I'm sorry for how long it's taken to get this chapter out, for one, I was away for a week without my hard-drive that I keep this story on, and two, I was having the worst writer's block, but now I've gotten over that, and hopefully will be able to get chapters out sooner! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
I don't own D. Gray-Man.
Chapter Three: Akuma Attack.
"How come we had to get a mission to a place like this? It's so boring." Lavi complained, as he and his female companion walked down the road in the town they were currently at.
"Akuma have been recorded to flee to here, only to disappear by the next day. Brother thinks there's someone who can use Innocence here, and if not, then someone who works for the Earl." The dark haired girl told the red-head, her green eyes almost glaring up at him.
"And he wanted us to check it out?" Lavi half-asked, adjusting his headband, before readjusting the eye-patch over his right eye. The eighteen year-old looking bored.
The sixteen year-old girl next to him sighed, "Yes Lavi." Lenalee said, "How many times do I have to remind you?"
Lavi grinned over at her, his orange scarf swaying slightly in the breeze. "Think we should get somethin' to eat before anything else? I'm starvin'." Lavi quickly changed the subject.
Lenalee sighed again, "We need to find a place to stay the night first, then we'll find something to eat, okay?" She smiled at Lavi, who nodded, hands behind his head, not paying attention to where he was going until he hit something and got knocked over with an "Oomph!"
"Oww…" The white-haired teenaged boy, who had run into him, groaned from where he had fallen, before jumping up, and offered a hand to Lavi.
"Sorry!" The boy gave an apologetic smile. "I wasn't looking where I was going." The boy said, as Lavi took his hand, pulling himself up.
"It's alright, I wasn't watchin' where I was walking either." Lavi said, rubbing the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly.
All three teens jumped when the church clock tower's bell started to ring.
"Is that the time?!" The boy gasped, "I'm sorry! But I really must go!"
He disappeared into the crowd before Lavi and Lenalee could say anything else.
"That was weird…" Lavi said, staring after the boy, who looked oddly familiar to him.
They spent the rest of the afternoon, after booking two rooms at the Inn for a couple of weeks, trying to get information about the disappearing akuma, or rather, travelers.
"This town sure doesn't seem very talkative." Lavi commented, after being turned away by the tenth person that day. Lenalee nodded her head in agreement.
"I wonder if they've got something to hide…" She said thoughtfully, as they started down the street.
"Small town like this? Probably." Lavi shrugged, yawning. "Lenalee, can't we go and get something to eat yet?" He whined.
Lenalee opened her mouth to say something, only to hear a scream from nearby, in which both exorcists jerked their heads towards where the scream came from and started to run.
"AKUMA!" The woman screeched again, pointing at what was unmistakably a level two akuma.
"Shut up! There's no one here to save you!" The akuma cackled, just as it was kicked away by Lenalee.
"Ouch! That hurt!" The akuma whined, as Lenalee landed next to the woman, who looked up at her and Lavi, who had joined them quickly, confused.
"Who are you? Where's Al?" The woman demanded, eyeing them suspiciously.
"Al..?" Lavi asked, just as confused as the woman as the akuma jumped up.
"You'll pay for that!" The akuma screeched, aiming his arms, that were shaped like cannons, at the small group, and before Lenalee or Lavi could react, fired.
Next thing they knew, they saw white as a cloak covered them, the akuma bullets hitting the cloak, but didn't hurt anything or anyone.
"Eh?" The akuma blinked, as the cloak unwrapped itself from Lavi, Lenalee and the woman. Lavi and Lenalee were gaping, there was an exorcist here?!
They blinked in shock, standing in front of them was the boy who ran into Lavi earlier!
Though he looked different, a silver mask covered his eyes, the cloak surrounding him, and his arm… His arm was black, his fingers looked like claws.
"Pitiful akuma…" The boy's soft voice said, as he attacked the akuma, easily slicing it in two.
"Al!" The woman hugged him tightly as he un-activated his Innocence. "Thank you!"
'Al' smiled, tipping his top hat to the woman. "Are you an exorcist?" Lenalee's voice called out, Al stiffened, his eyes falling onto her.
"Miss Mary, I've got to go… Please, distract them for me." He said in a hushed tone, smiling at Mary, before quickly disappearing into the crowd.
"Hey! Wait!" Lavi called, as he and Lenalee moved to followed, but Mary stopped them, beaming at them.
"Thank you two as well." She pulled Lenalee and Lavi into a tight hug, when she finally let them go, Al had disappeared.
"Excuse me, but who was that?" Lavi asked urgently, the boy seemed so familiar, why couldn't he remember?!
"Oh look at the time, I must leave!" Mary exclaimed, fleeing.
"That… Was weird…" Lavi muttered, as they stared at the spot where the woman had fled into the crowd.
"Well, we should probably ask around town about this Al." Lenalee said.
"What about food?" Lavi whined, as he and Lenalee started down the road again.
Four hours later and everyone in town must have been asked! Though each time the shop owner, or person had shut them out.
"Man…" Lav sighed, as they sat down onto a bench. "I hope Tama has better luck." HE grumbled.
Lenalee nodded in agreement, before jumping up. "There's one person we haven't asked!" She quietly exclaimed, hurrying over to a young woman who was sitting across the road on a bench. Lavi groaned and got up, trudging over.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a boy with white hair, I think his name's Al." Lenalee asked, smiling kindly.
"I saw a boy with white hair going into the forest a little while ago, I don't know his name though…" The woman said slowly. "I'm not from around here… Do you possibly know where the nearest Inn is?"
