Hello everybody and welcome to the chapter! Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites, it means a lot! There's going to be a small original arc before we get onto Edolas, just to get some bonding going between Garion and Wendy. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own FT
Garion was beaming as he stood on the deck of the ship that was carrying him, Team Natsu, and Wendy and Carla home. The sun shining overhead, combined with the warm, happy atmosphere on the ship meant Garion's spirits were higher than a kite. The boy walked over and stood next to Wendy, who smiled at him when she saw him.
"Ahh... so this is what it's like to sail on the seas without puking your brains out." Natsu said, a grin on his face.
"Aye matey! Welcome to the good life!" Happy said cheerfully.
Natsu then proceeded to ecstatically run up and down across the deck with his arms in the air. "Look out vehicles! Natsu's gonna ride you hard!" The fire dragon slayer declared happily.
"Careful!" Wendy, who was watching with a smile, said. "The Troia spell doesn't last forever!" Almost as if on cue, Natsu suddenly collapsed and started looking very sick.
"No... cast that spell again!" Natsu pleaded as he writhed around on the floor. "Hurry!"
"I'm sorry I can't! It only works a couple of times." Wendy said apologetically.
"Guess it's back to barf bags!" Gray said with mirth. Lucy let out a laugh in reply to Gray's comment.
"When you and Wendy join Fairy Tail I'll show you all the snuggling spots perfect for kitties." Happy said, turning to look at Carla.
"I'm joining your guild to stay close to Wendy not because I have any interest in you!" Carla curtly replied.
"We're joining Fairy Tail!" Wendy said happily, turning around to face the rest of the group. "This is so exciting!" Garion's smile turned into a grin as he looked at Wendy.
"I'm sure you'll love it!" Garion said excitedly. "There's so many cool people for you to meet! And we got lots of cool jobs and our guild hall is awesome!" The boy suddenly seemed to be bouncing on the balls of his feet, causing Gray and Erza to let out amused chuckles. "I'll even show you around and stuff if you want!"
"That'd be great!" Wendy said, now even more excited about joining Fairy Tail after hearing the bubbling happiness in Garion's voice. "Now I can't wait!"
"Yes, neither can I." Carla said sarcastically. For the rest of the journey to the guild, Garion happily and excitedly told Wendy everything that he knew about Fairy Tail and Magnolia, pausing only when Wendy asked him the odd question, which he always answered with excitement.
"Garion sure likes to talk about Fairy tail doesn't he?" Lucy remarked to Erza and Gray as the dual element wizard was in the middle of describing the actual guild hall to Wendy. The other two wizards chuckled in response.
"Certainly." Erza replied, a smile on her face. "He's never been one to be short of good things to say about the guild. In fact I'm certain he knows more positive things about the guild than anyone else save the master."
"The only problem with that is it's kinda hard to get him to stop talking once he starts." Gray said with a smile.
"He's like that with everything Gray." Erza said. Gray chuckled again.
"Yeah I know." The ice wizard said.
*Some time later, Fairy Tail guildhall*
"Long story short..." Erza said after explaining all that had transpired regarding the Oracion Seis and Nirvana. "Wendy and Carla are Fairy Tail's newest members so you better treat them well."
"It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Wendy said somewhat nervously before bowing. The entire guild then exploded into chatter about Wendy and Carla, many of them complimenting Wendy's cuteness, some mentioning the fact that Carla was basically a female Happy, and others just simply offering friendly welcomes. Wendy smiled and nodded her way through them.
"Hey Levy!" Garion said cheerfully, rushing over to the solid script wizard. The bookworm grinned at the boy as he rushed over to her and broke her hug with Lucy.
"Garion!" Levy said cheerfully. "Great to see you!" Garion stopped just in front of her, his usual beaming smile present on his face. The two then shared a high five. "How'd it go?"
"It was cool, but also kinda scary." Garion said. His eyes widened. "And awesome! I got to meet Wendy! She's got the coolest magic ever and she's super awesome!" He said in an extremely cheerful tone of voice. Levy giggled at Garion's enthusiasm.
