Hello! It's been a while…oops! My sister is getting married in less than two weeks (AAAAAAAH) And so I've been a little busy, and also dealing with one bitch of a writer's block. But anyway, here is chapter six! We see some more of what's going on with Gray and Juvia, and I'm thinking next chapter we'll show a new point of view and a possible cliffhanger, but we'll see ;)
meanwhile, enjoy and please feel free to leave a review!, it is SUPER encouraging and amazingly wonderful, it always makes my day.
Like Fire, He Moves.
Lucy's hands gripped the edge of the arena, knuckles white, wood splinters digging into her palms. She was too anxious to notice.
Natsu was rolling his shoulders, bouncing around in place, that boundless energy charged with adrenaline as he waited for Bacchus to square off.
The older man cracked his knuckles, taking a long swig from a wine skin slung around his shoulders. "Alright, Salamander, let's see if you can last five minutes in the ring with Wild Bacchus!"
Natsu grinned, eyes alight with excitement. "Bring it on, old man! I can fight circles around you any day!"
Bacchus threw his head back and laughed. "I'll make you eat those words, brat! You can wash them down with all the blood I'm gonna beat outta you!"
Natsu's body coiled, fists curling in ready, his body a tight, muscled spring, straining to be released. "Then shut up and let's get to it."
Bacchus' lazy smile seemed to widen almost imperceptibly, then in the blink of an eye he had dropped low and shot forward, his sudden speed catching Natsu off guard.
His cry of surprise was cut off as Bacchus landed two blows, one on his right shoulder and the other on his lower back.
The younger man grunted in pain, eyebrows furrowing as he adjusted his defense accordingly, spinning and shooting his leg out, he caught Bacchus' heel, causing him to stumble.
Seizing the opportunity, Natsu swung his right arm around, aiming for Bacchus' jaw.
Seeing the attack coming, Bacchus ducked, swatting the blow up and out of the way before landing another hit to Natsu's stomach.
Lucy winced as the breath was knocked out of him, the young man struggling to breathe as he stumbled back out of range.
Bacchus let out a growl, grinning wolfishly as he prowled around the outside of the ring, watching Natsu like a hawk.
"Not bad for an old man, eh, boy?" He taunted.
"He's just toying with him." Happy murmured beside Lucy, his small brows furrowed in concern.
"What? You mean he's not even fighting seriously?" She gasped, fear for Natsu's safety causing cold chills to crawl down her spine.
Happy crossed his arms. "Yeah, but neither is Natsu. Don't worry, he'll be fine."
Lucy worried her lower lip between her teeth, eyes glued to the battle in front of her.
Natsu made the first move this time, darting forward with an attack aimed at Bacchus' legs, attempting to limit his movement.
With a laugh, Bacchus leapt out of the way at the last second, landing two more blows to Natsu's side.
"Damn him, he's fast." Lucy grit out. "Come on, Natsu! You can do it!"
With a roar, Natsu leaned into Bacchus' next attack, taking the blows point blank to his ribcage, just catching Bacchus' look of surprise before finally landing a solid blow to his jaw.
He went sailing to the other side of the ring, a large bruise quickly darkening on his face.
Natsu held an arm across his stomach, waiting for Bacchus to come to him.
Spitting blood into the sand, Bacchus smiled wide, teeth tinged red. "Now things are gettin' interesting."
"Give up yet?" Natsu asked, sounding winded from all the blows to his abdomen.
"Not even close." Shooting forward in a blur, he let loose a barrage of attacks.
Natsu barely had time to block half of the blows that Bacchus rained down on him, stumbling farther and farther back across the ring, a long cut opening up from a blow to just above his eye caused blood to trickle down in his face, decreasing his ability to predict Bacchus' movements.
The crowd cheered and howled, egging Bacchus on with wild whoops and jeers aimed at Natsu.
Bacchus cackled as he flew around Natsu in a blur, causing the younger man to duck to avoid getting his head beaten.
It seemed as if he was finished, how could he possibly beat Bacchus if he couldn't even get a chance to hit back?
Lucy covered her mouth with her hand, nearly drawing blood from her lip as she bit down. Heart pounding in her chest, she slammed her fist down against the barrier and screamed. "Natsu!"
Time seemed to slow for a brief moment, the energy of the crowd shifting as if something had washed over them.
Heat waves rippled the arena, a low roar slowly building.
Lucy realized that it was Natsu making the sound just as he shot up and let out a roar that seemed to shake the ground, eyes blazing as he bent and shot forward, Bacchus being completely taken off guard by the sudden power of Natsu's attack.
Lucy could only watch in fascination as Natsu's body rolled and flickered from place to place, his movements looking like fire dancing around Bacchus.
Happy was cheering beside her, the crowd roaring at the sudden turn in the fight.
