DISCLAIMER
This is purely a work of fiction. None of the characters, places, items, or events that will be read is mine.
SHI NO MIKO
SUMARRY: Four hundred years ago a war heralded by the discovery of three deadly items known as the Deathly Hallows was ended and the Dark Lord Voldemort took his last breath. To ensure that the Deathly Hallows would never be used for evil intentions, Iris Potter partook in a ritual that would seal the Hallows with her as the instrument. But things are not as easy as it seems, the remaining followers of the Dark Lord attacked before the ritual was complete. In order to prevent the remaining Death Eaters from harnessing the power of the Hallows, Iris Potter was sent away with the resurrection stone. In the present time, a new power made its presence known to the Guild Masters, a power that threatens to take over the entire land. What is the connection between Iris Potter and the power that threatens the Land of Fiore?
CHAPTER 2: 390 YEARS OF SLUMBER
It was a peaceful day. The wind was blowing gently throughout the land. One can hear the rustling of the leaves, the soft crashing of the waves on the rocks, and the merry chirping of the birds. Each chirp produced by the birds was music to the ears of the townspeople. They watched as the birds fly down from their nests to mingle with the children. Smiles spread on the faces of those watching as the birds and the children engaged in a small game of chase with the children trying to capture their winged friends. Sounds of running feet, shrieks of joy, and bouts of laughter enveloped the town as the children slipped and tumbled in their efforts to catch their flying playmates. Time passed and mothers herded their children back to the warmth of their homes and the men all released a sigh of relief now that another day of hard work has passed.
Along with the men and women, the animals retreat to their homes to rest for the next day. The birds flew back to their trees and gathered what leaves and twig they could carry. The animals could feel the temperature dropping in the town, a sign that they should venture out and find themselves a new home. Birds flew high up in the sky, with beaks full of twigs and feet clutching leaves. They travelled and flew with the currents of the wind, trusting it to help them find a new place they could call home.
It wasn't until they reached a forest eastern of the town they came from did they stop their journey. The flock dispersed and each found a stable branch they could place their new nests. Some went high up the trees and some chose to stay in the lowest stable branch there is.
All of them spent their time scavenging the entire area for materials to build their nests with and when the sky is finally dark and the moon rose up in the sky, all of them had their new nests they could proudly call their home. Tired from their journey and the work they did in building their nests, they all prepared to take a well deserved rest. But their rest would have to wait a little longer.
A bluish light shone upon the forest grounds, scaring some of the birds out of their nests. The light lingered for a while before settling down. Some of the birds flew down and went to inspect the source of the disturbance. They all approached the source of the lights slowly.
They saw the light originating from an elliptical barrier resting on the ground. A few of the birds dared to approach the barrier and pecked on its surface. The others seeing no harm coming from those who inspected the object decided to follow suit.
Soon enough, nearly the entire flock was pecking at the barrier. Some of them standing on the ground, a few hovering a bit above the barrier and most are standing o the surface of the barrier itself. Their pecks turned harder and harder, all of them trying to break it open. None of them were successful though. A long time has passed and not even a crack formed. A bit annoyed and most of all tired, the birds left the barrier alone and went back to their nests to finally rest.
The night turned quiet, no chirps were heard now that the birds are asleep, and the wind was soft enough that it did not disturb the stillness of the night.
Suddenly the silence of the night turned even quieter when the wind suddenly halted. The barrier on the ground started to form cracks on its surface. Wisps of light were escaping from the crack until the barrier collapsed on itself.
Lying down on the place where the barrier used to be was a young woman. Her hair was black and spread around her head like a halo. She was wearing clothes of ancient design, accentuating her pale skin. Her hands were joined together at her chest, a small ring encrusted with a small black stone resting on one of her fingers.
The woman lying down slowly gained consciousness. She wanted to open her eyes but she could not due to the sudden pain she could feel in her skull. She wanted to scream and writhe on the ground but her body was still, a complete contradiction to what she actually feels. She felt as if her head was set on fire and certain things kept flashing over and over her mind.
