Crackin' hell, it's already been a month. Sorry y'all, been a bit of a dry spell in regards to inspiration, I'll try to move things along so we can get back to the important things in life... like Laxus...
Four years. That was how long it had been… four years. Lyla and Artemis seemed to have gotten over it outwardly, but how can someone get over a family death if they never believed he was dead in the first place? It was a battle of hopelessness and hope, of determination and defeat. A constant cycle they continued, attempting to distract themselves from thinking about their favorite Fairy Tail mage, failing at the late hours of the night when all was silent except for their racing thoughts.
Regardless, it seemed like the two were back to what could be considered normal, although they seemed a little more subdued. Action was rare, and they unknowingly longed for a deviation from the norm. They were on the road again, tracing roads they had already covered simply because they did not know what else to do.
"Yo, try that new thing with the animals," Artemis said one evening, leaning against a tree with her sleeping pack set up underneath her crossed legs.
"Sure." Lyla complied, opening her mouth and letting a soothing song leave her lips, a compilation that had very little words but sounded like nature and rushing streams. Before long, there was a small audience of squirrels perched in the trees, a few deer peeking from behind trees, birds landing on branches in curiosity, and even a bear lumbered out from the woods, benign as ever. The prey were not afraid of the predator, and they all felt strangely safe as a result of the notes emanating from the human with silvery eyes.
Her song came to a slow end and she examined the effects of the magic. The animals silently stared back at her, still in revere of the song. Then, in unison, the animals crooned in their language, returning Lyla's gift of sound with their own form of applause and a show. In particular, a peculiar bird with a orange marking on his chest seemed to want to prove his worth, and chirped fervently. He hopped from branch to branch, getting closer then farther, as if afraid of Lyla's reaction. Curious, she sang a few notes to the bird, who tweeted the notes back. A smile broke across Lyla's face, and the bird flapped off the branch and circled their set up a few times before landing next to her. The singer cautiously reached out a hand and tapped the bird lightly on the crown of it's head. It let a happy little peep out, jumped a few times, and flew up to her head and settled into her hair. Lyla's eyes flew open in surprise, and Artemis stifled her laughter, not wanting to scare the animals.
Now that the music had stopped, the squirrels twittered to themselves and leaped down the trees, scuttering around to find food. The deer startled and bounded away at the sight of the bear, who had gone on all fours and was snuffling at the earth. He lumbered away after a few seconds. The birds in the air tweeted to themselves and spread out on the trees surrounding, but apparently decided to stay put. The bird with the orange marking stayed settled in Lyla's hair, but it wasn't very comfortable for the dragon slayer, so she reached up and gently removed the small creature from the top of her head. It twittered at her from her palm before suddenly taking flight and disappearing into the canopy.
"What a funny little bird," Lyla commented, moving towards her sleeping bag. Artemis snickered and Lyla shot her redheaded friend an unamused look.
"It's just… you're so dainty!" Artemis full out laughed, closing her eyes and holding her stomach while keeping the image of Lyla holding the bird in her mind.
"You didn't call me dainty when I ate that pot of stew and a loaf of bread," Lyla commented airily, referencing when they were offered a free meal after saving the town from a couple monsters. They had not eaten all day and Lyla had been rather hungry, and her dragon appetite decided to rear it's head at that moment. That pot of stew had not been exactly small.
Artemis turned towards her friend with wide eyes. "Damn, girl! I know you eat a lot, but that was a lot!"
"Shut up." Lyla instantly regretted bringing up that particular memory and turned over so she didn't have to stare at her friend's gaze that was filled, strangely, with admiration. "Go to sleep."
"Whatever, pig."
"Drunkard."
And with those kind words, the two fell into rest made comfortable from sleeping so often on the hardened earth. There they rested with tranquility, the soft sounds of the forest surrounding them. Night creatures darted about, not bothering the women and nibbling on the fruits and nuts they had strewn about for the squirrels and birds.
Unfortunately, nocturnal animals were not the only creature stalking about, and some thieves had set their eyes upon the women's camp. There were three of them, and they expertly snuck into the camp whilst keeping their gaze on their things and the girl's bodies themselves, making sure they did not awaken.
Two other beings crept through the night, and sighted the thieves swiftly. They started making their way towards the camp and noticed it was occupied by two women, lighting a strange (and rare) sense of chivalry in them.
