The countryside rolled past at a soft trot. The horses and travelers in no real hurry. Laxus lounged at the back of one of the carts loaded with undyed fabric. To any untrained eye he was fast asleep. Only the blond, Sting, knew he was awake and alert. The first half of the journey had taken them longer than they would have liked. The three-day travel to Quarto tribe had turned into four because the mud hadn't dried out like it usually did by the time they got there. When they did finally get there the tribe had been antsy, probably afraid they weren't coming, and it had thus taken a while to calm them down and convince them that their agreement was still ongoing. The actual trading had taken the same amount of time, but on the way home Laxus was on edge. Since he was a magic user, he could sense the magic that was slowing them down and he didn't like it, especially since no one was attacking them. They had been on the road now for almost two weeks because of the magical delays. There should have been something by now.
WE'VE GOT PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT!"
'Never mind' Laxus thought, still uneasy with this whole thing. He fluidly rose to his feet, knowing Sting was right behind him, covering his six. He walked up to the font of his caravan, only to be met with three people, all as dusty and travel-wary as them. There were two males and one female. Although the tallest of the group, a male, had his face covered by a cloak, Laxus could see it was very well perforated. The second male and female were both shoulder height to the first guy but just as odd. The girl had fire red hair and was wearing, of all things, amour. Why he didn't know but it couldn't have been comfortable. The second guy had raven hair and Laxus pegged him instantly as trouble, considering he was wearing nothing but a small sword necklace and some dirt covered underwear.
Laxus took all this in in a matter of seconds and decided to get this over with quick. He started with the smaller male. "Hey pervert, put some clothes on now." The guy had the balls to look confused before looking down at himself and going "Goddamn it, Not again!" Again? Seriously?
He turned to the group as a whole, only to notice that the tall guy was staring at him intently from under his cloak. Laxus was about to say something but the red head beat him to it. "My apologies, my friend is an idiot, we mean you no harm. Let's talk this out, no need to get hostile."
He turned to the group as a whole, only to notice that the tall guy was staring at him intently from under his cloak. Laxus was about to say something but the red head beat him to it. "My apologies, my friend is an idiot, we mean you no harm. Let's talk this out, no need to get hostile."
Laxus focused on the girl, she was around his sisters age, maybe an inch or two taller. She was very pretty but Laxus found himself comparing her to the white-haired angle from his past. He decided the angle was prettier. He decided to address her as she seemed to be the leader.
"Why are you here? I've never seen you before…" He looked at the tall man in the cloak when he heard the quite snort. The guy just stared at him eyes mostly obscured but showing enough to reveal that they were red. The eyes caused a shot of familiarity to jolt through Laxus, which confused him as he was sure he had never met this man before in his life. He turned his attention back to the red-headed girl and raised an eyebrow at her waiting for an answer.
The girl who looked like she didn't like his tone (tough luck he talked like that to everyone but his sister), but had the tact to glare at the shorter male before turning to him "My apologies again. We came on behest of our tribe leader to find a tribe called "Love Lucky," as there is an artist there that they want to commission a piece from."
Laxus assessed them, then threw a look at Sting over his shoulder. Sting met his eyes and shrugged, silently saying it was his decision. Laxus fought back the urge to sigh at his partner's laziness. Looking back, he gave it a quick thought and decided he had nothing to lose. Plus, Minerva's face when they got back would be worth it.
"Well that's where we're on our way to as well so if you want you can come with us." He said. The red head smiled and was about give a thank you when when Laxus cut in voice much harsher than before, "But if you cause any trouble you'll answer to me."
As he said it he called up a small amount of magic to give off some sparks, as a way of showing he was serious. The red head held up her hands and gave a placating "We have no bad intentions here."
Laxus gave them one last once over, ending once more on the tall cloaked male and again got this feeling that he should know this man, which was just weird. He brushed it off however when Sting came up and asked if they were ready to go. He turned to him and gave him a nod before turning to watch the three strangers climb into the back of one of the wagons. Once Laxus jumped into the front of the wagon behind theirs. With a nod to the lead trader they were off once more.
As the wagons continued on down the dirt path Laxus went back to feigning sleep. As he sat there he couldn't help feeling like a storm was coming on the horizan. One that would turn his life upside down.