"Iris, you better have been studying or I'll make sure you spend the entire week with your head bent down a book!"
She saw in her mind's eye a girl with curly brown hair berating her and a red headed male laughing on the background.
"Your skills in potions may have been inherited from your mother but your personality is clearly a mirror of your hooligan of a father!"
An adult was looming over her, his hair was a bit greasy and his face was crumpled in a sneer, accentuating his hook nose even more.
"I'm sorry for what I am about to do, Iris, but this is the only way we can stop this evil. You must protect the stone, whatever comes your way Iris, protect the stone."
An old man was standing above her brandishing a stick and she could clearly see that the shelter they were in were on fire.
Memory after memory came and flashed. Some were clear, some were mere flashes, and most of them were nothing but a blur. She tried to connect faces to names but nothing comes to mind. She tried to think harder but the pain she feels only intensifies when she does so.
Then, in what felt like years, the memories started to slow down until they died out. When the memories stopped, her bodily functions started to return bit by bit. She tried to wiggle her toes but she could not yet do it so she waited a little longer. As she laid there waiting for her body to respond to her, she tried to connect her memories; or what she has of it.
First, her name is Iris. Second, she was a witch. Third, she has something important with her that she must safeguard. Those were the main ones and she then decided to try to remember more of her memories based on what she already remembers.
She decided to start from the thing in her possession. She remembers that there are three of them and that they should not fall in the hands of evil for the three of them together could cause great destruction. Aside from that nothing else comes to her mind. She proceeded to her second main thought, she was a witch. This part was easier to come to her mind since she clearly saw herself using it. She remembers that she studied how to use it along with many others. She tried to remember the names of those around her during those times but the more she tried to grasp it, the farther it seemed to be from her reach. Acknowledging that she would only cause herself a headache if she continued, she proceeded on her last point. She was Iris. No surname or nickname showing itself to her. She was Iris, just Iris.
With those final thoughts, she opened her eyes, green irises finally looking up in the sky.
It took her a while to finally leave the forest where she woke up in. It was a bit hard going at first. When she woke up she tried to stand but only succeeded in planting face down and eating the dried leaves ad soil of the forest. She took hold of the roots around her to drag her body so she could sit up and lean her back on the bark of a tree. She tried again and again, but it always ended up with her stumbling and tripping.
It was not that she lost the memory on how to walk because that would be unbelievable and ultimately cruel if that was true. It was just that her legs can't support her weight anymore. She could feel her knees buckling every time she so much as tried to stand up. It was only through sheer bullheadedness that she was able to finally walk a few steps to find some berries to eat. It took her a few more days before she was confident enough that she could walk without her legs failing her.
The moment she could walk she tried to get out of the forest that served as her temporary home. She never ventured outside the boundaries of the forest but merely strayed on its edges so she could observe the town and its people.
She would watch how the townspeople would interact with another. She took note of what actions are acceptable and which actions would be looked down upon. It was only when she was sure that she would be able to interact with the townspeople without committing any mistake unknowingly did she decide to leave the confines of the forest.
She barely did any interacting with anyone though. She was content to just walk by and eavesdrop on some of the conversations, in hopes that she could gather more information. That was her routine for the days to follow.
Once the day would come to a close, she would return to her place inside the forest and try to recall more of her memories. She was focusing more on the memories of her skills rather than ponder on the people, places, and events that she once knew.
It was tempting to just sit back and try to regain those kinds of personal connections but first she needs to survive. She cannot depend on the food that the forest has been blessing her so far. What if the time comes that the forest has no longer to offer her? If that day comes then she would be totally screwed.
She at least managed to gather some basic and useful information about the place she woke up in. She was in the Land of Fiore, in a place called Oak Town to be exact. The monetary unit was called jewels which she has nothing of. It felt wrong at first when she saw the money that was being exchanged in the stalls or the name that they were called by. The first time she even thought of money back when she has yet to get out of the forest, the image that came to mind were several shiny coins in gold, silver, and bronze.