"Is she?" The solid script wizard asked with a smile. "Why is that?"
"Cause she can heal people and stuff with her magic!" Garion said cheerfully. "She even saved my life!" Levy's eyes widened and then she looked over at Wendy.
"Really?" She asked. The solid script wizard then looked back at Garion and raised an eyebrow. "And why did she need to save your life in the first place?" She asked in a slightly warning tone.
"Um... I... uh... helped Lucy fight a member of the Oracion Seis... and ended up getting washed down a river..." Garion said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Levy's eyes widened and she looked at Lucy. The celestial wizard nodded but then chuckled.
"He did most of the fighting to be honest." Lucy admitted. "He even threw one of the bad guys out of the way of one of their allies' attacks and took a hit because of it." Levy couldn't help but chuckle and smile at the last bit.
"That sounds like Garion all right." She turned back to face the boy. "I hope you plan to introduce me to her. I want to meet the girl who saved your life." Garion's face lit up and he beamed at her before grabbing her hand and promptly leading her over to where Wendy was talking with Mirajane.
"You mind telling us what type of magic you use?" Mira asked with a smile as Garion and Levy pulled up next to her.
"Wait a minute don't you dare compare me to that furry horndoll!" Carla angrily snapped, not at all please with the comparison between her and happy that Mira had made moments ago.
"Don't mind her." Wendy said with a smile. "I use healing and support magic. Actually I'm a sky dragon slayer!" Almost instantly the guild went dead quiet. Everyone just looked at Wendy with shocked expressions. Wendy looked around in confusion.
Did I do something wrong already? She wondered, her happiness from moments before rapidly fading.
"THAT'S AWESOME!" Practically the whole of the guild screamed, completely catching Wendy off-guard. "We have another dragon slayer!"
"Aww yeah!" Macao said cheerfully.
"Just like Natsu and Gajeel!" Reedus said in an equally cheerful voice.
"I've never heard of a guild with three dragon slayers in it we're gonna be even more unstoppable now!" Wakaba said whilst doing a stupid dance. Wendy had recovered from her surprise and was now cheerfully smiling.
"Alright everyone listen up!" Makarov declared loudly. "Let's welcome our new members the way only Fairy tail can!" There was a massive roar of approval from the rest of the guild, which Garion joined in on. "Now eat, drink and make merry!" The guild master ordered. The guild promptly erupted into celebrations, brawls and everything that went on when Fairy Tail celebrated something, included damaged furniture and multiple burn injuries. Garion leapt right into the heart of the celebrations and a grin was glued to his face for the rest of the day. Wendy had fun as well, her smile never faded and she laughed herself to tears at some of the things that happened.
All in all, it was a good day in Fairy Tail.
*Fairy Tail guildhall, next day, around noon*
"Hmm..." Wendy hummed as she looked at the request board. She was having difficulty deciding on which job to take, as a lot of them offered large rewards but looked to be quite dangerous and others offered lesser rewards but looked to be much easier. Carla was also closely examining the available quests, trying to determine which would be best for her and Wendy to choose.
"Has anything on the board caught your interest?" Mira asked as she walked up to the pair.
"There's so many its hard to pick one." Wendy replied, turning to face the white haired girl.
"Take your time!" Mira said with a smile. "Though if you wouldn't mind a little advice I'd stay away from solo jobs for now." The S-class wizard saw the slightly despondent look on Wendy's face so she continued. "Since you're just starting out it might be best to assist another team with one of their jobs. You'll take a pay cut of course but the experience is well worth it." Wendy and Carla glanced at each other for a moment before Wendy smiled at Mira.
"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Wendy said enthusiastically.
"I admire your enthusiasm but take a look at your potential partners." Carla said. Natsu and Elfman were sitting at the bar laughing and acting like idiots, Natsu somehow had a mug that had fire in it, and Happy slid up next to Carla with a hopeful look on his face. "Not a chance!" Carla said prudently, causing Happy's hopeful look to turn to one of sadness and he skulked off.
