"Augh, this job's so boring!"
I yell in frustration, annoyed by our lack of progress.
"Why did you accept the request if you don't want to do it?"
Wendy asks, making a valid point. Maybe this will teach me to actually read the fine print.
We've been hiking on this dirt road for the better part of an hour, passing the occasional person along the way. But other than that, this grassy meadow is pretty empty, no buildings, no remarkable structures ,just tall green grass, littered with yellow flowers.
"So do you think we're close?"
I ask Wendy, ignoring her question, mainly because I don't want to admit I am at fault.
Wendy shrugs.
"Probably, we have been walking for a while."
I nod in response, looking to the bag full of items. Boring or not, it was kind of easy to get these items, but did this guy really have to live in the middle of nowhere? I am way too cute to be walking his far to make a simple delivery.
Even though I've already triple checked, I look at the list of items again. Most of the ingredients are plants, and we were able to grab a lot from a local botanist. There were some weird items, like a bottle of sand, and an owl's feather, though the hardest to get was a frog's leg. Neither Wendy or I had the stomach to cut off the frog's leg once we caught it, plus I don't even know which leg, if it matters. Regardless, we just kept the whole frog, I figure whoever want's frog legs can cut it themselves. But in the end, we did get everything, frog and all.
All things considered, I suppose the job wasn't all that bad. Yeah, it was a pain hunting some of the stuff down, and we had to visit three different towns, but it only took a day. Honestly, I should be surprised or maybe relieved it only took a day to find everything, but it still was draining. So my gratitude may come a little delayed. It feels like I just ran a marathon, and then some. Couldn't this guy have met us somewhere? Even if he'd been able to meet us somewhere relatively close, it would have saved Wendy and I some walking…
"Hey Lucy, can I ask you something."
Wendy drags my attention from my thoughts and back to the situation at hand.
"Yeah of course, what's up?"
I say, smiling and looking over to her.
"What kind of magic do you think En uses?"
Wendy asks, sounding very curious. I put my hand up to my lip and think about it.
"Well, he was carrying a long, thin sword, so maybe he's like Freed and writes enchantments."
I say, giving my two cents.
"Maybe he's like that girl Erza told me about, the one in Heaven's tower."
Wendy adds on, sounding happy by my response.
"You mean that weird singing chick she told me about? I suppose it's possible."
I reply, seriously considering the possibility of En using that precision Erza talked about. He could use a completely different kind of magic, though I have seen a lot of different magic's since I joined Fairy Tail, so I like to think I've seen at least most of the available magic techniques. Then again, there's always something new.
I keep looking over to Wendy as she walks forward. It always comes as a pleasant surprise whenever I realize how nice she is. She always is able to find the good in people, which can often backfire. I guess that's why she seems so excited to befriend En, she doesn't see him as a threat or anything, to Wendy, he is just the new guy in Fairy Tail.
I look forward and smile to myself, maybe I should adopt her attitude, just this once. It's like she said before, En is our newest friend.
Now, I really am looking forward to meeting him.
The sun is hovering above the horizon by the time I see the temporary camp. Stepping over a mossy log, I think back to my journey following my battle with Ukel. It took longer than I had hoped, mainly due to my slow movement. Our fight left me with more than a few bruises, and my nose has been expunging blood on and off all night. Not to mention the entirety of my face has been pulsating in pain. My stomach to, and he may have broken a rib or two. So basically everything hurts.
I cough violently, stumbling a little to my right. Noticing my vision is a little fuzzy, I close my eyes to reorient myself. Successfully finding my focus, I stand up straight and open my eyes. Standing about three feet in front of me is a sight that not only surprises me, but shoots a feeling of terror through my bones. Ahead of me, hands on hips, looking ready to kill, is Lisanna.
Though her original look makes her out to seem nice and friendly, Lisanna's expression now is scarier than any Hellish demon.
But on the bright side, she has the camp cleaned up.
"Where were you? I woke up in the middle of the night and found you were gone, and you're only coming back now? What do you have to say for yourself?"
As Lisanna angrily scolds me, I feel my left leg give out, as I fall to a knee. As I hift the ground, I breath in sharply in pain, feeling a stinging pressure in my chest. I hold my head down, not wanting to show my painful state to my guildmate, I'm sure my face is riddled with a look of distress.