Bacchus growled in frustration, landing a blow against Natsu's chest, crying out in surprise when Natsu grabbed his wrist and used his momentum to pull him into a savage headbut.
Lucy cheered, throwing her fist in the air as she yelled encouragement to Natsu. "Yeah! Kick his ass!"
Natsu grinned, his movements so fluid and powerful. He was mesmerizing to watch.
As Bacchus stumbled backward, his arms shielding his head, Natsu surged forward, his right arm swinging around to land the final blow.
Just before his fist landed against Bacchus' jaw, Lucy could have sworn she saw flames flicker across his skin, his eyes lighting up like embers as Bacchus crashed to the ground.
The crowd roared, Happy flying off to collect their winnings as Natsu sauntered over to where Bacchus was struggling to get up.
"Nice try, but I won't lose when the stakes are so high."
Bacchus eyed the hand he was offering, his mouth splitting into a wide grin before he took Natsu's hand and pulled himself up, laughing raucously as he slung his arm around Natsu's shoulder. "I haven't had a match like that in ages! Stay! Have a drink on me."
Lucy let out a sigh of relief, grateful that there seemed to be no bad blood between them from Natsu's victory.
As Bacchus tried to steer Natsu toward the bar, the young victor slipped out from under his arm and grinned apologetically as he accepted his winnings from a tired Happy, struggling under the weight of the large coin purse.
"As much as I'd love to have a drink with you, we've gotta get going, places to be, things to do and all that."
Bacchus shrugged. "Suit yourself kid, more booze for me!" He turned and howled into the bar. "Who's ready to get WILD!"
As the former observers followed Bacchus into the bar, Natsu turned to Lucy with a lopsided grin. "Sorry for sneaking out this morning, but you looked so comfy I didn't wanna wake you."
Happy snickered. "Yeah, and he didn't want to get drooled on."
Lucy gasped, placing her hands on her hips indignantly. "I can't help if I drool a little! A person is not responsible for their actions while they're asleep."
Natsu cackled and poked Lucy's puffed out cheek. "Relax, Lucy, Happy's only tryin' to get a rise outa you." Then, grabbing her hand, he began to pull her down the sidewalk as he continued. "Come on, we've got a lot to do before setting off later this afternoon."
Lucy nearly stumbled on a cobblestone but managed to keep her balance as she trailed after Natsu. "Things to do? Like what?"
He laughed. "Well stock up on supplies for one, Happy and I could rough it if things got tight but it's better to be prepared, especially since you're with us."
"Aye!" Happy chimed in. "We were running low on some things anyway."
Natsu nodded in agreement. "And then we've gotta get some stuff for you."
"For me?" Lucy asked in surprise. "What kind of stuff?"
Natsu paused and turned to face her, one eyebrow quirked. "Uh, well personally I don't mind you wearing my clothes, but you might be more comfortable in some made for girls. Plus it'll get cold up in the mountains so you'd need at least one warm outfit."
Lucy blinked, feeling heat creep into her cheeks as she remembered that she was still, in fact, wearing Natsu's clothes. Her eyes left his, dropping to their still linked hands. "O-oh…right, yeah, some fresh clothes would be nice I suppose."
She looked back up just in time to see him grin.
"Great! We'll drop you off at a clothes shop to buy some while Happy and I go grab the other stuff we need."
Lucy's eyes lit up. Finally something that was familiar to her; Shopping! "Alright, lead the way!"
"We'll stop here for a little bit to rest and eat something, we should reach Hargeon sometime this evening." Gray said, reining Deliora to a stop beside a quiet stream.
Juvia nodded wordlessly, her arms loosening from around his waist.
She'd been excited to ride Deliora at first, but once they'd started she'd latched onto Gray with a grip that almost squeezed the air from his lungs. He'd been extremely uncomfortable at first, all too aware of her soft body pressed firmly against his back, her breath fanning against his neck with every frightened exhale.
The only physical contact he had with women other than family members was chaste greeting kisses to the backs of their knuckles or proper holding while dancing, he was always very careful to follow proper etiquette and respect women's honor and purity. Well…except for the occasional stripping incidents, but those were definitely not on purpose.
He'd finally placed his hand hesitantly over hers, clasped with a white knuckle grip around his ribcage. She'd relaxed ever so slightly when his hand settled over hers, and when he squeezed gently and murmured a calm. "It's okay, I'm here with you." She relaxed her grip even more, still holding him firmly, but making it considerably easier to breathe. She was surprisingly strong.
Dismounting, he turned and offered his hands to help her down.
Blinking, she hesitantly reached for his shoulders and allowed him to lift her off the horse.
Surprised at how light she was, Gray set her gently on the ground, keeping his arms around her waist as she winced and let out a little surprised gasp. "Sorry, riding can be rough if you aren't accustomed to it, especially a long ride."
She nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the stream, eyes brightening up at the sight of the water. "Can you help me?" She questioned, motioning toward the stream.
He hooked her arm around his shoulders and led her over to the bank, helping her to sit down before turning back to unsaddle Deliora and allow him to graze for a bit.
When he looked back at the stream, he nearly dropped the saddle in surprise. Juvia was gone.
It took him a moment to spot her, submerged completely under the water, her blue hair gently moving with the current of the stream.
"Juvia?" He called, placing the saddle and their supplies at the base of a tree before walking over and crouching down on the bank.
She popped her head out of the water, shining eyes peering at him from between her wet hair. "Yes, Gray?"
He shook his head slightly. "Don't do that, you scared me."
She let out a giggle and splashed some water at him. "Juvia scared Gray? It's Juvia's revenge for Gray scaring her with the horse ride."
Gray flicked water droplets from his bangs. "Hey, that wasn't my fault." He reached his hand down and gently flicked some water toward her. "I can't help it if you're scared of riding."
Juvia stood from the water suddenly, a mischievous smile pulling at her lips as the water around her started to rise, creating a stationary wave behind her, pointed directly at Gray.
He stood quickly and backed away a few steps. "Juvia…"
She giggled at the fear in his eyes and the water sank back down into the stream. Then, climbing onto the bank, she shook her hair, water droplets scattering like diamonds into the air. "Gray said we would eat? Juvia is feeling hungry."
He nodded. "Yeah, we should eat something before starting off again." As they moved over to the packs and began looking for their food supplies, Gray glanced at her briefly. "Is it weird for you?"
She looked at him questioningly. "Is what weird?"
He shrugged. "Being human? I'm not an expert on Nymphs, I know there are more in the North than most other places, but still our knowledge of your species is pretty limited. I'm not sure what the difference between our species is, besides you being immortal and not feeling emotion."
Juvia's brow furrowed slightly. "We feel things, but not in the same way humans do. It's…hard to explain, but it's almost like being a child, you don't understand right from wrong, and you feel either anger or amusement, there isn't much more than that." She shrugged. "Being immortal means we don't need food or sleep to survive, but we partake of both regardless, to help keep our energy up. But not relying on it, we tend to do both whenever we feel like it, sometimes not eating or sleeping for weeks at a time."
"Are you experiencing more feelings now?"
She nodded, a slight blush lighting up her cheeks.
Gray decided not to question her further, instead wordlessly passing her some food.
They ate wordlessly, both lost in their own thoughts.
Once they reached the harbor town of Hargeon, Gray would look into getting passage to Magnolia, a trip which would take at least a week and a half if all went well, two if weather conditions were less than optimal. Once there, he would have to negotiate with the king to see if he could form an alliance. Without Magnolia's forces…he was afraid Frostfell didn't stand much of a chance against the barbarian hordes.
Glancing over at Juvia, he noticed her squirming slightly, shifting uncomfortably with a small pinch to her brow.
"Everything alright?" Gray inquired.
She glanced at him, cheeks flaming pink as she quickly looked away. "O-oh…Juvia just…um…" She bit her lip slightly.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want t-"
"Juvia has to relieve herself." She blurted out suddenly, hiding her face in her hands in embarrassment.
Gray blinked, own cheeks turning a tiny bit pink. "You…oh…uh, there's a thicket over there, for privacy." He said, motioning stiffly.
She nodded, standing and scooting over to the thicket with a quiet. "Thank you"
Gray busied himself with packing up their supplies and saddling Deliora, glancing over his shoulder now and then toward the thicket where Juvia had disappeared. She was taking an awful long time…
"Juvia? You alright?" He called after a moment of hesitation. When he received no answer, he drew closer toward the thicket. "Juvia, you still back there?" Still hearing nothing, he gathered up his courage and circled the thicket.
"Juvia! Juvia, where'd you go?" He called, brows furrowing in concern at the absence of the pale woman.
"J-Juvia is over here."
With a relieved sigh, Gray hurried over to where the voice had come from, slowing to a halt when he came upon the scene.
Juvia was crouching down next to a deer, the poor animal had been attacked by something and was slowing bleeding to death on the ground.
She turned to look at him, wide eyes swimming with water as tears streamed down her cheeks. "H-heard it a-and went to see…" She stammered, sniffling as she gently stroked the soft fur of its muzzle.
Gray quietly walked over to her, being careful not to move suddenly and frighten the injured deer. Crouching beside her, he assessed the damage done.
"C-can you…h-help it?" Juvia asked, lip quivering as she looked at him.
With a sigh, Gray shook his head. "The only way to help it now is to end its suffering."
Juvia let out a heartbroken sob and buried her face in the deer's neck.
Gray was surprised to see that the animal seemed comforted by her presence, rather than startled or frightened. Perhaps she still had a deep connection to nature, even though she was no longer a nymph.