"Helping Wendy find a good job Mirajane?" Lucy asked as she and Levy walked up to the group.
"Actually, I think it'd be best for her to tag along on someone else's job and get some experience." Mira explained.
"Good plan!" Levy agreed. "I mean Lulu here got her start in Fairy Tail by helping Natsu right?" Faux tears started running down Lucy's face.
"And its led me into more horrifying and deadly situations than any girl should have to endure!" She whined.
"You've got more courage than me, that's for sure." Levy said jovially.
"Courage..." Wendy said to herself, holding a fist up in front of her chest. She then lowered it and smiled at the other three girls. "Well then, since the two of you are here, is there any work that you need help with? I may still be pretty green, but I promise to do my very best!" She said cheerfully. Levy's smile widened.
"We could really use that kind of attitude in shadow gear!" She declared.
"You worked with us before so why not stick around?" Lucy asked. Levy gave Lucy a worried look.
"Uhh... somehow I think sticking with your little gang might be bad for her health." Levy explained. Lucy blinked and gained a resigned look as she processed the truth of that statement. Seeing the little back and forth between Levy and Lucy made Wendy chuckle softly. Mira was frowning but then her eyes widened in realisation.
"Why not have her work with Garion for a while?" She asked, turning to face Levy and Lucy. "He's around her age, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help her get a hold of the ropes. And he isn't part of a team, so she doesn't have to decide on that yet." Lucy and Levy looked at Mira for a few moments before their eyes widened in realisation. Lucy then frowned.
"Wait... I thought he was in your team?" Lucy asked, turning to look at Levy. The bookworm shook her head.
"Garion's a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to jobs. I mean sure he'll help us out whenever we ask him, but he tends to go on jobs on his own more often than not." Levy explained. The bluenette looked at Wendy for a few moments before her eyes widened in realisation. "Hey... I have an idea! Why don't, instead of him just helping her get job experience, Wendy and Garion become partners?" Lucy, Mira, Wendy and Carla all gave her a mixture of curious and wondering looks.
"Partners?" Wendy asked with a frown. For some reason though, the girl's cheeks heated up slightly. Levy nodded.
"Yeah, you two can go on jobs together and help each other out whenever either of you need it. Plus it'll keep the other teams in the guild off your back about joining them." The bookworm explained. She looked at Mira. "Dontcha think it's a good idea Mirajane?" She asked. Mira frowned for a few seconds before she nodded.
"Certainly. It'll be good for both of them in that case actually." The white haired girl smiled. "Wendy gets job experience and Garion doesn't have to go on jobs on his own anymore."
"Sounds good to me." Lucy said in agreement. "Whatcha think Wendy? Reckon it's a good idea?" The celestial wizard asked the sky maiden. Wendy frowned and quickly thought it over.
"I'm fine with it." She said with a smile after a few moments. "As long as he is, of course." Levy gave a short laugh.
"You clearly don't know Garion that well." The bookworm said wryly. "He loves helping people."
"If I may, for how long will this partnership last?" Carla asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It depends." Mira said. "If you want, it can last until you two are confident enough to go on solo jobs, or it can become a permanent arrangement."
Carla looked at Mira for a few moments before she nodded. "I suppose that's fair." She looked around. "If I may, where is that boy? He certainly seems to be absent from the guild."
"He took a job earlier." Levy explained. "Just a quick one, he'll probably be back any minute now." True to her word, Garion strolled into the guildhall about 5 seconds after Levy finished her sentence. He had an apple in his hand and was happily munching away at it as he idly moved across the guildhall towards no-where in particular.
"Hey Garion!" Mira called out to the boy. Garion paused mid bite and turned his head to look at the source of the noise. "Mind coming over here? We wanted to ask you something." Despite the apple in his mouth, he was still able to smile and he quickly made his way over.
"Hey Mira!" He said after swallowing the bit of apple that was in his mouth. He looked around and smiled at everyone else that was present. "Hey guys!"
