Snowleopard: I wish to apologize for taking so long and to thank all of you for waiting so patiently. I graduate in less than a week, and then I am mostly free for the summer. And I think that Laxus will agree on why I wasn't able to post sooner. It really wasn't all my fault…..
Laxus: Really, and why would I forgive you for slacking off?
Snowleopard: It was because of my grandparent….. they kept forcing me to go everywhere with them and making me do this and that. I couldn't even get onto my I-pad (which is gone now btw) much less my lap top.
Laxus:….. I kind of understand. No one believes me when I tell them what Jiji puts me through.
Cana: Well you should quit your whining ad just move on with the story!
Snowleopard: Right! So here it is. Please review and tell me how I am doing, and please forgive me for al of the mistakes in the previous chapters….I hope they were not that annoying. I will be doing much better from now on. And remember, I own nothing! Enjoy.
Ch 2 Pt 5 (Something's Coming)
The canoe came to a stop at the village and Erza hopped out, allowing the canoe to come to rest at the bank of the river on its own. She looked back at her two animal companions as they half blended themselves into the surroundings and half blatantly followed her as she began to search for her father. It didn't take long to find him once they made it into the village, seeing as he was standing right outside their hut waiting for her.
"Father, I heard you wished to speak with me." She said with a confident voice. But she made sure that she kept it soft for her father.
The man smiled at her before reaching out to tuck a strand of her scarlet hair behind her ear. "Yes I did, but perhaps we should take a walk and speak." He suggested as he began to walk towards the edge of the village.
Looking back, Erza smiled as Miko was playing with the feathered head dress her father often wore to formal meetings. There would probably be one tonight thinking about it, now that everyone was back.
"It has been far too long since we have talked like this, Erza." Her father said as he took a deep breath. HIS smile was still evident on his face, making her a little bit more comfortable.
"If I may ask, what exactly are we talking about?" Erza asked with a measure of politeness in her tone.
Her father simply gazed at her with a loving gleam in his eyes. It looked to the world like he was truly proud of his grown up daughter. "You know, you look just like her. Your mother."
That caught Erza's attention. It wasn't often that he spoke of her mother, and when he did it turned out to be a great opportunity to learn more about her. Erza could not remember her that well at all.
"She was just as free spirited as you were. I remember when we were married she thought I was just a headstrong warrior. But I proved her wrong in the end. I showed that I was just as smart and caring as I was strong. I really miss her at times." He continued without looking at the scarlet haired girl.
Erza knew what this was about now, and she could not help but cringe at the direction she knew he was going to take this conversation. She had had hopes that this would not happen so soon. But Millianna had been right, again. Come to think of it, the girl with cat like ears was right about a lot of things.
"Simon has expressed his interest in marrying you. I gave him my blessing. I feel as if he would make you a good husband as well as a good leader when the time comes for me to step down. I feel as if he could make you happy." He finished.
Erza let her hair shield her eyes from view. Though she loved her father, she hated it when he made decisions like this about her, no, for her. It was clear that she should say no.
As if sensing the conflict within her, her father said "It is like the river that flows to our village. Calm and constant. It will always be there and support the village's needs. Just think it over for me."
He then left her to continue to think over what he had said.
Now that she was alone, Erza let herself run to the docked canoe. She just wanted to run at this point. She wanted to speak with someone who understood that she did not want to be stuck with someone as serious as that. She wanted to be free of all of this.
Choosing the path with the rapids in the river, just to prove a point, she paddled the canoe to where she wanted to, noticing that the raccoon and hummingbird had hopping into the wooden contraption with her.
Finally she came across a place where everything was shaded by a large willow. With respect showing in every move she made, Erza made her way to the large, old tree.
"Good afternoon, child." It said in a deep voice.
"Grandfather Rob," she greeted the tree in turn as a face came out of it.
It scrunched up its eye brows at her as it gazed upon her and asked "What troubles you today, child."
Erza gave a low laugh. It was almost funny that a tree knew her better than her father. "My father wants me to marry Simon. He is the serious warrior that I have talked about." She confessed.
The old tree laughed. "A serious man for the willful Erza? I think not! But what do you feel, child?" He asked.
"I feel as if there has to be something more. I feel as if something I coming! I had a dream of an arrow spinning ad spinning. Though I do not know why it was doing that." She told Grandfather Rob.