Lavi nodded, grinning as he gave the woman instructions how to get to the Inn. "Thank you very much~!" He called after her as she waved and left.
"C'mon Lavi, if we want to find this 'Al' before dark we need to get into the forest!" Lenalee called, hurrying towards the forest, Lavi hot at her heels.
It had been hours since Lavi and Lenalee had gone into the forest, the sun was starting to set and the night was turning colder.
"Let's face it Lenalee, we're never going to find that Al guy in here..! It's too big!" Lavi whined, rubbing his arms in an attempt to warm himself, even just a little bit.
"One more hour Lavi, then we'll head back." Lenalee sighed, rubbing her arms as well, wishing she had reminded herself and Lavi to grab their coats back at the Inn.
Lavi felt a bit sorry for Lenalee, while he had his scarf, she didn't have anything.
"Hey… I see a light up ahead." Lenalee said after a while, frowning slightly. "Why's there a light here in the middle of the forest?" She wondered aloud.
Lavi's eye narrowed as the cautiously made their way towards the light, following the path steps.
Both of them stopped when the saw the light, which turned out to be a lantern, sitting on the ground, a young woman kneeling next to a bush, picking berries.
"Excuse me, Miss?" Lenalee asked quietly, making the woman jump, looking up at them, green eyes wide with surprise.
"What are two kids like yourselves doing out here?" She asked, standing up, long brown hair pulled into a pony tail, a cloak around her shoulders.
"We got lost." Lavi admitted sheepishly, "And we're not kids..!"
The woman merely smiled, "You both look cold and like you could use something to warm you up. My name is Ashley by the way, Ashley Hall."
"I'm Lenalee and this is Lavi, and thank you, that would be nice." Lenalee smiled at the woman, smiling at her.
"It's nice to meet you, my cottage is just down this way." Ashley said, picking up her lantern and basket, starting down the path, the two exorcists following her.
"Are you sure it's alright to go with her Lenalee?" Lavi murmured under his breath, close enough to Lenalee so she would hear him, but not close enough to Ashley for her to hear him.
"I don't know, but she might know something about that Al person." Lenalee murmured back, "She lives in this forest after all."
Lavi nodded in agreement, as they walked around a bend in the road, their eyes widening slightly at seeing a large snow bank, a spot where the door was, was free of snow.
Ashley pulled out a key from her pocket, opening the door, "C'mon in~" She smiled, as the two hurried inside, she followed them, shutting the door behind herself, setting her basket on the table inside, moving towards a cold pot over the fireplace, filling the pot with water while Lenalee sat down on a couch and Lavi lazily placed himself in front of the fireplace as Ashley lit it.
"I'm afraid it's too late for you two to go back to town, it'll be pitch black before you get there, and you'll get lost in the woods if you don't know where you're going." Ashley said, stirring the pot over the fire, as it started to get warmer. "So feel free to stay the night, unless you want to get eaten." She joked lightly, though the thought made both Lavi and Lenalee shiver.
"Thank you for letting us stay here the night, Miss Hall." Lenalee said, smiling kindly.
"You're welcome dear." Ashley said, as Lavi stretched out on the floor, yawning.
"Hey there Tim." Ashley laughed softly as she walked into the kitchen, a gold colored cat purred, getting up from his spot among a small pile of blankets, demanding attention. "I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying." She smiled, reaching for a bottle of milk.
"What a pretty cat." Lenalee smiled.
"Thank you, he's my son's." Ashley said as she poured the milk into a bowl for Timcanpy. "Found him when he was just a kitten."
Lavi and Lenalee exchanged looks, "Son?" Lavi asked. Ashley nodded.
"I adopted him after his father died." Ashley said quietly, as Timcanpy happily licked up the milk.
"Thinking about it… He's is going to be home soon…" Ashley murmured, looking out a window, which had been cleared from snow that morning, "If I may ask, how old are you, Lenalee, Lavi?" Ashley asked curiously, walking into the kitchen, pouring hot water into two four tea cups.
"I'm eighteen and Lenalee's sixteen." Lavi said, blinking lazily, watching the fire.
"Ah… My son, Allen, is a year younger than Lenalee." Ashley said, stirring a spoon in the tea cups. "Very nice boy… Always has been."
Ashley smiled softly as she handed Lavi and Lenalee their cups of tea, "Be careful, they're hot." She warned them, as she picked up her own, sitting in a chair, Timcanpy purring, weaving in and out of Ashley's legs.
"Thank you." The two exorcists coursed, Lenalee taking a sip of her tea, Lavi setting his down, waiting for it to cool.
"You two never did tell me what you do." Ashley said, reaching a hand down to pet Tim.
"We're Ex-" Lavi was cut off by the front door swinging open, a familiar white-haired boy walking in, a basket in his hand.
"I got the berries picked Momma, just before the frost set in too." Allen said, setting the basket down on the table, not noticing Lavi and Lenalee, whose eyes were wide, both of the recognizing the white-haired teen.
"Allen, say hello to our guests." Ashley said, smiling as Timcanpy darted over to Allen, meowing.
Allen turned to face Lenalee and Lavi, after picking up his cup of tea, smiling, until he noticed them. His eyes widened and he dropped the cup, hot tea spilling out onto the floor, making Timcanpy, who stepped into it by accident, hiss.
"It's you!" All three teens yelled, pointing at each other.
Dun Dun DUN.
Cliffhanger~! :D
Anyways, hopefully within the next week I'll have the next chapter out!
I hope you guys enjoyed this! And sorry about the half-hearted fight scene... If you could't tell, I suck at them... OTL
Anywho, Please Read and Review! ~Snow.