The first priority she had when she decided to enter the town was to look for a job. It was not as easy as she thought though. There were hardly any establishments who were up to hiring someone. She found out that there were guilds for those sorts of things. There were merchant guilds, workmen guilds, even bandit guilds, which caused confusion on her mind since she thought that bandits would want to keep their work as a secret and not advertise it to everyone. Though she was baffled by the knowledge of bandit guilds, she was pleasantly surprised to know that there were various magic guilds as well.
The knowledge that there were magic guilds helped her make some semblance of order to her already disjointed and chaotic memory fragments. If there really were magic guilds then it was entirely possible that she belonged in one. Since she remembered herself being taught and using magic then that conclusion was very plausible. She belonged to one though, because the last memories that came to her mind was that they were being attacked in some sort of celebration.
Those were the things she was almost absolutely sure of. First, she belonged in a magic guild and second, there is a big probability that the guild she belonged to was no longer standing.
Without a guild and without anyone knowing who she is, the only way she could get some jewels was if she stole some but she would never stoop to that level. That is why she would try and remember the things she could do and how to do those things every night before daylight comes.
She never sleeps, she doesn't know why but it just doesn't come to her whenever she closes her eyes. It was as if her body has been asleep for a while and has decided that it has no need for it at the time being. That was all right with her though; it just means that she would have more time trying to regain her skills.
There were two things that she needed for her skills, if she remembered correctly. She had to say something and direct her hand to do whatever those words were meant to do. Sounds easy enough but the problem was that she did not know what to say.
It was very frustrating the first few days as she waved her hands and uttered anything and everything she could think of. Naturally, she was faced with failure each and every time. She did not let her irritation get the best of her though since she knows that frustration would get her nowhere. She would allow herself to sulk a little bit before getting up and trying again.
Ironically, she did her first successful magic when she became too fed up.
-One-
Iris was holding a dried leaf on her hands. It has been several nights since she started to get a hold of her magic. She tried to do the things she remembered herself doing.
As of now she was trying to enlarge the leaf in her hands.
She tried pointing at the leaf and saying 'enlarge' but that held no results.
She then waved her hand and said 'increase in size' but only the silence of the forest greeted her.
She even tried to twist her hand around the leaf and shouting 'turn bigger' but it still has no effects.
She tried and tried and tried every combination she could think of. She moved her hands in every possible way it could move and exhausted her vocabulary and said every word synonymous to enlarge.
She felt her irritation get a hold of her and this time she did not even try to squash it down. She felt something inside of her swell and she took hold of that and released her frustrations.
"WHY LEAF WON'T YOU JUST GROW?!" Iris shouted, releasing her anger at her failures at the leaf.
She tossed the leaf away from her and felt that swelling feeling earlier passed. She closed her eyes and collected herself. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She was about to grab another leaf when she caught sight of the one she threw away.
The leaf on the ground was about the size of her head. She took the leaf and looked at it in amazement. She did it! She actually did it!
She went back to what she did before and looked for the key difference that makes it stand out. At first she thought that it was her irritation which helped her pull it off but she knew better than that. There were times when she did not manage to fully quell her frustrations and yet not even a sliver of an effect appeared. She went back her actions again and again on her mind.
She felt something inside of her swell in irritation before asking the leaf to grow unconventionally. The thoughts on what makes it different were going on and on around her mind. She latched on her first idiotic idea and decided to check it out.
"JUST SHRINK DAMN IT!" Iris yelled at the enlarged leaf. Nothing happened.
So obviously it was not the words that made the difference which means it was something she did instead of something she said.
She remembered the movements of her hands and she knew that she has already done that kind of gesture numerous times with nothing happening whatsoever.
Irritation seeped into her once again, forming that swelling feeling inside of her.
"Just what did I do to make you grow?!" Iris hissed out.
To her astonishment, the leaf in her hands grew even larger.
"What did I do right?" Iris mumbled to herself.
She compared her past efforts to her current one and tried to analyze them. It was clear that the key was not in the words she used neither is it in the hand gestures involved.