"Hey Garion." Levy said with a smile. "We wanted to ask you, do you want to partner up with Wendy to help her get some experience going on jobs?" Garion froze mid bite and he blinked several times. He then removed his mouth from the apple to reveal a broad smile.
"Sure!" he said cheerfully. He looked at Wendy. "I'd love to help! So what kind of jobs do you wanna go on?" He asked. Levy, Lucy and Mira all smiled at his enthusiasm. Wendy frowned and scratched her chin as she thought.
"Hmm..." She said.
"Perhaps we should avoid jobs that involve fighting for now?" Carla suggested. "I hardly think it would be a good idea for you to get hurt on your first job child." Wendy looked at Carla and then nodded.
"Yeah you're right." She looked at Garion. "For now, nothing with fighting involved."
"Okay." Garion said with a nod. "No fighting, got it." He walked past Wendy and up to the request board. The sky maiden and Carla turned around to watch him. "No fighting... no fighting..." His eyes swept back and forth across the board. "Anything else you're not up for?" The boy asked, turning to face Wendy, throwing what was left of his apple away as he did so. The girl frowned but then shook her head.
"I'm fine with anything else." She said with a smile. Garion smiled back and nodded.
"Right." He turned back to face the board and kept on looking. "How much money do you need?"
"Huh?" Wendy asked, slightly confused by the question.
"What kind of rewards are you looking for? Big ones? Small ones?" Garion asked, turning back to face the blue haired girl. Wendy blinked and frowned.
"Well... We need money for rent for a room in Fairy Hills... and that's..."
"100000 jewels." Levy supplied.
"Thanks." Wendy smiled at the bookworm. "We also need some money for clothes and stuff..."
"So 100000 jewels for rent... and some money for clothes..." Garion picked two jobs off the board and turned around to show them to Wendy. "How about these ones?" Wendy and Carla leaned in to examine the jobs.
The first one read: Help needed at Yaletown Orchid! Apples need gathering up: 50000 jewel reward.
The second one was: Help needed at Rosemier farm! Horses in need of caring! 75000 jewel reward.
"Yeah those seem good." Wendy said with a nod.
"Agreed." Carla said. Garion smiled.
"Right, I'll get these signed off." He walked over to Mira and handed the request pages to her. "Could you please sign these off for Wendy?" He asked. Mira took the pages and raised an eyebrow.
"Why not you and her?" She asked.
"Because Wendy and Carla are getting the rewards, not me." Garion replied. "These are their jobs, they need the rewards not me." He smiled. "And I don't mind not getting anything." Levy and Lucy smiled at the boy whilst Mira quickly signed the jobs off as taken by Wendy and Carla. She then handed them back to Garion.
"Thanks Garion!" Wendy said gratefully. Garion looked at her and offered a beaming smile.
"My pleasure Wendy!" He said cheerfully. He walked over to the sky maiden and stopped next to her, handing the job flyers to her as he did so. "Thanks for letting me be your partner by the way! I hope we'll have lots of fun together!" He said jovially whilst grinning. Wendy couldn't help but give Garion a grin of her own.
"Me too!" She said cheerfully. Carla looked between the two and sighed.
"Yes, let's have lots of fun." She said dryly, not at all sharing in the enthusiasm of the two young wizards. Wendy turned to look at her Exceed friend and frowned.
"Carla..." Before the sky maiden could say anymore she was cut off.
"Let us get going then." Carla said impatiently. "Those jobs won't do themselves."
"Have fun you three." Levy said with a smile.
"We will!" Garion replied cheerfully. He looked at Wendy and the two nodded at each other. "Let's get going." Turning away from the group, the dual element wizard, the sky maiden and the white furred Exceed began making their way towards the guild entrance. "Which one do you guys wanna do first?" Garion asked, turning his head to look at Wendy. The sky dragon slayer frowned as she looked at the pieces of paper in her hands for a few moments before looking at Carla.
"Maybe we could do the one at Rosemier farm first?" Wendy asked her friend. The Exceed frowned but then nodded.
