Today was truly a day unlike any other in the female tribe. While they were normally all in high spirits as they talked with each other and went about their daily tasks, today they were all somber because Lucy was missing. They all felt really guilty about it too because they had won the battle, until the male that had captured Lucy unleased his sacred rod on them and they all ran like cowards. They felt ashamed for leaving Lucy like that. But they had never seen something so large and powerful, they didn't know what to make of it. Thankfully, Erza had gone back there on her own to bring back Lucy.
The girls were all sitting in the village center together, sulking over Lucy's absence when they spotted Erza riding her panther towards their village. They all stood up and cheered upon her return only to be confused when they noticed that instead of Lucy, Erza had one of the members of the male tribe hog-tied and gagged on the back of her panther.
A blue-haired female amongst the tribe gasps, recognizing the male as the one that she took down when they attacked the male tribe.
Erza dismounts her animal and roughly pulls the dark-haired, shirtless male off of the back of her panther. He glares at her, trying to speak behind the gag and Erza pulls it off for him.
"Sorry about that Gray." She says in a monotone voice. "I just couldn't stand hearing you complain about your situation the entire way down here and Honora was starting to get agitated and would have most likely eaten you if you kept whining." Erza explains while petting her panther Honora's shoulder.
"I was whining because you snuck into my hut in the middle of the night while I was sleeping and kidnapped me!" Gray exclaims.
"You managed to capture him without awakening his sacred rod!" Wendy, the youngest of the group exclaims.
"Yes!" Erza proudly proclaims. "I am a skilled warrior! I would not let his mammoth awaken so easily to catch me off-guard.
"Well done Erza." An elder woman says.
Gray watches as the crowd of females parts and an elder female approaches him.
"You have completed the mission to perfection as expected. Well done." The older woman says.
"Thank you Grand Elder." Erza says and bows her head in respect.
"Who the hell are you?" Gray asks curtly.
Erza shot him an evil glare from the disrespect of the elder woman in his tone and he felt a shiver of fear run down his spine.
"My name is Porlyusica." The woman introduces herself. "And I am the Grand Elder, the leader of this tribe."
"Um, Grand Elder?" A white haired female in the group asks cautiously.
"Yes Mira?" Porlyusica asks.
"I thought the mission was to retrieve Lucy, so why has Erza returned with a member of the male tribe instead?" Mira asks.
"Initially that was the plan but upon hearing Erza's description of the power of the sacred rod belonging to the male that captured her, I deemed it to be too dangerous to attempt to rescue her by attacking him. The males favor brute strength to settle their disputes but us females prefer to cooperate with that which surrounds us. Therefore, I figured a negotiation without any violence would be more beneficial to our tribe. So just as one of their males kidnapped one of our females, I had Erza kidnap one of their males. If the male tribe wishes to have him back, then they will return Lucy to us in exchange for him." Porlyusica explains.
All of the females murmur in agreement amongst each other.
While they all converse, Gray looks around and blushes when he makes eye contact with the blue-haired female that had taken him down during the females attack on his tribe. He seemed to remember Erza calling her Juvia? He felt something stirring inside of him in his lower belly when he saw her, and it only churned more when he saw her blush.
"Well he may be our prisoner now but he could still be dangerous." Mira says. "We've seen what kind of power the sacred rod can wield, what if he manages to get his hands on one of us and uses the power of his sacred rod against us?"
"You're right, he may be subdued now but if he is going to be living amongst us then there is a greater chance that he could get lucky and catch us off guard." Erza says and raises her sword. "In that case we should remove his sacred rod before he has the chance to harm us with it!"
"Are you insane! Get away from me with that thing!" Gray screams and scrambles back, away from the woman who threatened to emasculate him.
His body stiffens when the back of his head meets something soft and warm. He looks up and his face turns red when he sees the underside of Juvia's breasts and her equally flushed face staring down at him from between them. It was then that he realized his head was in-between her thighs again like it had been when she sat on his face during the attack and when he remembered this his sacred rod incurred its wrath.
The girls all gasp as Gray keels over and curls into a ball as he mumbles something about "these damn females" and "making my sacred rod angry".
"See there is nothing to fear, his sacred rod renders him weak and helpless upon the sight of us females. We have nothing to fear from this male as long as he does not touch any of the areas of our bodies that we keep covered with our pelts." Porlyusica explains.
She notices Juvia looking worried for the male's condition while the other members of the tribe laugh at him. Juvia knelt down beside him and held her hand out towards him, debating on whether or not she should touch him to offer him some sort of comfort, and in that moment the elder woman immediately knew what to do with their captive.
"Juvia, I will be placing this male in your care." Porlyusica declares.
Multiple exclamations of confusion erupt from the crowd of females.
