"Where is Mizore." Tsukune said menacingly.
Akuha only starred back at him, as if she was delighted in his distress. She held a hungry gaze which only made Tsukune angrier. He had failed the most important mission he had ever had. He let Fairy Tail get away with Mizore. Just thinking about it made him sick. He did not know where they were taking her or what they were going to do to her.
"So how about that trade?" Akuha asked smugly.
"Forget it!" Tsukune told her.
"Fine, good luck finding her without me. She could be anywhere in China or Japan, maybe even halfway to the United States.
They could have even taken her anywhere in the monster world. No matter how long you search, you won't find her." Akuha told him calmly.
Tsukune seethed in fury and his cold dark eyes promised death as he stared at her. If she was afraid she was not showing it. Akuha waited there completely motionless waiting for an answer.
"If you help me rescue Mizore. . .you can have all of the blood that you want." Tsukune said leaving an unspoken threat linger.
Akuha held up her shackled wrists expectantly. He released the front of her shirt and walked away. Akuha squinted her eyes at him, schemes and plans forming in her well trained mind. She then looked over to Ling-Ling who was still watching Tsukune closely.
"Well is someone going to take these off?" Akuha asked shaking the chains on her wrists.
"But they look so good on you." Ling-Ling said with a smirk.
Ling-Ling followed Tsukune through the forest. Akuha grumbled irritably and followed after them. They walked for what seemed like hours. Akuha had become certain that they were lost. The terrain was getting rougher and she was having trouble navigating her way through some of the wilderness. Occasionally Akuha would accidentally shock herself trying to phase through something or use her youjutsu. She was getting increasingly frustrated.
"Where the hell are we going!?" Akuha asked irritably.
"West" Tsukune answered curtly.
"We would have taken our helicopter if they hadn't destroyed it on their way out, and our phones are dead" Ling-Ling said dryly.
Akuha cursed Miyabi under her breath again. They found a small clearing just as the sun was about to set. No words were spoken as each of them found a spot to rest. Akuha was sitting on a moss covered log, continuously wondering how she had gotten into this situation. Ling-Ling remained standing watch, Akuha assumed that zombies did not sleep. Akuha shuddered knowing that she would be watching her all night. As she glanced over to Tsukune she was not too surprised to see him staring at her, as if he could not figure her out. Akuha only narrowed her eyes at him and he eventually turned his back on her and laid down. Akuha only rolled her eyes and situated herself against the log. It did not take long for Akuha to drift off to sleep, knowing that they needed her if they were ever going to see Mizore again.
As for Tsukune, it took him much longer. Mizore was the only thing on his mind. He had failed her and now that every second hat passed, she was getting farther and farther away. Now he needed the help of his enemy to save her. In return he would give her his blood. It was little compared to what he would do to get Mizore back. They had not know each other very long but he had promised to protect her and he undoubtedly loved her. He just hoped that she was okay.
[~][~][~]
Mizore Shirayuki had no idea where she was. They had drugged her and kept her unconscious so she would not try to escape again. What scared her was that she had no idea where she was or how long she had been out. She was laying down in a rather comfortable bed in a simple luxurious room. She sat up and wandered the room. There was no windows in the room and the door had been locked. Even her ice was unable to break through it. Mizore quickly realized that this was her prison. She had no idea what they wanted with her or what she was supposed to do.
The reality of it began to sink in and she felt a twinge of fear. Before she let it sink in she decided she had to be strong, for herself and for Tsukune. So she waited. Mizore waited for her opportunity to escape. All she could think about was escaping and returning to Tsukune. She should have never trusted Kahlua and turned her back on her. After a while Mizore began to get frustrated. It seemed like hours passed by and not a single person came through the door. She wished that they had at least given her a clock to keep track of time. Her muscles began to cramp as she waited to pounce on her victim. Just before she was about to stand up and stretch, the handle on the door twisted. The door opened and the man had no time to react as the snow woman cut right through him, leaving deep gashes in his chest. There was a loud crash of dishes of food that he was caring on a platter.
Mizore wasted no time and ran past him and down the long hallway. Two men in uniform stepped around one of the corners and she froze them instantly and ran past them. She kept running down the hallways and soon she began hearing shouts of alarm. Men were yelling in the corridor just ahead of her so she turned right and ran down another corridor. Another two men stepped into the corridor and raised their riffles at her, but they were to slow. Mizore's ice kunai hit there targets and they were down before they could pull the trigger.
Mizore continued running through the maze of corridors. There was no end to them and Mizore wondered how big this place was. As she ran past an adjacent corridor a flash of movement caught her eyes and she barely ducked under the rifle that the guard had swung at her head. It passed right above her as she slide past the guard bent over backwards. Mizore erected a wall of ice between her and the guard and continued running. She took another right and was relieved to see a light at the end of the corridor. She sprinted for the light, hearing voices right behind her.