"If there are injured animals then it is best we attend to that job first." Carla said. "Your magic will certainly be much more useful caring for horses than gathering up apples." Wendy nodded in agreement and looked back at Garion.
"Got it." He said with a nod. The trio reached the door and Wendy and Carla walked out. They then stopped and looked around in confusion before turning around to look back into the guildhall and their confusion simply increased. "What's wrong?" Garion asked. He then realised that he was walking but he wasn't moving and that a hand was on top of his head. The boy promptly turned to see who the arm belonged to and smiled when he noticed who it was.
"Hey Gajeel!" he said cheerfully. The iron dragon slayer's left eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Squirt." Gajeel said in a flat tone. He glanced at Wendy before looking back at Garion. "Where are you running off to?"
"I'm going to help Wendy with her first jobs as a member of the guild!" The boy replied ecstatically. "I'm her partner now!" Gajeel's left eyebrow shot up the moment Garion said 'partner'.
"Partner?" He asked, his neutral expression giving way to a smirk. "What kind of partner?"
"A job partner!" Garion replied, oblivious to the real meaning of Gajeel's question. "We help each other out on jobs and stuff, and we go on jobs together!" Gajeel's smirk faded. How come the girl gets help but I didn't!? Gajeel mentally grumbled.
"So why are you two go on lame ass jobs to help some farmers?" Black Steel asked flatly.
"Because those are the jobs Wendy and Carla wanted to go on." Garion answered. At the mention of the white furred Exceed, Gajeel felt his annoyance and despair at the lack of his own talking cat bubble to the surface but he squashed it before it outwardly showed.
But then Garion opened his mouth again.
"Why don't you have a talking cat like Wendy and Natsu?" He asked with a frown. "You're a dragon slayer, aren't you supposed to have one?"
"Well maybe I don't freaking need one!" Gajeel snapped. "Who says I need one huh!? Just cause I'm a dragon slayer doesn't mean I need a stupid talking cat!" Garion recoiled at Gajeel's sudden outburst but then he frowned.
"Don't you want a talking cat friend?" The boy asked. A large tick mark appeared on Gajeel's forehead.
"I don't need a freaking cat!" Gajeel snapped. "And I don't need friends!" Garion blinked.
"But I'm your friend." He said plainly. Gajeel blinked and stared at Garion for a moment before he scowled.
"Shut up." And with that, Gajeel stormed out the guildhall.
*Sometime later aboard a train headed for Rosemier village*
"Could you please stop fidgeting?" Carla asked with an annoyed frown.
"Sorry." Garion quickly replied, promptly stopping his restless movements. He started again mere moments later though, he looked around, his arms twitched and he tapped his feet. His energetic personality didn't really agree with sitting still in a train for long periods of time, which was why he mostly slept through train rides. Unfortunately that wasn't an option right now considering he was practically bursting with excitement about helping Wendy.
Speaking of the blue haired dragon slayer, she was currently sitting on the bench opposite Garion with an amused smile on her face. The compartment they were in was a closed unit with a door. It had two benches on the left and right walls extending from the window to about the halfway point of the compartment. A table was located between the two opposing benches. Carla rolled her eyes as she noticed Garion had started fidgeting again.
"Goodness..." She murmured under her breath. Wendy glanced down at Carla before looking back up at Garion.
"Thanks again for taking the time to help us." Wendy said gratefully. Garion smiled warmly at her.
"It's not a problem. Friends are supposed to help each other." He said cheerfully. "So whatcha think of Fairy Tail? Pretty awesome right?" Carla raised an eyebrow.
"That's debatable..." Carla said dryly.
"It's great!" Wendy said cheerfully. "Everyone's just so friendly and nice! And the guild hall is awesome!" Hearing those words made Garion's smile grow wider.
"Great to hear!" He said cheerfully. "It might seem a bit weird sometimes, but everyone really cares about everyone else! And we've got tons of cool wizards like Erza, Gray, Gildarts, the master, Mira, Natsu..." Garion frowned and tapped his jawline with his index finger as he thought of other cool wizards in Fairy Tail. "... Cana, Levy, Juvia, Lucy and Gajeel!" He finished cheerfully. Carla raised an eyebrow. He didn't mention himself...