"What kind of self respecting person leaves their ally alone in the forest? You didn't even have the decency to tell me you were leaving!"
As Lisanna's verbal assault continues, the stinging within my chest slowly begins to subside. That could have proven to be worse, luckily, the pain through my body seems to be neutralizing.
"Hey, look at me when I'm speaking, En."
Lisanna commands, sounding very aggravated.
"I'm sorry."
I whisper, still not looking up.
"Damn right you're sorry, now look at me."
She barks in reply, sounding impatient. In a surrendering effort, I slowly turn my head up, bringing into vision Lisanna. She's still standing with her hands on her hips, and wearing a look of diabolical aggression.
Though, as I lift my face up, I see her expression morph into a look of concern. She stops her scolding and stares at me as I slowly push myself to a standing position.
"...En,"
Lisanna begins, sounding worried.
I simply turn around, looking to the west.
"The hideout we are searching for lies in the hills to the west. We should move at once."
I say dismissively. I don't expect a reply, so I step forward, avoiding the mossy log as I walk.
"Hold on, wait a second En!"
Lisanna yells from behind me. Stopping, I allow her to catch up beside me so we may continue forward. As I hear her footsteps quickly reach me, I move to continue forward, only to have Lisanna appear in front of me. She has herself positioned in front of me, blocking my path forward.
"What happened to you?"
She demands, sounding both mad and concerned, somehow. I hesitate for a moment, before saying.
"I'm fine."
She looks unconvinced.
"You're fine? Your face is cut up and swollen, not to mention your shirt is covered in blood. Tell me what happened!"
She yells that last part, sounding frustrated. Moving to my left, I go to step around her.
"Nothing happened."
Lisanna quickly moves to her right, maintaining her blockage of any progress I would hope to make.
"Nothing's changed since yesterday, you're still a bad liar."
She explains angrily, apparently losing any and all patience for me.
"Please, just tell me what happened to you En."
Lisanna's tone fades to a sad nature, which is confusing. This whole situation is beginning to test my patience, and I've had just about enough. Why does she care so much? These are my wounds, not hers. What should it matter how I got them? It doesn't, it isn't even relevant to her. Her guildmate got injured, it's not like a close friend of hers got in a fight.
Lisanna's persistence continues.
"Come on En, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't care about your well being?"
I look down at her, feeling a sense of overwhelming frustration as she picks an old nerve.
"We are not friends."
I say, trying to sound intimidating.
"You're a member of Fairy Tail, aren't you? If so, that automatically makes us friends."
Lisanna doesn't sound the least bit put off as my anger gets the better of me. Unfortunately for me, my frustration only grows as I almost yell.
"I don't make friends, regardless of anything like a guild. I can never do that again, so don't concern yourself with me."
I am able to regain control, and stop myself before I reveal something I might regret later. Looking at her, Lisanna looks worried more than anything.
"I-I'm sorry."
I stutter, feeling a strange sense of guilt wash over me.
"What do you mean, that you can never make friends again?"
Slowly, I look down to the ground below. Between us, is a sky blue flower, not fully grown, but it seems weirdly out of place. I already have told her two things I have instantly regretted; I should really stop telling Lisanna information.
Out of nowhere, Lisanna's soft hand grabs my right shoulder, shooting my attention to her. She smiles.
"Nevermind, for now, let's get you bandaged up."
Lisanna's tone is both reassuring and strangely comforting. After taking a second to process what she just said, I give a single nod.
"But you're still gonna tell me where you ran off to last night."
I curse myself under my breath, not looking forward to confessing I snuck off, not to mention the part where I literally cut a man in two…. Yeah maybe I'll leave out that last part.
Lisanna throws her bag on the ground in front of her, nearly crushing the blue flower.
"What a pretty blue…"
She says contently, staring at the flower for a second.
Instantly, she begins sorting through the full bag, presumably looking for those bandages she was talking about. Suddenly, she stops, looking like she just figured out something important.
"Say En,"
I already don't like her tone, gives me goosebumps.
"Is the reason you can't make friends related to you introducing yourself as Kal?"
Damn it, damn it, damn it all! It certainly didn't take her long to jump to that conclusion. I sigh. I can't just let her find out so much about me, not now.
"No, they are not related."
I say, trying to sound convincing. I see Lisanna break a soft grin.
"You're such a bad liar."
And then…