Lyla heard the thieves. However, she was sleeping, and her body did not want to wake up, though part of her mind was screaming that something was wrong. As she not only had her dragon slayer enhanced ears, but from all of her training she could hear things from up to miles away. She moaned inaudibly where she lay and almost stirred, but the thieves froze in their place and her sleepy mind considered the sound to be a mere animal.
A stick cracked and her eyes flew open to see a bright spell slam into an intruder, a second thief being taken down by a shadowy figure just as swiftly. Bewildered, she instinctively enacted a spell around her and Artemis that was essentially a smaller, circular version of Sound Barrier. The light faded from the first spell that had been cast and she strained her ears. There were two sets of footsteps, and the owners sounded to be about average height. There was confidence in every step. She concentrated for a second and tentatively assumed they were male from the heavy sound of their footfall.
Her concentration broke and she started when one figure slammed directly into her circular barrier, falling to his butt with a startled exclamation. The other figure had stopped directly in front of it and sighed in annoyance at his -assuming it was a his- companion.
"What the hell was that?" The first person complained, holding his forehead. Breath rushed from the other person's lips in an almost silent sigh.
"Who are you?" She called out against her better judgement. You have a spell in place, and you know magic, she told herself.
"She's awake!" The first -now obviously male- voice declared. Lyla blinked and tried to make out the two in front of her visually. It was still pitch dark, the sliver of a moon hidden by the trees.
"Sting. Light." An equally low voice spoke, monotone with a hint of annoyance.
"Oh yeah!" 'Sting' replied exuberantly. Lyla shielded her eyes and blindly shifted in place when a suddenly bright light appeared. The singer's eyes peeked from behind her hands and saw two men standing half a dozen feet in front of her, directly behind her spell. Well, one was standing, the other was still seated on the ground from his fall. The blonde man on the ground had a sphere of light surrounding one of his hands.
Lyla glanced at her friend, who was still snoring away. God, she can sleep through a war.
Her eyes darted back to the two men, who were staring at her silently. She very nearly let out a scared "eep!" but she composed herself and drew herself up, though she didn't stand. "And you two are?"
There was a few moments of silence, then, "You're welcome for saving you." The blonde stated. Her silver eyes flashed but she took a breath and directed her attention towards the raven haired man who was still on his feet. His blonde friend jumped up to join his companion, and, feeling suddenly inferior, she stood up and dusted herself off carefully, speaking to them both.
"My name is Lyla." She finally settled her gaze back on the two and was startled to find that she was a bit taller than them.
"Lyla." The blonde seemed to try the name out on his tongue.
"Rogue." The other man replied with his own name at the same time. There was a few seconds of silence as Lyla stared expectantly at the blonde before she sighed in frustration. Her exhaustion and annoyance combined and drew out her sassy side, to her chagrin.
"I give you my highest gratitude, my knight in shining armor. May I be so esteemed to receive your name?" Feeling especially cocky, she even added in a curtsy. When she received no response, her fiery gaze shot back up to the two, who were standing there stupefied.
"Oh for the love of…" She stood up from her curtsy and placed two fingers on the bridge of her nose. "What the hell is your name, blondie?"
"Oh!" He finally seemed to break out of his funk, then smirked at the singer suavely. "Your knight in shining armor, Sting Eucliffe at your service!" He tried to bow low but smacked his head against the sound barrier again. "Ow!"
"Oh! I'm sorry, I thought that…" Lyla waved her hand and the spell dissolved. "Are you okay?"
"Fine!" He grinned up at her. "As if a little spell like that would be able to keep me down!" Her concern instantly dropped and she crossed her arms.
Then, suddenly realizing something, her eyes widened and she gasped, turning around and crouching low. The two men behind her exchanged glances.
"Artemis, wake up, you big lug!" She whispered, shaking her friend violently. The redhead muttered, brushing Lyla's hand off. The singer narrowed her eyes, a bit of the dragon in her sparking once again, easily brought out in her exhausted state.
"Down under in the sea, in a strange reality, the songs that pierce the air, we bellow without a glare!" She started softly singing the seaman's chant they learned the year before, one Lyla knew Artemis despised with all her heart. Sting and Rogue exchanged worried glances, seemingly worried for the woman's sanity. The redhead winced and twitched in her sleep.