"I-I'm sorry…you p-poor thing…who would do this?" Juvia sniffled, continuing to stroke the deer.
Gray gently laid his hand on her shoulder, realization dawning on him. This was the first time Juvia had felt sadness and pain, empathizing for another life. As hard as it was to someone who had grown up feeling those things, how hard it must be for someone who had never experienced it before.
"Why does it hurt so much?" Juvia asked, eyes turning to him. "Why does my chest feel like it is being crushed? My eyes…they leak of their own accord and I feel…"
Gray swallowed, struggling to keep up the careful walls he had built. He'd been through too much pain in his lifetime, far more than anyone deserved, he'd learned a long time ago how to lock away his emotions. But Juvia…somehow seeing how raw her emotions were, it affected him more than he thought anyone could. "You feel sad." Gray explained.
"Sad…" Juvia said slowly, testing the word on her tongue. "I do not like sad."
"No one does, but it's a part of life, we feel sad because of loss, or hardships, feeling compassion and empathy toward others is just a part of being human." He squeezed her shoulder gently. "It hurts because you care."
She looked from him to the deer, which was watching her with soulful eyes. "Will…will you stop it's pain?"
Gray nodded. "Why don't you go back to Deliora and wait for me there?"
She sniffled and nodded in agreement, bending to place a delicate kiss against the deer's head, whispering a few quiet words into its ear that seemed to relax it. Then, with one last sniff, she stood and left.
Stroking Deliora's muzzle, Juvia waited for Gray to return, managing to get her tears under control, although she still felt the ache in her chest. The sky above her had turned gray, and rain gently began to fall.
"Damn this rain." She heard muttered behind her, turning to see Gray emerge from the trees.
"Juvia is sorry…she didn't mean to."
He raised his eyebrows and glanced at the sky. "You mean you made it rain?"
She shrugged. "I think the sky knows Juvia is sad…she isn't crying anymore so the sky is for her."
Gray sighed and walked over to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright Juvia, it's a peace now." He resisted the urge to pull away when she reached up and gently touched her fingertips to his cheek, staring into his eyes with furrowed brows.
"Gray has seen so much sadness…do all humans bear this much pain?"
He felt his heart jump, breath hitching in his throat. Gently taking her wrist in his hand, he pulled her fingers away from his face, the icy walls hardening around his heart as he turned and mounted Deliora. "No, not everyone." He reached down and hoisted her up behind him. "Hang on, if we ride fast we'll reach Hargeon earlier than we planned."
Looping her arms around his waist, Juvia rested her head against his warm back, thoughts wandering as Deliora raced through the trees. Why did Gray bear such sadness and pain in his heart? Would he ever tell her why? She could sense the ice covering his heart, he was cold and closed off, not allowing anyone too close. He'd lost too much to even dare opening up himself and becoming vulnerable to more pain.
Perhaps someday…he would let her in.
"Have you told her yet?" Happy asked as he flew beside Natsu's head, little backpack freshly loaded down with new supplies.
Natsu shrugged, shifting the pack across his own shoulders slightly. "I was going to…but I haven't gotten the chance yet."
Happy frowned slightly. "She's going to find out sooner or later, you almost lost control back in the fight."
Natsu shot him an indignant look. "Hey! I was totally in control!"
"Mhmm, say that to the fire that showed up on your skin and in your eyes."
Natsu winced. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah, it was only for a second though, I don't think anyone really noticed."
Natsu sighed and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Sorry little buddy, I'll be more careful in the future."
"There you two are! I was afraid I'd have to start a search party for you."
"Wow! You look cool, Lucy!" Happy complimented, zipping over to inspect her new clothes.
She grinned, posing for him. "Thanks! If there's one thing I know well, it's fashion. The lady at the shop was so nice, she helped me find the best clothes for journeys, and they were really cute too!"
Natsu grinned. "Not bad, those should work great."
Lucy beamed at his praise. "So I'm ready to go?"
He laughed, slipping the pack they'd bought and stocked for her off his shoulder. "Not quite yet, put that on and then we'll be ready."
She inspected the pack for a moment before shrugging it on. "It's pretty light, what's in it?"
Natsu shrugged. "Some medical supplies, a few extra clothes and a blanket, that sort of thing. I didn't know how used to carrying stuff you were so I didn't put anything too heavy in it."
Lucy nodded. "Thanks, I'm stronger than I look, but I'm not used to carrying anything for extended periods of time."
"Well if in a little while you think you can handle more we can balance out the packs a little. Although I can handle this just fine, so it's not a problem."
Happy zipped over and settled on top of Natsu's head. "Aye! Let's go!"
Natsu chuckled and ruffled the small exceed's hair. "Alright, if we hurry we might be able to reach the cavern's entrance before dark."