During her first tries when she tried to do the same thing, nothing happened but on the last ones where she just wanted to end it... she just wanted to... at first she tried then she wanted for it! That was it! She has to want it!
Iris excitedly put her hypothesis into test. She placed the enlarged leaf in the forest floor before sitting cross-legged. She closed her eyes and imagined that the leaf was growing shorter and shorter. She then put all her will in it before opening her eyes.
"Shrink." Iris whispered.
At first Iris thought that it was a fruitless effort but the leaf on the ground slowly shrunk, bit by bit until it was back to its original size.
Iris could not stop herself from shouting in joy.
She did it! She finally did it on purpose!
She calmed herself down but the smile on her lips still stayed.
She played with the ring on her fingers and her eyes lit with determination.
'Now how to make it faster' Iris thought to herself.
_pop_
Now, Iris takes only a little time to muster her will to do as she wanted to. The difference between her first attempts and what she could do now was massive. She has yet to do anything complex, deciding to stick to simple things for now and try and do something a lot more difficult later on.
As of now she could enlarge, shrink, levitate, and she was currently trying to perfect her skills to repair stuff.
On the forest floor in front of her is a broken tree branch.
Iris closed her eyes and imagined the pieces of the branch joining back together.
"Repair" Iris said.
Iris opened her eyes and watch as the scattered pieces of the tree branch slowly mended itself.
"Excellent!" Iris stated with a grin. "Now time to find that job!"
Iris stood up from where she was sitting cross-legged at the forest floor. It was nearing noon and the town center would surely be filled with people.
The reason why Iris was practicing her skills in repairing stuff was because she was hoping to make it an avenue to earn herself some jewels. Surely there would be some people who wanted to have their stuff fixed so she thought that if she managed to build herself a reputation of being a good enough repair-woman then business would start flowing in. Heck, it may even come to a point where the jobs would come to her instead of her looking for them, that is if she manages to create a good name for herself in that avenue.
But first things first, she needs to find something to fix.
She entered the premises of the town and her ears were filled with the humdrum of the townspeople's conversations. She tried to listen to some of the conversations to see if there were any talks about broken stuff that needs repairing. So far, nothing has reached her ears though.
"That would be a problem." Iris heard a man say as she was passing him.
"Don't I know it." the other man he was having a conversation with said.
"Can't you reach a workmen guild to request that they send someone here to repair the castle library?"
Iris halted her steps and paid closer attention to the conversation.
"I wish but the nearest workmen guild here is a week's worth of travel. My head would already be bitten off before the request reaches them."
"Excuse me," Iris said approaching the two men "I can't help but hear that you need something fixed?"
"Yeah," said the first man quite rudely "What's it to you?"
"Well, I can help you if you'd like." Iris offered
"You part of a guild, kid?" said the second man, raising his eyebrow inquisitively at Iris.
"Well, not actually." Iris answered hesitantly.
"Then run off, missy." said the first man.
"Please, just try me; I swear I can fix whatever it is you need to be fixed." Iris said, quite sure of her abilities.
"Yeah right, you don't even have any tools with you." scoffed the first man as he moved his eyes up and down Iris' figure in search of any tools.
"Trust me," Iris said as she stood straighter "I don't need any."
The second man rubbed at his chin and looked at Iris speculatively.
"Ah, the hell with it," the second man sighed "Come with me, kid."
"The hell Caleb!" said the first man "You don't really believe that this kid could help us, right?!"
Iris bristled at the man's comment but reigned herself in. But frankly, if she was not desperate to get that job then she would have engaged the man in an all out shouting contest right in the middle of the village.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Kieran." the man known as Caleb said as he walked away and gestured for Iris to follow.
"Desperate?!" exclaimed Kieran "Trust me that whatever it is you are doing is way beyond desperate!"
"Just look at her!" Kieran continued "The girl doesn't even look like she's worked a day in her life!"
"That girl has a name and she can definitely hear you." Iris said to Kieran as she glared at him.
"Oh trust me I know, I just don't care." Kieran told Iris, glaring at her in return.