"We hear the words and yell them out, we dance and sing and with no doubt…" Artemis's eyes shot open as the chant progressed, glaring at her sister of a friend. Lyla gave her an Artemis-like smirk and opened her mouth again to proceed to the chorus.
"Don't you dare-"
"That the mermaids shriek in the dead of night, out loud in air to give a great fright, if you don't behave, then you'll be lead straight into your watery grave!" She called out victoriously, enjoying the reaction she was receiving from the painter.
"You swore you would never speak those words again!" Artemis shrieked, tackling her friend onto the dusty earth, eliciting a laugh from the silver-eyed woman.
"Get offa me! We have an audience!"
"Hmm?" Artemis turned her gaze upwards from where she was lying on the ground and her eyes met the two bewildered dragon slayers. They blinked at each other for what seemed like forever.
"Who're you?" Artemis asked bluntly, hopping lightly to her feet. Lyla was right behind her.
"I'm Rogue, this is Sting." The dark haired man, Rogue, pointed to himself and to his partner Sting respectively.
"Mm." Artemis examined them silently, a serious expression on her face. They stared her down, her being shorter than the two, but she refused to back down, too stubborn to realize how much more powerful they were than her. Something was wrong, though, and Lyla could sense it. The light coming from Sting's hand never wavered and the only sound was that of the wind whistling through the trees. No, Lyla suddenly thought. There's something…
"There." She pointed her finger to her right and there was a crash in the trees as something fell out of them. The other three startled and their gazes shot to where she was pointing. A groaning sounded from the brush and a figure was seen standing up with his head clutched in his hands. Artemis shot forwards instantly, springing towards the figure and reaching it within seconds, dragging it back with her and throwing the now visible man to the ground.
"Tell me. Were you in league with those two?" Artemis leered at the man, pointing towards his companions. She had assessed the situation and had already realized what had happened. To a point, anyway.
"N-n-no!" He stuttered out.
"Liar." She whipped out a blade and smashed the back of his head with the hilt of it. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell to the ground, where Artemis stood up and kicked him for good measure, sneering at the unconscious body. "Filthy thieves."
Sting and Rogue, only slightly impressed by the display, stayed silent. Well, Rogue did, anyhow.
"How did you know he was there?" Sting asked Lyla, desiring to learn her tricks. He was a bit perturbed that a simple mage such as her could notice something that he, Sting, the white dragon slayer, could not.
Her arm moved upwards and she tapped her right ear with the tip of her finger, explaining vocally a second later. "I heard him."
Unfortunately, that was not an adequate reason for Sting, since he already had enhanced hearing from his dragon slayer magic.
"Yeah, but how? He wasn't even moving," Sting argued. Rogue unnoticeably rolled his eyes next to Sting. Well, almost unnoticeably, since Artemis caught sight of the sign of scorn and held in a snicker.
"I heard the wind around him. And everyone is always moving," she expounded further. Sting growled under his breath, frustrated at being shown up by someone he did not know.
"Sting." Rogue suddenly spoke a warning syllable. The blonde turned towards his counterpart instantly, at abruptly at attention. "Have you not noticed her magical signature?"
Before anyone could comprehend or act upon Rogue's confusing words, Lyla spun at the sound of magic activating, but was too flustered to stop the tree branch from slamming into her. It knocked the breath out of her and she fought a failing battle, collapsing on the ground as the world faded in and out. She felt Artemis protectively holding onto her shoulder and heard the two men crouching before her. No, she corrected. Only one man was crouching next to her, the other was… taking care of the lingering mage that had… hit her? Coherent thought started becoming harder and harder.
"Lyla, you're gonna be okay. Got it? I'll take you to a bed and you'll wake up comfy and warm, okay?" Artemis's voice echoed through her head. A tired smile crossed Lyla's face and she hoped that Artemis interpreted it as I'm holding you to that.
And with that thought lingering, she surrendered herself to the tugging darkness.
Tbh I almost strangled myself for ending with the stereotypical knock-out scenario. But I rewrote the ending a couple times and I'm still not super happy with it, but it's something, right?
Haha. I'm only convincing myself.
Follow, favorite, review! Thanks to all for reviewing my story so far, it makes me almost squeal of happiness every time I see one!
-Leaf