"Juvia's care? What does that mean?" Juvia asks.
"It means that I want this male to live in your hut with you and give him food, water, shelter, and anything else he needs to feel welcome." Porlyusica explains.
"Yes, Juvia understands that part but, why her?" Juvia asks curiously.
"You defeated him during the attempt to rescue Lucy did you not? I'm sure this male can't shake the memory of you sitting on his face from his mind. That's why his sacred rod is more reactive to you than it is towards any of the others." Porlyusica says and smirks when Gray blushes and looks away.
"Juvia's hut is also located on an island in the middle of the lake, it's near impossible to get there. Juvia is the only one of us who is good enough in the water to get across." Erza adds. "It would be impossible for him to escape. Juvia was a wise choice Elder."
"Exactly my dear, now Juvia, take Gray to your hut and bring Raina with you as extra protection should he attempt to use his strength against you to escape." Porlyusica instructs.
"Yes Grand Elder." Juvia says and bows her head.
"Wait who the hell is Raina?" Gray asks.
He feels scared again when he hears a growl behind him. Then he turns his head and screams when he sees another panther growling at him.
Juvia smiles and scratches the large cat behind one of it's ears.
"This is Raina." Juvia introduces.
Gray laid across Raina's back as Juvia rode sitting up on the panther as they made their way towards the shore of the lake.
"So when Erza was bringing me over here she told me that you females somehow bonded with these panthers when they were cubs and that's why they let you ride them and protect you?" Gray asks.
"Yes. Juvia has known Raina since she found her with the other panthers in her litter that the others took in to care for. They help us travel places quicker and protect us from other dangerous animals. And Raina will attack you if you try to harm Juvia when we're alone together in Juvia's hut. So don't try any funny business with that sacred rod." Juvia says.
"Relax I don't want to hurt you. You're not the one that kidnapped me from my tribe. You're just following your Elder's orders, I've got nothing against you." Gray says.
Juvia was thankful that Gray was facing away from her so he couldn't see her blush slightly. Why did her chest tighten when he said he wasn't mad at her? Why should she care what he thinks? He's a stranger, she doesn't know him and he doesn't know her.
"That's why I'm planning on making my escape during the night while you're asleep so I don't have to hurt you." Gray says.
Juvia simply smiles and chuckles.
"You won't get far, Raina is normally nocturnal, she hunts at night and she'll surely take you down if you try to run away. She's only awake right now because Juvia needs her to carry you across the river." Juvia confidently explains.
"Alright then, I guess I have no choice but to fight you during the day." Gray says.
"Then Juvia will just beat you again like she did when we attacked your tribe." Juvia reminds him.
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I've never lost to the same person twice. If you fight me again I'll definitely beat you." Gray promises.
"Even if you did then you will not make it very far." Juvia chuckles. "If Juvia screams then Raina will wake up and attack you, and even if you did manage to get past her, you would never escape the island."
"Oh please!" Gray scoffs. "I can handle a little water-"
They cleared the brush and now the lake was in view, and Gray's heart dropped to his stomach. It was the largest lake he'd ever seen. It was a huge expanse of water and the forest that was on the other side of it looked so tiny. He could make out the shore on the other side and the rocks on it and the trees and brush but it was still far enough away that it made Gray gulp. That was a lot of water. Escaping that by swimming would be near impossible! How the hell does this female get across every day?
"So you're going to swim that far in this deep, choppy water to get to your hut?" Gray asks. "In those heavy fur pelts?"
"Yes and no. Juvia is very good in the water. She has been her whole life. But she does not swim in these heavy pelts." Juvia says with a smile and dismounts her panther.
Gray watches as she goes over to a dead tree trunk and his eyebrows raise in surprise when he sees her pull on a handle that had been carved onto the side and a door opens to the inside of the trunk. Then his face turns red and he starts to sweat when he sees her take off the pelt she was wearing around her hips and place it inside the trunk, revealing her curvy figure to him and he felt his sacred rod begin to awaken in anger again. She took off her leopard print hat, and then removed the light pelt sleeves she wore on her arms and the fur cuffs and collar she wore around her neck. She then made matters worse by removing her sandals and the light pelt she was wearing on one of her legs, revealing her creamy pale skin and the shapely structure of her leg. When she does the same to the other leg he finally keels over, succumbing to the wrath of his sacred rod.
When Juvia turns around after having stripped down to nothing but her leopard pelt top and the light pelt she wore under her skirt that covered her rear and her front she was surprised to find Gray on the ground in pain.
"Oh no! Are you alright?" She exclaims and rushes to his side and kneels beside him.
"I'll be fine once you put some damn pelts on! Your female body is making my sacred rod angry!" Gray complains.
