Turf Wars Chapter 15- Fears (Elfman and Lucy)

Getting to the end of the story, kinda happy. Long stories like these almost take the joy out of writing for me and turn it into a chore. Plus I feel like I'm a better one shot author than these multiple chapter stories.

….

"I can't believe the school owns an island," Lucy commented as she and Elfman walked through the forest. Lucy was doing just fine in school so the A wasn't a big deal, but Elfman needed an A in math plus he was competitive so the thought of beating the other students was urging him on.

The pace he kept as the two tried to find a path to the top had Lucy jogging to keep up. Occasionally he would slow down when he saw that she was having a hard time, but never stopped. Eventually she just had to put her foot down and tell him to stop.

The larger man let out a sigh and said sure, but after they got to the next clearing. Lucy took it and the two continued until they came upon a small clearing in the woods, the mountain visible through the thin tree line.

"Finally," Lucy said as she sat down, removing her book bag and fishing out her water bottle. She took several large gulps, almost emptying it then fished out her granola bar to snack on. "How much longer do you think it will take to get to the top from here?" the blonde asked as she watched the Strauss sibling look up at the mountain peak.

"No idea, maybe half an hour," he responded before sitting down himself. "What do you think our word means?" he asked. His relationship with the blonde was okay, she was kind of his sister's friend but he had never really hung out with her before this trip.

"I don't know," the girl said as she felt around her jean pocket for the slip of paper with their word on it. When she pulled it out she read the word out loud. "Fears." She sat for a minute and thought. "I guess we will have to explore our fears. I mean that is the only thing that would make sense. She reached for her water bottle again, but when her hand touched something remotely scaly, she flipped.

Jumping to her feet, she had her bag in hand and was over by Elfman in the blink of an eye. "What?" the teen said as he looked from the blonde to where she had been sitting.

"I think I touched a snake," she said, clutching her bag to her chest.

At that moment a large snake crawled over Elfman's legs causing the boy to stiffen his body. He looked down at the thing making its way over his crossed legs with fear in his eyes. Hissing from behind had him turning his head ever so slowly so he could look over his shoulder to see another snake, just as big, coiled up and ready to strike.

Lucy had the sense to not make any sudden movements or scream, but he could tell that she was freaking out as much as he was. "What do we do?" she whispered.

"Hold still and wait," he replied just as quietly as he watched the snake slither over his lap. It circled around his legs, taking its slow time before finally heading off. The snake behind the muscular teen dropped its coiled stance and started slithering off as well.

Slowly, Elfman got to his feet. Taking off in a dead sprint toward the mountain, he threw Lucy over his shoulders as he tried to get out of the snake pit as quickly as possible. It wasn't until they were far away from the forest did he stop and put the blonde down, huffing.

The two stood there for a moment before walking on. "I could barely handle touching a snake yet you had one crawl all over you," Lucy said. "That must have been scary."

"You've never seen my sisters' wrath," he replied back calmly as they followed the path up the mountain.

"Are they really as scary as people say? Especially Mira?"

"Yeah. Worse if you disappoint them."

Lucy was quiet for a while, musing on what he had said. "You don't like this fighting do you?"

"No," he sighed.

"You fear your sisters' wrath then, that's why you keep fighting," Lucy said, slamming her fist into her palm. "That's your fear! Disappointing your sisters. You keep fighting because of them."

Elfman stopped causing Lucy to run into him. She saw the sad look in his eyes. "There is nothing else it can be," he said quietly before starting to walk again.

"You are still lucky though," she said.

He grunted his need for an explanation.

"You have family, even if it's hard, you have someone. Lisanna would do anything for you. I know that," Lucy said before pausing. "I don't have any family, both my parents passed away. That's why I love my friends so much. They make up for that."

"Is that your fear then?" the silver haired teen asked. "Being alone? Not having friends with you?"

"More than likely," the blonde mused as they made their way up the mountain.

…

It's getting hard to write this story. I kinda just want it to be over already. But I will power through. Also, sorry it was a late update. I didn't have as much free time over spring break as I though I would.