"I hope I get to be friends with all of them." Wendy said with a cheerful smile. "What about you?" She asked, curious about the sandy haired boy. Garion blinked and gave Wendy a confused look.
"What about me?" He asked in a confused voice. "What do you mean?" Wendy suddenly felt both nervous and shy simultaneously.
"Well... what I mean is... you're also cool!" She said shyly, heat rushing to her cheeks. Garion blinked and stared at her. "Your light magic is really nice... and your wings are cool too!" The sky maiden said quickly, now twitching slightly. "So I was just wondering if you could tell me more about yourself and your magic!" She said. Garion scratched the back of his neck, some colour present in his cheeks.
"It isn't that cool..." He said weakly. "Your magic is also really cool. All the dragon slayers are." The boy said, giving a weak smile. Wendy smiled meekly.
"Thanks..." she said. Garion scratched his head again and Wendy looked out the window. Carla looked between the two. That's a surprise. Despite Garion's overt friendliness and ability to talk to people older than him... he doesn't seem to be so good at talking to people closer to his age the exceed mused. Wendy looked back at Garion, who was now staring at the door. "So... how long have you been at Fairy Tail?"
Garion looked back at her. "11 years." He said, his usual cheer coming back. "Although I technically only joined about 9 years ago. For the first two master just kept me there since it was easier to look after me when I was close by. He then decided I might as well join the guild and he made me a member." The boy leaned on the backrest behind him, a smile on his face.
"11 years?" Wendy asked with slightly wide eyes. "How old are you?"
"14." Garion said. "My birthday was in August." His smile faded a bit. Due to the fact he'd been out getting money for his house, he hadn't had a real birthday party this year. Since Levy hadn't said anything to him about it, aside from wishing him a late happy birthday a week or so ago, he'd assumed he wouldn't get one. "How old are you?" Garion asked with a tilt of his head.
"12." Wendy said. She then gained a somewhat embarrassed look and looked out the window. "And I... have no idea when my birthday is..." Garion blinked and then frowned.
"How do you not know?" He asked. Wendy turned her head to look at him.
"I can't remember... and Grandeeney never told me about it..." Garion's smile fell.
"That sucks. I'd hate it if I didn't know when my birthday was." He said sadly. "If you don't mind me asking... what was Grandeeney like? I've heard Natsu talk about Igneel, apparently he was very grumpy but really kind." Wendy giggled slightly, the image of a giant, grumpy looking fire dragon forming in her mind at Garion's words. She then smiled at Garion.
"I don't mind." Wendy said. "She was kind, the kindest dragon you could ever imagine. And she was beautiful too. Not that she ever admitted it." Wendy's smile grew as she recalled fond memories of her time with the sky dragon. "I still don't know where she could have gone... or why she left... but I won't give up until I find her!" The sky maiden said with determination.
"I'm sure you will." Garion said. "Hey if you want... I could help you find her!" Carla raised an eyebrow.
"You're quick to offer assistance aren't you?" She asked. Garion looked at her and frowned.
"Assit-what?" He asked. Carla nearly face-palmed.
"Help. You're quick to offer help, aren't you?" the Exceed clarified. Garion frowned again.
"Of course. She's my friend, why wouldn't I help her?" He asked. Carla looked at the boy. I... guess that's a good enough reason... The exceed thought. In his case anyway.
Wendy smiled at Garion. His open declaration of friendship, despite her having heard it already, made happiness rise within her. She was happy that she'd barely been in Fairy Tail for a day yet she already had a friend. "Thanks Garion. If you want to help you can... I'd appreciate it." She said somewhat nervously.
Garion beamed at her. "It'll be my pleas-"
Before Garion could finish the cabin was briefly bathed completely in white. Then...