"Well then tell it to stop being angry because Juvia cannot redress until we're safely across the lake. If Juvia wears her heavy pelts when she goes to swim then she will drown. In fact, Juvia is only wearing these two pelts because they are lighter and won't weigh her down. If you were not present then Juvia would have done what she always does when swimming to her hut and stripped naked completely-"
"Gah!" Gray exclaims and curls up on his side.
This time instead of being concerned, Juvia furrowed her brows and looked at him observantly. It would appear that just the mere suggestion of her being naked was enough to invoke another wave of rage from Gray's sacred rod.
His situation did not get any better once they were in the water. Gray was still tied up and he rode on top of Raina while she swam through the choppy water, and Juvia swam beside her. If Gray thought that seeing this much of Juvia's pale moonlight skin showing was enough to invoke a large wrath from his sacred rod he had never felt before, then seeing it covered in droplets of water that sparkled in the sunlight as her intriguing body moved effortlessly through the water was only making things worse for him and he had to look away in order to calm himself.
Once his mind was clear he looked at how rough the water was and realizes that he was impressed with how Juvia was able to maneuver so easily through it. She must have been doing this for awhile and she must be a lot stronger than she seems to be able to push herself through the water for this long. Even if he did somehow manage to subdue Juvia and her panther, getting off of the island itself would be impossible for him. His only hope of returning to his tribe now was that they would agree to trade Natsu's female for him. Which knowing how stubborn Natsu can be, means that he's going to be in Juvia's hut for awhile. So he might as well start getting comfortable around her. Which will be difficult to do since she seems to make his sacred rod so angry.
After what seemed like forever to him, they reach the shore of the island and Juvia goes over to a rock with a pelt on top of it and wraps it around herself to dry off. She then skips over to Gray and Raina.
"Now that we are on Juvia's island she can untie you." Juvia explains.
Relieved to be free of the irritating rope, Gray holds out his wrists to her.
She reaches for the rope to untie him but then she hesitates. Her face showing that she was deep in thought as she thought back to the conversation she had with the Grand Elder before she left the central village with Gray.
"Grand Elder, Juvia is worried about keeping this male, uh, Gray in her hut with her. Males are much stronger than females and Juvia has seen the power that could awaken from their sacred rods and she is worried that Gray could use this power against her." Juvia explained.
"My dear child do not fear the limp snake that hangs between the male's legs." Porlyusica chuckled. "You've seen what just looking at your chest and touching his head against your thigh did to him. The sacred rod is something that males stake their pride on. The bigger the rod, the better the male. Usually whoever has the largest sacred rod is the strongest. But it is actually us females who hold power over it. In most cases we are the ones who control it's actions. In my many years I have met a couple of males whose rod will become angry at the sight of another male. It was funny when I introduced two men like that together and then they were both squirming on the ground due to the wrath of their rods all day from just the sight of each other!" She cackled from the memory before continuing. "But in this male's case it's clear his rod takes interest in females so it will be very easy to control him. If he starts to annoy you or become a bit of a handful then just push your chest up, or sway your hips, or bend over and he'll be down for the count for at least a few minutes."
"Thank you for your wise advice Grand Elder, Juvia will certainly use it. But Juvia is worried about something else too. When the male that kidnapped Lucy grabbed her chest it made his sacred rod grow and it ignited an igny brighter than any of us have ever seen and it could have wiped us all out! What will happen if Gray manages to get his hands on Juvia's chest to awaken a power similar to that?" Juvia asks.
Porlyusica took a moment to think about her response.
"Well for him it wouldn't be a brilliant igny that comes from him but rather a deep freeze since Erza mentioned he is skilled with ice. And it is not just your chest that you should be concerned about him touching but…" Porlyusica's gaze trailed down Juvia's body and she gasped when she realized what Porlyusica was talking about and placed her hand over the front of her skirt.
"There too?" Juvia asks.
"Yes, if he somehow comes into contact with that I'll probably feel the chill from all the way over here." Porlyusica says with a small smirk. "But don't bring that part up to him. We don't want him potentially going after two places on your body."
"So how will Juvia keep him from touching her chest?" Juvia asks.
"You can just tell him not to, and if he is a good male then he will respect your wishes and not attempt to grab your chest. But if he is a lesser male than we think or he thinks that awakening his sacred rod's power is the only way out of his situation then Raina will take care of him before he can touch you." Porlyusica said.
"Before Juvia unties these ropes, she needs to tell you that she does not want you to grab her chest. You will be returned to your tribe once we get Lucy back and in the meantime Juvia will take care of and provide for you so there is no need for you to awaken your sacred rod to escape. If you try to grab Juvia's chest then Raina will bite your hands off." Juvia declares.
