Rin laid on Rogue's bed in the Sabretooth guild hall. The twin Dragons had noticed her getting a bit bleary eyed and suggested she take a nap before they go out. Not having a room assigned to her yet, Rogue offered up his bed since they were already in his room. Right now he and Sting occupied a black leather couch in the room quietly playing a card game with their exceeds while the Death God slumbered. Occassionally Rogue or Sting would glance over at her to check and make sure she was still sleeping soundly. About an hour in however, Rogue stood up from his seat on the couch and slowly made his way over to the woman. Her breath was coming out in small puffs like the temperature in the room had gone down. Glancing around he noticed that Sting, Frosch and Lector were all shivering and he took note that he was feeling a bit of a chill to the room as well. He noted how her white hair and pale complexion was in stark contrast of the black comforter and pillow case, the bedsheet and fitted sheet actually matched her hair perfectly.
"No—no stop! No," Rin murmured as her brow knitted and her facial muscles became taunt. Rogue blinked before gently reaching a hand out towards her, then stopping—if she could drop the temperature in the room, could she hurt him unintentionally?
"Lexi," he called to her softly.
"No—don't do it. Don't go," the woman whimpered, her hand reaching out. Rogue gently grasped her hand and held it, hoping to provide some comfort to the woman. Sting had now come over as well and was at her legs, gently shaking them with one arm while he called to her, "Lexi?"
Rin began to toss a little as her dream seemed to worsen before she shot up in bed and screamed out. Instantly Rogue had grasped her shoulders as if to steady her in reality. "You're in Sabretooth. Whatever it was you were dreaming, it isn't real," he soothed.
"Yes it is—it's very real. It'll never change," Rin whispered, her head lowering. Rogue was about to say something when Sting caught his attention and he watched his friend in rubbed the back of his neck before heading out of the room while excusing himself with, "I'll see if Yukino has some clothes you can borrow. What you're wearing it—looks like something out of a history book."
Rogue looked back to Rin and was startled to see that tears were dropping down onto the comforter through her fingers which were pressed tightly together and both of her hands were pressed firmly over her eyes. Rogue contemplated for a moment before sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around her, pulling her into his body, his larger frame embracing her smaller body.
'What happened Lexi? I hope you'll tell us,' He silently wondered as the woman shifted so her face was buried into his shirt. He took the opportunity to bring his other hand up to her hair, gently stroking the snow white locks.
Three hours later, Rin glanced down at the sundress that Yukino had given her. It was very bulky on the petite girl and hung loosely in all the wrong places. The scorned look on Yukino's face as she handed the article to Rin and the death glare that followed had turned even the Death God's blood to ice. It wasn't like she'd asked herself! Nor had she really given much thought to Sting saying he'd ask Yukino to lend her something to wear, she thought he'd just been making up an excuse to leave the room. She looked as if she was swimming in the capped sleeved dress, not to mention star designs weren't really her thing but she understood Yukino's enjoyment of them as she was a celestial mage. The dress its self was a nice shade of pale blue although the reaper would've preferred red or pink, even still she was grateful that it meant she could now go shopping for clothes of her own. Now they were standing outside of a clothing shop, and Rin was hesitant to enter.
"Hey! What a surprise meeting you guys here," a familiar male voice greeted them. The trio turned to find Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. Rin relaxed a little as Sting, Rogue, Natsu and Lucy accompanied her as she searched through the shops. Suddenly as Rin was browsing through some tank tops, Lucy's voice questioned, "are you sure you want to stay at Sabretooth?"
Rin offered a soft smile as she answered, "I like Fairy Tail, don't get me wrong. It's a good guild, and one of the oldest ones with the strongest mages of legend associated with it. That said, there's something about Sabretooth just feels like home in a sense. Fairy Tail has a nice family dynamic to it in that you never really have to face anything alone—but for me there's more to home than just that, you know?"
Lucy gave small shrug as she responded with, "I guess—but then I guess being in military you're more used to brutes and power driven individuals."
"You're correct," Rin confirmed, appreciating Lucy's creative discretion about her true status.
Across from them sitting on a bench, three Dragon Slayers were sitting, waiting for the girls and Natsu was listening to the nightmare that Rin had before coming out to the shop.