The light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter and she ran through it into the opening. She could see blue sky and clouds, but she had come to a dead end. Mizore was standing on an overlook, nearly two-hundred feet high to a massive building. Though she never expected to be in such a large building, that was not what surprised her. The entire structure was floating in the sky! They were passing through the clouds and she could not see what lay so far beneath the structure.
"You're quite the trouble maker." an ominous voice told her.
Mizore whirled around to face the man behind her. She backed herself up against the ledge, her ice claws at the ready.
"I'd be careful, you don't want to fall." Miyabi told her, giving her a ferrel grin.
"Why do you care?" Mizore said debating her options.
"It would be such a waste of beauty." Miyabi told her and flicked the butt of his cigaret over the edge.
This man disgusted her and she could not stand to be in his presence. Without warning Mizore lunged for him, but her claws stopped just short of his throat. He had stopped her and held an incredibly tight grip on her arm. She tried to pull away but he did not even move an inch. Mizore could not believe how incredibly strong he was. In one quick motion Miyabi bent her arm behind her back and she let out a scream of pain.
"You better learn to behave yourself. I will not have my future wife acting like a child. " Miyabi threatened her.
Suddenly all of the fear she had been hiding came flooding back into her. At that moment all she could hope for was that Tsukune would be able to find her and save her. Before she could resist any further she was knocked unconscious.
[~][~][~]
Rubi woke in a sea of sunflowers. The sky was clear and there was a slight breeze wafting through the fields. The soft grass hardly helped her sleep, but she felt connected with nature. It was something she had not experienced in a while. She used to be consumed with anger all of the time. She was so focused on her revenge, spending every ounce of her time and energy on it. Then it all washed away when the Wong family intervened. They took her prisoner and she expected death, or at least some kind of harsh punishment, but they showed her kindness, fed her and gave her a bed to sleep in.
Rubi did not know what had happened but she was not angry anymore, just sad. All of her plans of revenge failed her so easily and she was not angry. It confused her and troubled her and she did not know what to do anymore. Rubi went to the creek that was nearby to get some water. She had been so thirsty and hungry. Flying all the way back home took a lot out of her. She made a small pool of water with her magic. It was cold and refreshing. She sat by the creek, listening to the sound of nature. It was unusually quiet. The only sounds were the gurgling of the creek and the soft breeze that drifted by.
Usually she would be hunting for trespassers, but she just wanted some time to think. She gathered up some sunflower seeds. She roasted them with her magic and started to nibble on them. It was not enough to satisfy her hunger but it did help distract her from it. Suddenly her thoughts drifted back to the Wong family's mansion and it's soft beds. Rubi could not believe she had been captured by one of the most powerful families in the world. Even more so, she could not believe that they just let her go so easily.
The worst she had to deal with was that pervert, Rubi thought crushing the sunflower seeds in her hand and blushing at the thought. Rubi sighed and dropped the rest of the seeds. She brought her knees up to her chest and looked out across the sunflower field. She had no idea what she was going to do or how she was going to protect Witch's Ranch. If she took drastic measures like before the Wong family or someone worse would show up again. She was sure they would not be so nice the next time.
It was starting to get to the hotter part of the day, but Rubi always thought that the sunflowers looked more beautiful when the sun was highest in the sky. Her stomach growled and she sighed again. Something across the feild caught her eyes. A dark figure crested one of the hills and she blocked her eyes from the sun to get a better look. She instinctively gripped her wand tighter. As the figure got closer she stood ready for anything. As the figure got closer Rubi began to recognize him.
"Fong-Fong?" Rubi asked completely surprised.
"You know, if you wanted to come back here you could have used one of our jets" Fong-Fong said smiling at her.
"Did you just come here to irritate me!?" Rubi said ready to smack Fong-Fong, but she stopped suddenly when he held out something in front if her.
"Thirsty?" Fong-Fong asked holding up a can of juice.
Rubi was completely stunned and confused and it only irritated her further. She swiped the can out of his hand and eyed him suspiciously.
"What are you doing here?" Rubi asked.
"Well I would have been here sooner if it hadn't been for all of the paperwork" he told her.
"What are you talking about?" Rubi asked glaring at him.
"The paper work for Whitch's Ranch. I wanted to buy the place" Fong-Fong said smiling at her.
"You did what!?" Rubi said angrily.
"Um, wait. What I mean is. . ." Fong-Fong said cowering as Rubi glared at him.
Rubi's wings flared out from behind her. She gripped her wand tighter and cold furry shook her body.
"How could you!? This place is all I have left and you want to take it away from me!?" she screamed at him.
"No it's not like that!" Fong-Fong said frantically backing away from.
"I know! You want to black mail me and force me to do perverted things!" Rubi yelled at him with hundreds of her crows circling around her.
