Wow, this story is progressing faster than I expected. I'm really excited, and would love to hear some feedback.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It, as well as it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima. I only own the plot of this story.
The warm hand around her own pulled her back to reality, and she could feel his rough finger squeeze her smaller ones. The warlock looked down at her with yet another toothy grin.
"If we're gonna get outta here, we gotta work together, kay?" His expression had suddenly turned serious. Lucy nodded softly.
"Are ya scared?" He asked, and Lucy gave him a defiant look.
"Of course not." That was a total lie. Lucy was terrified. She swallowed the dry lump in her throat, focusing on that warm hand; her tether to reality. They began to walk, and Lucy knelt to collect her lantern from the ground. Natsu gave her a quizzical look.
"Ya know I can jus' light a fire in my hand, yeah?" Natsu cocked his head, but Lucy nodded. She kept her grip firm on the handle.
"I'd like to keep it with me." She said, her voice quivering.
She peered around the clearing, taking in the trees. Craggy branches beckoned to her like sharp fingers, and moonlight lit the nearly bare treetops in an eerie glow. Lucy shivered, stealing closer to the fire warlock. Why was it so cold? She was sure it hadn't been so cold when she had walked here. She slid the lantern to the crook of her elbow, drawing the hood up around her head. That provided a little protection from the frigid air, but her face and cheeks were still prickled with the dropping chill. Another step and they had entered something of a path, lined with broken twigs and scattered leaves. A rabbit scurried across the path, it's eyes reflecting the light of the lantern. Lucy's grip on Natsu's hand tightened. It was so warm. Even in the bitter cold, he was warm as an open flame. It was like holding her hands to warm them by a fire, like she often did in the winter when there was a fire burning in the mansion's grand library. Spetto always scolded her for getting so close, afraid the young heiress would hurt herself, but Lucy never listened. And yet, she never did burn herself.
The shadows grew thicker and the lantern only illuminated a few feet in front of them. Lucy gulped down her fear, finding comfort in the warlock beside her.
"Natsu...?" She stuttered, peering around the darkness. He gave a grunt in response, peering down at her.
"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Lucy asked. Natsu looked towards the next patch of trees, then at his boots.
"No. I'm following my nose." He looked up at her with a careful smile.
"Y-your nose?" She asked, bewildered.
The warlock nodded in assent. "Us elemental sorcerers have got the qualities of certain animals or creatures who dwell in or are associated with our element."
Lucy blinked. "And what's yours?"
"Dragons. Fire dragons, more specifically. I use dragon fire. I breath fire, I can even eat the stuff."
Lucy shook her head, and decided that she didn't know what was or wasn't normal with what she'd experienced in this forest. She didn't even question it.
Suddenly, she felt a prickle on the back of her neck, and she turned sharply, eyes wide. Leaning around a tree was a woman. Her hair was long and brown, tied into a loose bun, once neat but now matted and messy. She wore a long white dress with a deep brown woolen shawl. A black 'X' marked her abdomen. Pale hands gripped the tree, her nails broken and blunt. Here eyes were vacant, and what alarmed Lucy the most was the rope mark around her neck. Her lips moved as if she was speaking, but no sound came out.
Lucy instinctively clung to Natsu, a surprised gasp escaping her her lips. The warlock turned, his expression grim. "It's a ghost, Lucy. A spirit of the dead. One of the poor souls who wander here. So many have died that this has become a place where the barrier between the living and the dead has become thin. We gotta keep moving." His grip was firm as he tugged her on. "It's best not ta' look at them for too long."
Lucy tore her eyes from the form of the woman, her lip trembling. They just kept pressing on. Despite this man's warm presence, Lucy felt a chill on the back of her neck, causing the hair to stand on end. She put her head down, peering at the dead leaves as they crunched satisfyingly under her boots. Natsu's nose twitched, and he furrowed his eyebrows. Lucy did not notice this until he stopped abruptly, sniffing the air. Lucy gave the warlock a quizzical look. He turned sharply, pulling Lucy to his chest protectively.
"Natsu, what...?" Lucy began, but he interrupted her.
"I smell something. Come out, there's no use hiding." His breathing had picked up, his body tense.