*BOOM*
The sudden crack of thunder caused Wendy and Carla to jump in their seats and snap their heads to the window. A thunderstorm was raging off rather close to the side of the train, but as Wendy followed the clouds with her eyes, she realised that the train was heading into the storm. "We didn't bring an umbrella..." Carla said, eyeing the nearby storm with disdain.
"If it's raining in Rosemier we might not be able to..." The words died on Wendy's lips as she looked across the room. Her eyes widened in shock. "Garion?" She asked. The boy in question was hunched over, legs drawn into his chest, shaking slightly and had his back to the window. From what Wendy could see of his face he'd gone pale. "Are you alright?" The sky maiden asked with worry in her voice. The boy looked at her with scared, nervous eyes.
"... I don't like thunder..." He said weakly. "It's too-"
*BOOM*
"EEEK!" Garion let out a high pitched squeal at the extremely loud crack of thunder whilst Wendy just jumped in her seat slightly. He peeked out from behind his arms.
"... too loud."
Carla looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you scared of thunder?" She asked, sounding both surprised and amused. Garion nodded weakly in reply. He then looked at Wendy.
"Aren't you... scared?" He asked meekly. Wendy gave a small smile in reply.
"A little bit." She admitted. "But Grandeeney told that lightning never hits people and that thunder is just the really loud snores of a lightning dragon, so I don't need to be afraid of it." The sky maiden explained. Carla raised an eyebrow at her best friend.
"That's... an interesting way to describe a thunderstorm." the Exceed said.
*BOOM*
Garion again yelped and pulled himself into an even tighter ball, slamming his hands against his ears. Carla rolled her eyes before sighing. She eyed the window as rain drops began to pit-pat against it. "Well as far as I'm concerned, the job is placed on hold until this weather passes over." She held up a paw to stop any possible argument. "I won't let you use your healing magic and tire yourself out when there's such a good chance of you catching cold Wendy." The exceed said determinedly. "Until the storm blows over we are taking shelter somewhere in the village where it is warm and dry." She looked between the two humans in the compartment. "And that is final."
Garion nodded mutely in reply. "Okay Carla.' Wendy said in understanding. She then looked at Garion again. His shivering, scared form made Wendy want to say something, anything to try and make the boy feel better.
But words failed her, and so the trio sat in silence for the remainder of the journey.
*Rosemier village train station*
Garion and Wendy stood inside the train station and looked out at the pouring rain that was hammering down on the small village. They had managed to purchase an umbrella in order to stave off the rain, but now faced the problem of finding somewhere to stay. The sky maiden shivered as the cold wind blew against her skin, her green dress not exactly the best thing to wear in cold weather. Garion was shivering as well, but from a combination of cold and fear of thunder, which boomed through the sky every minute or so.
"I've located an inn." Carla said as she walked back to the two after she'd gone to get directions to the nearest inn/tavern. "We can stay there until this storm blows over."
"How long is it gonna last?" Garion asked meekly.
"The man I got directions from believes it will last overnight, meaning we aren't going anywhere anytime soon." Carla replied. Wendy nodded.
"He was right. This is gonna last till at least tomorrow morning." She explained. Garion looked at her with a confused expression.
"How do you know?" He asked, curiosity and confusion in his voice. The sky maiden gave him a nervous smile.
"Well... since I'm the sky dragon slayer... I can predict the weather... kind of..." She explained shyly. Garion's eyes widened.
"That's so cool..." He said.
*BOOM*
"EEEK!" Garion yelped and bolted back a few feet. Carla rolled her eyes again.
"Enough dilly dallying, let's get a move on." She said sternly. Garion nodded and meekly stepped forward. Once Wendy opened the umbrella, she stepped into the rain, her shoes knocking water flying into the air due to the amount of water on the street. Garion then bolted under the umbrella, and was practically clinging to Wendy.
"G-Garion?" Wendy said in a weak voice, the boy's sudden proximity alarming her.
*BOOM*
"EEEK!" Garion yelped again and unconsciously gripped Wendy's left arm. Colour and heat exploded onto the girl's cheeks as Garion pressed into her side.
"G-Garion?" She said again, even weaker this time.