"I wonder what she was dreaming about," Rogue wondered out loud.
"She likely lost someone close to her," Natsu stated.
"How can you be so sure?" The other men weren't exactly asking about Rin anymore.
"Look, long story short, there's a girl in Fairy Tail called Lisanna, we were really close childhood friends. She went with her siblings, MiraJane and Elfman on a mission and we thought she died—turned out she somehow ended up in Edolas. So when the rest of Magnolia ended up there a while back, she ended up coming back home too," Natsu explained, he hesitated before admitting, "—but there were a few years we really thought she was dead. I'd have nightmares around the anniversary—always the same thing—a giant monkey in the forest threatening her and I was powerless to protect her. Something really bad would've happened if Gildarts hadn't stepped in and saved her—I guess I had that nightmare each year because I felt like I should've been there to protect her that day."
The other two were silent for long time, long enough to watch both girls go into change rooms and emerge to show off their outfits to each other, go back in and change and repeat twice.
Sting let his gaze meet the carpeted floor before he voiced his thoughts, "I think whoever it was she lost—she was there when it happened. Going by her body language and what she said. I can't imagine losing someone close to me right in front of my eyes—I thought I'd lost Lector during the Grand Magic Games, that was bad enough."
Rogue nodded solemnly listening to the other two with him.
"Remind me why we're here? This is boring," Natsu complained.
"Because you wanted to spend time with Lucy and Rin has no Jewel to pay for her clothes herself," Rogue pointed out.
"Shut up," Natsu growled out at the comment about Lucy.
Natsu looked to Sting before asking, "And why'd you come along instead of Yukino?"
"Let's just say Yukino isn't too fond of Rin," Sting suggested.
"Got your eye on the new girl huh?"
Sting choked on air and sputtered out, "As if! I'm not that kind of guy."
"Then why's your girl getting jealous? Doesn't happen for just no reason at all," Natsu pressed.
"Oh I'll throw down with you, Dragneel," Sting warned.
"Bring it on. I'd rather a fight to sitting around," Natsu challenged.
"Well look at this. Boys letting their hormones get the best of them and me without a water hose," Rin's unamused voice lamented, cutting through the bickering between the two Dragon Slayers.
The two feuding men gained stone faced expressions as they turned their heads to see two irritated women who looked like they were ready to throw both of the Dragon Slayers onto the fastest train they could find going on a six day trip.
Rin tentatively brought a fingertip to her chin before voicing her thoughts, "correct me if I'm wrong Lucy, but don't Dragon Slayers have a common weakness—what is it again—motion sickness?"
At the mentioning of their shared fault both Natsu and Sting gained a bluish hue to their face.
"Mhmm, and there's a train heading out of Fiore in about an hour… we could knock them out and stick them on that train," Lucy recommended.
Suddenly their tinge of queasiness became full blown nausea, each of them swallowing harshly as bile began to creep up their throats.
"Oh you're right – that's what a six day ride? And it's supposed to be the fastest train to date, I bet that would make the ride extra rickety and bumpy," Rin pressed.
"NO!" Natsu and Sting screamed, each grasping at their hair in terror.
Rin gained a smirk on her face, "then you'll both simmer down or I will make it reality."
"Yes ma'am," they replied in unison from the ground, their eyes conveying the dizziness they'd imagined from such a train ride.
'And he's supposed to be our fearless Guild Master,' Rogue mused to himself inwardly chuckling, he noticed the clothing items in Rin's arms.
"I take it you've made your selections," He observed. Rin nodded in affirmation as she bit her lip nervously, the shadow dragon slayer rose from his seat and headed over to the checkout clerk, with Rin walking next to him.
Lucy cleared her throat before inquiring, "Hey Sting, are you really okay with Rogue paying for Rin's clothes?"
Sting was instantly on his feet and racing after his two guildmates.
Lucy giggled to herself before she turned her gaze to Natsu and wondered out loud, "Now what am I going to do with you?"
"Please don't throw me on a train," the still dizzily nauseous fire dragon slayer begged.
"That's one way to make Natsu stop being a hot head," Happy observed.