Slowly, slowly, something crept out of the bushes. A hand, covered by a black glove was first, followed by it's twin. A dull silver ring with a deep blue stone was on the right hand, and then came the head. It was a girl. A young girl, at that. Her hair was so dark it was nearly purple, and was tied into two ponytails, held up by twisted black twine, brambles wrapped as an embellishment. Her face was pale as porcelain and delicate, eyes wide and deep charcoal. She had smokey tendrils snaking up the sides of her cheeks in coils. When Lucy looked at her ears, she noticed that they were pointed at the end. An elf? Lucy had only ever read about such creatures in story books. The girl slowly emerged, standing at her full height, which Lucy noticed was quite short. The aforementioned gloves reached her mid forearm. Her dress was gauzy and thin, made of inky, shimmering fabric. Almost as if the dress itself was gathered from shadows. The neck was just above her collarbone, dark crystals embellishing the throat. Long sleeves belled out at the wrists, also embellished with beads. Her skirt was knee length, made of shimmering black fabric, and the waist was clenched with more twisted twine and brambles. She wore no shoes except for more twine twisted about her ankles. The cloth that made up her dress seemed to shift between deep purple and black.
Lucy went silent from the ethereal girl, taking in her terrifying, yet beautiful appearance. Natsu seemed unfazed, though. "You're a Shadow Elf, yeah?"
The girl nodded. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. "Yes. You are a warlock. I can sense your power."
Natsu made a noise of assent. "Yeah. What's your name, elf girl?"
The elf didn't answer. She peered behind her, then back at Natsu and Lucy with her dark eyes. She finally spoke, looking at the ground. "I'm Wendy."
Natsu smiled. "I'm Natsu, and this here is Lucy. Do ya by any chance know yer way around this forest? We ain't gettin' anywhere on our own."
Wendy nodded, but gave him a doubtful look. "I travel through the shadows, usually," A smile spread across her delicate features, "But I can try to help. Where do you need to go?"
Natsu rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "We need ta' get outta here. Lucy needs to get home."
Wendy's eyes widened, and she laced her thin fingers together. "I'm afraid I don't know my way out of the forest. I was born here... raised here. But if you need my help, I will try."
Natsu gave her a warm smile. "Thanks. I haven't met very many elves that have actually helped me."
The elf raised her dark eyes to his face, studying him. "Then you haven't met many decent elves."
Lucy suddenly spoke up, coming out of her shock of meeting another supernatural creature. Really, she scolded herself, this should be fairly normal by this point.
"A-aren't you cold?" She asked, examining the elf's thin clothing.
In response, she smiled. "No. This is the kind of weather I'm used to. We live exposed to the elements every day of our lives. The wilderness is our home."
Lucy simply nodded. "Is there anything else here beside you?"
Wendy nodded, but her expression was grim. "Yes. There are others. But you need to be careful. Evil lurks here. I heard what your warlock friend said about the souls of the dead. So many have died within this forest that it has become stained. Tainted, if you will. It used to be beautiful, so full of life. But now these lost souls haunt the trees where the wood nymphs would dwell. They have since left. Only the ones who live in darkness like myself remain. There are monsters here. True horrors."
Lucy's expression was incredulous, and her voice was laced with fear, "Is it always dark here?"
Wendy shrugged. "It gets a tad lighter during the day, I suppose, but it stays pretty gloomy. I'm sorry."
Lucy gave her a soft smile. "There isn't any need to apologize. The dark is just making it hard to navigate."
Wendy gave her a gentle, reassuring smile. "I think he can probably light it up a bit."
Natsu grinned crookedly. "Yeah, but she wants her lantern. I guess it's comforting or somethin'"
The elf nodded. "Yeah, I like to hold on to my ring when I'm nervous." Seemingly to prove her point, she twisted the ring around her finger. She looked up at Lucy with wide eyes, stepping slowly towards the blonde. She reached a cold hand to let her small fingers graze the top of the blonde's hand.
The elf smiled, and the shadows seemed to smile at her too. "Don't worry. I'll try my best to help you."
Lucy took comfort in her words, but something told her that much bigger things would come her way.
I'm really satisfied with Shadow Elf!Wendy. I'm a little bit in love with warlock Natsu too. This story is going so much better than I thought it would. If any of you have some suggestions, please feel free to leave a review! Stay tuned for more of this dark fantasy.
~Starry