"For goodness sake it's just a bit of noise!" Carla said in an infuriated tone. She then sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Of all the wizards in this guild..." She muttered. "And stop clinging to Wendy!" the Exceed snapped.
*BOOM*
Carla's eyebrow twitched as Garion yelped yet again and clung to Wendy even more. The sky maiden by this point was a lovely shade of red. "C-Carla..."
"We'd need a crowbar to get him off at this point." The Exceed said dryly. "Let's just get to the inn." And so the trio somewhat awkwardly made their way through the rain blasted streets to the inn. With each boom of thunder Garion's grip on Wendy got tighter and tighter, but somehow he avoided actually hurting the sky maiden. Of course, it didn't matter since her face had gotten redder and hotter each second the boy had been clinging to her. Eventually they passed through the door of the inn and as they slammed the door and stood in the somewhat plain hallway, Carla rounded on Garion. "You can let go of Wendy now." She said sternly.
Garion opened his eyes and realised they weren't outside anymore. He then turned his head and froze when he was face to face with Wendy, mere inches separating them. For exactly a second, he did nothing. Then...
"AAAH!" Garion bolted backwards, his cheeks bright red. "W-Wendy I'm sor-"
*BOOM*
"EEEK!" Garion squealed and slammed his hands against his ears. His face was in a strange flux between pale and bright red.
"I-it's... f-fine..." Wendy said weakly, the blush on her cheeks slowly fading. A fading warmth was present where Garion had been clinging to her.
"Let's get a room booked." Carla said. Wendy nodded.
"O-Okay." She said, still recovering. She'd never been in physical contact with anyone like that before, and she felt extremely awkward and embarrassed as she followed Carla. Garion was as well, but it was somewhat overridden by his fear of thunder. Tentatively the boy followed the Exceed and the sky maiden. Carla quickly managed to get a large room with two beds secured and the trio went upstairs to explore their room. It was rather simple, a bed on the left wall of the room and a bed on the right wall of the room, each with a cupboard and nightstand. Wendy and Carla took the right bed, Garion took the left bed. Sudden exhaustion overtook Garion and he collapsed on his bed and was fast asleep in mere moments. Carla and Wendy sat down on the opposite bed, not quite as tired.
"Are you alright child?" Carla asked, turning to face Wendy. "He was being rather rude just now."
"I-It's fine." Wendy said nervously. "H-He's just scared of thunder... I doubt he was really thinking straight."
"Perhaps..." Carla said, sounding skeptical. She then sighed. "I'm looking forward to getting these jobs finished. The sooner they are the sooner we can drop this bumbling buffoon."
"Carla!" Wendy said in a shocked voice, her eyes wide. "D-don't say that about Garion!"
"Oh? Well I don't see a reason why not. If anything he's been more of a hindrance than help to us since we met him. First we had to save his life, now we have to deal with him barely able to compose a rational thought." Carla said coldly. "We'd be better off on our own after this." Wendy blinked and opened her mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything to say that would counter Carla's statement. She hung her head.
"I... Carla..."
"Get some sleep child." Carla said in a softer voice. "You'll need your energy for tomorrow." Wendy looked at her Exceed friend. She then looked at Garion, who was peacefully sleeping, lying on his stomach. The girl nodded.
"Okay."
And that's the chapter! Thank you all so very much for reading, and I apologise for this being late and/or any mistakes/errors I made in this chapter. In case you're wondering, I have exams. Basically from now until the end of the year I have exams, which sucks, but it also means I won't be able to write as much fanfiction as usual, so chapters will not be regular until the end of November, but I'll try my best to get ones out when I can.
So yeah, Garion, Wendy and Carla are on some non-dangerous jobs, since I figured Carla wouldn't approve of Wendy rushing headlong into danger the moment she switches guilds. Plus it gives me space to focus on the characters and build the all important relationship between Garion and Wendy. Their friendship is basically the focus of this arc, and then we get onto Edolas, which has a big surprise in it waiting for you guys and gals. So anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and see you in the next chapter!
Adios!