"I see it too you know. There are strange clouds on the horizon. Mark my words young one, something new is coming. Listen with and to your heart. It is the one thing that will not lead you astray." The willow gave her one last piece of advice before it one again became a normal willow again.
Smiling to herself, Erza made her way out of the swamp she was in and decided that she should get a look at the horizon. One never knew what was to come.
As Jellal looked out over the ocean and saw the land they were sailing to. He was pleased to see the green of the trees and the brown of the sand. It looked to be an interesting new world to say the very least.
Shō looked out with his mentor and was in awe of the sight that greeted him. He had been worried that it was going to b a hostile looking place, but seeing this made him think of how lucky he was that he had been able to come on this trip. His boyish gaping did not go unnoticed by his hero. Jellal laughed at the expression, remembering his own reaction the first time he had caught sight of an unknown land. He bet it was the same exact expression.
"Don't worry, it will look even better when we get on the land." Jellal told the young crewman.
Shō simply nodded his head. He didn't know what else he could do. The sight of the new place had taken his ability to speak for the time being and he couldn't help but stand there in awe. Not that any of the other blamed him. IN fact, they seemed to think it was nostalgic to see the new guy act like this. It reminded them of when they were as green as he was.
Hopping off of the ship so that he could help tie it to the place where Governor Hades decided they would dock, he took his rifle and began to look around. There were always some form of native people around, and he wanted to be somewhat prepared in case they were hostile towards new people and things.
As something seemed to make a nose behind him, the blue haired man spinned around with the rifle pointed. It was always good to be prepared in situations like this. He didn't want some random animal to attack him any more than some savage person.
When it turned out to be nothing more than a raccoon, he laughed at himself a little. He didn't know that a little further inside of the bush sat Erza as she watched this new person look around her home.
Instead of shooing away the rodent, he offered Miko a biscuit, laughing slightly as it took it quickly from his fingers, not fully trusting the new human. Of course the gluttonous raccoon ate it in a matter of seconds. But Erza hardly noticed that, she was too busy looking at the man with the strange tattoo.
Deep within her heat she felt as I she should know him somehow. She felt as if there was something she was missing about all of this. She felt a mixture of warmth and uncertainty towards this newcomer who she could have sworn she had never seen before.
Dismissing the feeling for the time being, she watched again as he seemed to make it further onto the land. She was slightly fascinated by the ship that seemed to have carried them across the sea. Once again she felt as if she should have known what the thing was, like she had been on one before. But the memory was not all the way there.
Knowing that it was time to get back, she left without Jellal ever noticing her.
By the time Jellal made it back to the beach, the rest of the crew had come off of the ship and were now setting everything up. They were soon followed by Hades as he strutted off of the ship, eye patch and all.
"Men, we are looking for the one thing that can trump everything back home! We are looking for gold! And if we succeed, we will become rich men." He them mumbled something sinister under his breath, but no one heard it.
Seeing everyone get to work, the governor took that time to seek out Jellal.
"If there are any savages I expect you to take care of them!" He snarled at the young adventurer.
Jellal did his best to hide the distain that he felt towards the man. It was not something that was just taken care of. He felt as if he was being insulted for some reason. It was not a good feeling. But he hid his own feelings well as he answered "Is that not the reason I am here in the first place?"
Hades smiled at the answer and nodded his head enthusiastically. The smile that he had on his face resembled a Cheshire cat that had just cornered a mouse. It was not a pleasant thing to see.
He then announced that he was going to go explore the land a bit. He too felt as if there was something off about this place. At the very least he felt as if he wasn't really there. But just like Erza did, he shook off the feeling and allowed himself to just be in the moment.
Snowleopard: I hope that you liked that! I tried to make it longer and to build up what is about to happen between them.
Laxus: Um, I think we have a problem….
Snowleopard: What is it?
Laxus: It looks as if they are both slightly aware that this is not really happening.
Cana: Yeah, I noticed that as well. But *hic* we really shouldn't be surprised. *hic* Erza is s-class, and she has one prosthetic eye, while Jellal used to be a wizard saint. It stands to reason *hic* that they would know something was wrong.
Snowleopard: Cana is right. Please review and tell me how I am doing. And thank you once again for your patients.