"Would you please stop baiting the girl, Kieran?" Caleb admonished his friend "Besides what do we have to lose? If she could repair it then that's good for us but if she couldn't well that changes nothing at all now, does it?"
"I told you I can repair it." Iris told Caleb.
"And I am willing to give you a try." Caleb assured Iris.
"Sure like a lot of help that would do." Kieran mumbled out.
Iris ignored Kieran the rest of the walk and just focused her attention on Caleb's back as she guided her out of the town center. Caleb led her to a path inside the forest that she has never been to and she gazed around her trying to remember the path in case Kieran does something to get her lost once Caleb is out of sight. She wouldn't put it past Kieran to not do that sort of stuff.
Iris almost bumped into Caleb's back when he suddenly stopped walking but luckily she managed to stop herself in time. Looming before them was a castle that could be easily seen down at the town center.
"Here we are." Caleb sighed out "The old Phantom building. Let's go in shall we?"
Iris nodded and followed Caleb as he opened the doors of the castle. There were several men and women inside who greeted both Kieran and Caleb and looked curiously at her as they made their way through the castle. Iris lowered her head and did not meet any of the gaze on her person, she feels uncomfortable being observed when she is usually the one doing the observing.
They went up several flights of stairs before Caleb lead her to a rather wide and empty corridor. At the end of the corridor was an impressive set of old wooden doors. Caleb opened the door and gestured for Iris to walk inside.
Iris followed Caleb's order and entered the room with Kieran right behind her. Caleb went in last and closed the door once they were all inside. The room she was lead into was an impressive library. It was quite large and clearly been used often. She gazed around the library and can't help but feel that it was somehow wrong, that it should be bigger and that it was missing something. Iris shook her head and continued to follow Caleb as he walked past the shelves.
They walked until they reached the end of the library where there was a massive cloth covering something. Caleb and Kieran grabbed hold of the ends of the cloth and threw it away causing dust to float in the air. Iris coughed a bit as she managed to inhale some of the dust.
There were pieces of wood being hidden behind the large cloth, all of them seeming to be parts of chairs, tables, and even some shelves.
Iris looked critically at the parts before her. She was overwhelmed at the sheer number of stuff that they actually needed to be fixed. She has never done anything of this scale before, yes she has practiced repairing stuff for a long time now but never has she repaired stuff of this number.
"These are the tables, chairs, and shelves that got destroyed not long ago when some persons decided to fight here in this building." Caleb explained patting the piece of wood nearest him "We wanted to have them repaired but the workmen guild are just too far away from our town."
"You think you can handle it?" Kieran sneered at Iris.
Iris paid no mind to Kieran's attitude. She focused on herself and tried to see if she could do it. Could she really do it? She thought as she looked at the pieces of wood in front of her. Maybe she could do it but only if she just wants it enough. She needs to have no room for doubt and she needs to trust herself that she could do this.
She may not really want to repair some table or some chair but she wants to live and figure out her past and if repairing this stuff would be a step towards her goal then so be it.
"Just stand back." Iris said
"Should I ask for someone to bring some tools in here?" Caleb said.
"I told you before, I won't need it." Iris replied
"Just let her be, Caleb!" Kieran said "Let's just leave her here alone to find some way to not look like a fool."
"Oh, you don't need to leave; this will take less than a minute." Iris smirked at Kieran.
"Less than a minute my ass, told you she couldn't do anything Caleb but did you listen to me?! No! You just had to-"
Iris tuned out Kieran's rant and pictured the pieces going back to their former state in her mind's eye.
"Repair" Iris confidently said, holding her hands out to the pieces of the wood.
There was a brief second of silence before the wood pieces start to move on their own. Caleb and Kieran watched with slack jaws as the pieces of wood levitated and put themselves back together. From large blocks of wood to small unnoticeable splinters, all of them moved through the air, finding their rightful partners and knitting back together. It seemed like a long time as they watched all the pieces do their job and return to their original forms but it was only minutes before the room was free of any scrap and was filled with several tables, chairs, and shelves.
