Chapter 15
Yukino and Lucy both smiled down at the additional weight of their keyrings. Then they shared a smile with each other and chuckled merrily for a moment. No one but another celestial mage would ever understand the joyous feeling of having another spirit to add to your arsenal. They looked back at where their new spirits stood. Garrett had his arms crossed, and while he tried his best to keep his impassive expression Lucy happened to catch a slight curl of his lip at the corner of his mouth. Dash on the other hand was grinning from ear to ear. His infectious joyous nature had Yukino giggling outrageously, clutching her stomach from the belly laughs the spirit was unintentionally inflicting upon her.
"We can lead you all into the woods. We have a small cabin not far from the Venom Talon's guild headquarters. It will take a few hours to get there however." He paused as he looked at the sky above. "By that time the sun will be setting and it will be dark in the woods. It would be a good idea to huddle down in our cabin for the night and map out a strategy," Dash openly suggested.
"I thought you all lived with the wolves?" Natsu asked in confusion.
"The wolves contact us when they feel threatened. Once we sensed Yukino and Lucy in the party we tried to get the wolves to stop but they are only animals and reacted on instinct. We raise pheasants on our property and wouldn't want the wolves to hunt our livestock," Dash replied.
"Oh, pheasant! Do you happen to have fire seasoning in your cottage?" Natsu asked. The group outwardly groaned at Natsu's enthusiasm. Yukino and Meredy, who still weren't quite accustomed to his earnest nature, giggled at the pink haired human garbage disposal.
The trek through the forest was harsh. Many branches of the underbrush bit at their legs. Garrett who sensed Lucy's discomfort picked her up and carried her bridal-style through the forest. He ignored how she thrashed and beat at his chest when she complained at him. Huffing and muttering how she didn't need help. When Dash looked at Yukino and asked her if she would like the same treatment the girl merely shook her head in response. She assured him if it became unbearable however that she would ask for assistance.
Lucy was so busy fighting with Garrett she didn't notice the silence and gloom coming off of Natsu in waves. He felt that he should be the one to carry her, and that she should be fighting him off right now. He didn't really understand why he was feeling so annoyed by this new spirit of hers. It wasn't much different with how he felt around Loke but he knew nothing about this new spirit so he wondered if the unknown was posing its own threat in his mind. He grumbled to himself and kicked at the underbrush of the forest. He felt a bit bad when a couple of small woodland creatures ran off.
Erza turned to Jellal, "So what do you think of this plan thus far?"
Jellal looked at Erza. A shimmer of light from the canopy hit her hair just right and made him want to reach out and touch her. But he refrained. He could not let himself get overly, emotionally attached to her. Even if he was already heading down that slippery slope he knew he had to make a conscious effort to restrain his emotions as much as possible. He cleared his throat and replied to her. "I don't think we have much of a plan as of yet. But I do believe if it will take such a huge length of time to get to this cabin that it is a sound idea to stop there and make plans. Perhaps a few of us can scout out the guild headquarters if it isn't terribly far away and report back to the group."
"Mmm," she muttered in a sound of agreement.
Freed stood at Mira's elbow during their trek through the woods. He held her hand to assist her when she had to climb over a fallen branch. They didn't talk all that much on the trip simply smiled at each other in shy understanding. When Freed came across a bed of wildflowers he bent to pick one and handed it to Mira. "Would you tuck it behind my ear?" She asked.
Freed blushed fiercely and attempted to accommodate her request. When his fingertips brushed her earlobe they both froze as they felt an overwhelming sensation coursing through their bodies. They each cleared their throats in turn. Both blushed madly and found the forest floor extremely interesting for a few seconds before continuing their hike.
Elfman and Ever who had been following Freed and Mira were not traveling as amicably as the other couple. They kept bickering about every little thing. When Garrett picked up Lucy Ever asked Elfman why he didn't offer to do the same. His response, "Because you are manly enough to take care of yourself."
Ever promptly pulled out her fan and thwacked him thoroughly with it. His veiled ouch didn't go unnoticed. "You don't sound all that manly right now to me." She refolded her fan and put it away, turned on her heel and continued following the members of the group that were leading the way.
When Mira received the wildflower from Freed, Ever had tried not to whimper at the romantic notion. She knew it would do no good to point out that simple sentiment to Elfman so she made no attempt to do so. Little did she know that when Elfman saw the exchange he began to ponder what sort of romantic things he could plan for his lady love. Too bad he didn't notice the gloomy emotions transmitting from her body. He would have saved himself from a lot of grief if he had been more observant.
Hibiki kept glancing at Yukino and Meredy. They were the only two girls he was certain had no kind of romantic entanglements. It was obvious Mira had a thing for Freed. That Ever and Elfman, although they tried to deny it, were very much together. Erza and Jellal were fighting emotions that were completely beyond taming. He knew that Natsu wasn't aware of his feelings for Lucy but that there was something definitely between the two.
Hibiki would have more time to spend with Yukino since he would be on the trip longer with her. But the problem with that was that he wasn't sure he should actually get involved with another celestial mage. Meredy may have been a part of an independent guild and traveled all over Earthland to set many things right. But that was part of her appeal. He could tell that she chose to do these things not just to set things right that she herself may have done wrong. But also because she herself was generally kind in nature. Hibiki contemplated the pinkette beauty as he trampled through the forest.
The group traversed the underbrush with these emotions and sentiments rattling away in their brains. The journey amazingly went quickly and before they knew it the woods had darkened considerably and they could hear the call of game hens in the distance. They climbed up a peaking slope and were gazing up at a homey looking log cabin.
Dash turned and smiled to the group. "Welcome to our home."