth as they talked "Their like stars with how bright they are sometimes."
A hum left the brunette, the girl falling onto her back to look out of the only hole that was in the cell they were to see stars outside "Stars eh…? Hey Erza… once we get out of here, why don't you come stargazing with me someday? Cloud watching could be fun too…"
Giggling left the redhead causing Samantha to look towards her, the genuine smile on the redheads face showing how sincere her words were when she said "I'd love to. Stargazing with a future hero would be nice."
The blush that grew on Sam's face after that statement, was enough for her to turn her head to the side with a huff, causing the redhead to laugh once again, and gain the attention of others in the room. It didn't take long for Sam to join in on the laughing as well. Times like these were what kept everyone still strong in this hellish place. Sam was glad she managed to have friends like this, and she hoped that they would be able to stay together for awhile once they escaped as well.
It was a few days later that Sho found a hole in a wall, and an escape plan had been made, one that Sam would say she had wished hadn't happened, due to the cost being to high for the result.
So what did you guys think this time? Like I said I wasn't to happy with how the chapter had turned out if i'm being honest, but that's for you guys to decide if i'm honest. This chapter was more to get a feel for Sam's relationships with the rest of the group, though Erza it seems was a bit obvious about Sam treating her a bit differently than the rest. Either way though, i'm happy this chapter is out, and I'll try and get the next one out within a week as well. So Till next time!
Please leave a Review if you would like, i'd love to hear your opinion!