Gray gulps when he hears the panther growl from behind him.
"You have been warned Gray. Now Juvia will remove your bonds." Juvia declares.
She unties the ropes for him and does the same to the ropes on his feet.
"Thanks." He says curtly and rubs his chaffed wrists.
"No problem!" Juvia says and flashes him a sweet smile.
Gray arches an eyebrow, confused by how she could seem so stern and angry and then in a moment she was smiling and happy again.
Then her smile falls when she sees the rashes on his wrists from the rope being too tight. She reaches out and holds his wrist and Gray feels his heart jump into his throat from her soft and warm touch.
He pulls his wrist back from her hands. He never liked it when people touched him, even the males in his own tribe that he had grown up with, so there was no way he was going to let this strange female lay her hands on him. At least that's what he thought until he saw the worried look in her dark blue eyes. When he looked at her hurt expression he felt his throat tighten, and his instincts and his logic told him that was because he didn't like seeing this female upset. So he shocks himself and decides to go against his no touching rule and make an exception just this once because clearly she only wanted to see his wounds so she could tend to them. And for some reason, when he offers his wrist for her to take again and she gently runs her fingers along the rash, he feels some of the pain go away and it's replaced with a fluttering feeling in his chest and a warmth on his cheeks.
When Erza had kidnapped him she had been so rough with him. Her skin was soft like Juvia's but there was no kindness in her touch, only rage. But Juvia's touch held a gentler feeling. It unlocked some nostalgic memory of being touched like this before, many many years ago by someone he couldn't remember, but he definitely remembered how they touched him with kindness, care, and another emotion that he couldn't describe, and that's exactly what he felt from Juvia's touch.
He brought his face up as the same time she rose hers and their eyes met each other. Gray couldn't help but stare into her dark eyes that were the same dark blue of the lake. He felt that same nostalgic memory grow stronger, as if he could remember a time when someone looked at him with the same emotions as their touch. The male members of his tribe cared about him and would treat him kindly but the way Juvia looked at him had something else, something different that was making his heart pound and making him want to touch her in the same way she touched him so he could convey those same feelings back to her.
He lost his breath for a moment when her eyes shined and her cheeks flushed when he gently ran his fingertips along her hand before circling them gently around her wrist like she had done to him.
His fingers were much larger than hers, and they felt rough, calloused, and cold against her skin. But it still made Juvia's heart flutter and she felt it climb into her throat when she looked back into his eyes and for the first time since she had met him, she saw something that she had never seen before in a male. Kindness and care. She had seen it before when the other females would look at her. They were all very open about their emotions and you could always see it in their eyes too, but for some reason, having Gray look at her like that was making her feel different, and she couldn't put her finger on what exactly she was feeling.
She didn't have to think too hard though. Because they were suddenly pulled from their trance when they heard Raina splashing around in the water on the shore of the island, attempting to catch fish to eat.
Both of them let out a sigh of relief from the distraction before returning back to the matter at hand.
"Erza must have tied the ropes too tightly and it irritated your skin. Don't worry, Juvia has something that can treat that." She says cheerfully before letting go of him and skipping off towards her hut on top of a very tall hill, framed by some conifer trees.
Gray watches her move towards the hut in a dreamlike way. The way the light from the almost setting sun was shining on her still wet skin and sky-blue hair through the trees, making it sparkle took his breath away. He felt like he could keep looking at her forever if that were possible. And without even realizing it, his legs moved to follow her up the hill towards her hut, not wanting to lose her from his sight.
As Juvia walked up the grassy hill towards her hut, she gently rubs her wrist and thinks about how Gray held it in his hand so gently. His hands were so big and rough and yet he held her so tenderly. It made her chest and throat feel tight. And when she looked into his eyes the feeling only got stronger. Gray may not have shown much emotion in his words but she felt like she could see it in his eyes. This male was a mystery to her, and one she would happily wish to solve because she could not remember a time she had felt like this before, for the first time ever, she felt….alive. And this newfound energy surely showed itself when she turned around to find Gray behind her completely naked.
She immediately jumps back and screams loudly at the sight of his sacred rod.
Gray looks confused then looks down and understands why she screamed and looks behind him to find his pelts on the ground a little ways away from him.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. This kind of thing happens to me a lot. So, if I'm gonna be living with you then you might want to get used to this sight." He says and poses a bit while smirking.
Females were modest beings. They covered their bodies when out in the open where anyone could see them. But clearly males were different. She should be disgusted by the fact that he would just display his naked body in front of her like this and yet, when she looked at him she felt her cheeks flush and a new tension she had never felt before in her lower belly form, and something in her mind told her that getting used to this sight would be difficult, but not because she didn't like seeing it but because her instincts were telling her that she did.