"Well that's not a bad idea. . .I mean I would never do something like that!" he said tripping over backwards.
"Just die you pervert!" Rubi screamed.
Her wings shot out from behind her aimed directly for Fong-Fong. Fong-Fong narrowly managed to roll out of the way as her wings struck deep into the ground. He tried to explain to her but she could not hear anything over the clamor of the crows. Rubi's attacks were so fast he could barely keep up.
"This is for Witch's Ranch!" she screamed as one of her wings clipped him under the arm, sending him flying.
Fong-Fong pulled out his coin sword and attempted to summon in midair. Just before he hit the ground he crashed into something soft and fury.
"Nice catch panda. It's good to know you are not completely useless." Fong-Fong said as he rolled to the ground.
He could barely stand before he was surrounded by her crows. He tried to shoo them away but there were hundreds of them.
"This is for seeing me naked!" Rubi screamed as one of her crows exploded next to Fong-Fong, sending him crashing through the sunflowers.
He grunted in pain when he stopped rolling. Rubi strode towards him menacingly.
"And this, is because you are really, REALLY irritating!" she screamed preparing for the final blow.
Fong-Fong was vulnerable. All she had to do was strike him now, but something held her back. The Wong family could have killed her whenever they wanted, but instead the fed her and took care of her. Rubi did not understand them. Before Rubi could make up her mind Fong-Fong pulled out an envelope and held it out to her.
"What's that?" Rubi asked cautiously.
"It's for you" Fong-Fong said as Rubi cautiously took it from him.
"Witch's Ranch is now legally yours and under protection. No one will ever try to harm it again." he told her.
Rubi could not believe what she was holding in her hands. She had spent her whole life trying to protect her home from humans. Now this silly paper insured that it would be safe as long as she was alive and longer. Before Rubi knew it she had tears running down her cheeks. She fell to her knees as she looked at the piece of paper.
Rubi could not hold back the tears anymore and it was like all of her feeling flowed out at once. For so long she had been angry and plotting revenge on the humans. All of her anger and sadness were replaced with happiness and a joyous sense of peace enveloped her. All she wanted to do was protect her home.
"Why? Why are you doing all of this for me? I'm supposed to be your enemy" Rubi asked in complete shock, her tears flowing freely.
"I don't really know. I just. . .I. . ." Fong-Fong said sitting across from Rubi.
His words seemed to have failed him and he sat there nervously. He really did not know why he had done that. All he knew was that he had been fascinated by Rubi the moment he saw her. Then when she had left he had never felt so sad in his life. There was no way he could understand these feelings that were happening so fast. There was no time for thinking. All he could do was act and the road it took him down surprised him.
"How am I supposed to repay you?" Rubi asked still looking for a catch.
"Don't worry about it" Fong-Fong mumbled.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Rubi said surprising Fong-Fong with a hug.
Fong-Fong winced slightly at the pain, and his panda was laying lazily on a bed of sunflowers.
[~][~][~]
Tsukune had woken up early unable to sleep much at all. Ling-Ling had stood guard and was waiting for them. He walked over to Akuha and it irritated him that she could sleep so peacefully. He thought about how vulnerable she was, but he needed her to find Mizore and she knew that. Besides, it would not be right, even if she had tried to kill him before. He tried to wake her by nudging her with the tip of his boot.
The second he touched her his feet were swept out from underneath him. Before he could even react, Akuha was on top of him pinning him down, her hands clasped around his throat.
"Oh, it's just you" Akuha said releasing her hands from his throat.
"It's a bad idea to wake me, especially so early. I could have killed you" Akuha told him.
"Then you would have died as well" Ling-Ling said her hand poised threateningly on the side of Akuha'a neck.
Akuha huffed indignantly and stood up. Ling-Ling glared at her and then help Tsukune up off the ground.
"Come on. There should be a town a few miles from here" Ling-Ling told them.
"Then we can track them down and rescue Mizore" Tsukune said, having never stopped thinking about her.
"It's too late for that. There is no telling ow many dimensional tunnels they have gone through by now" Akuha told him simply.
"Then why are you here!?" Tsukune asked angrily.
"Because without me you would never find which Fairy Tail base she was being kept at. Even if you did she would be gone before you got there" Akuha told him.
"She's right Tsukune. We need her to find Mizore" Ling-Ling told him trying to calm him down and he slowly nodded his head.
"Yes, now that we have all agreed on that, again, can someone take these dam chains off!?" Akuha yelled shaking the chains.
I finally got the chapter finished. I did focus more on Fong-Fong and Rubi than I intended, but that's ok. Like I said, I never planned on that pairing but it works out and I like it. The tension is pretty thick between Tsukune and Akuha but it should lighten up.
Thanks for for reading and please leave a review.