"But how, the woods just- then it, uh" Kieran splattered as he gazed at the new set of furniture in front of him.
"Got any way for us to contact you, kid?" Caleb managed to mumble out as she turned his gaze from the recently fixed objects to Iris who was wearing a smug grin on her face.
Iris luck only increased after her successful repair job in the castle library. It was only Caleb and Kieran who hire her for jobs at first but then other people inside the castle started to notice her work and they too hired her to repair some stuff.
From furniture to housings and sometimes even jewelry, all of them passed through her hands. Soon enough the townspeople heard the news that there was a person who could fix their stuff fast without damaging its quality who was residing in their town.
It was only those who were working in the market approached her first, asking for her help in repairing their stalls. Just like in the castle, it snowballed from there. Soon enough housewives, grandparents, and even teens would hire her to fix their stuff.
At first she did not know how much she should ask for as payment. With Caleb and Kieran, they paid her the same amount that they usually give to the men sent by the workmen guild but aside from that she had no idea just how to price her services.
When the other workers at the castle started to hire her, she approached Caleb and asked his help. Caleb was shocked at first when he heard that the library job was the first one that Iris ever did but he offered Iris his advice and gave him a paper that listed the payments that the workmen guild usually asks for.
She read the list and decided to lower it considerably. She took in mind that the workmen guild would add the effort of their travels and their reputation to the price that they would be asking for in exchange of their services. Since she already lives in the town and she does not exactly have a reputation, her services were considerably cheaper than the workmen guild's.
Due to her cheap, fast, and efficient works, Iris soon became a household name in Oak Town. It came to a point that she had more than enough jewels to get her by.
She remembered buying a small sling bag with the first payment that Kieran and Caleb gave her. After that she saved the jewels she earned and only used them to buy food. She only decided to splurge herself when she thought that she had more than enough jewels to get by.
Although she could have used her money to rent or even buy a house, Iris did not do so. The forest has already become a home for her due to the long time she spent in there. So instead of moving into the town, she decided to make herself a shelter in the forest.
The merchants and even the townspeople, along with Caleb and Kieran who were surely becoming her friends; looked at her weirdly when she bought several lumbers and glass panes and had them deliver it to the edge of the forest. She paid them no mind though and merely smiled and nodded when the merchant asked if she was sure of her request.
When night has fallen, she had the materials she bought float behind her and follow her inside the forest. She gazed at the wide opening at the base of a tree that served as her home for quite a while fondly before she fixed her attention to the floating material behind her.
"Alright everyone" Iris exclaimed, embracing her inner child "lumbers separate into five groups."
The blocks of lumber floated higher and grouped themselves into five different groups.
"Next, glass, cut yourself into four"
The wide expanse of the glass floated below the lumber and broke into four equal parts.
"Alright, now lumber group number 1, pile together to make a wall."
The first group of lumber zoomed to where she was pointing and did as she requested.
That went on the entirety of the night until she finally had her very own homely log cabin in the woods.
She gazed at her log cabin and felt her pride swell at the sight of it. It just took her a little bit over two years but she finally had herself a home to call her own.
She went on to the town center the very next day to shop for food to stock inside her cabin.
"Judging by that annoyingly happy smile on your face, I guess you had your house built." Iris heard someone say to her.
She turned and saw Kieran approach her. Kieran and she may not have started on the right foot but she could say that she was closer to him than she was to Caleb. Her and Kieran's friendship is a bit hard to explain. You know how you always have that one friend who you bond with over insults that you both know means nothing? That was what Kieran was for her.
"Who knew you actually had a smart bone in your body." Iris said to Kieran in greeting.
"I have always been smarter than you, you just won't admit it." Kieran said
"Really, who told you that?" Iris asked
"Well, all the girls of course!" Kieran replied as he winked at a group of girls they were passing by whom all giggled the moment he winked at them.
Kieran, to Iris' utter horror, was quite popular with the girls in Oak Town. He was tall and had white slicked hair and a pair of red eyes. Iris did not really see what made him so popular towards the female gender but it must have to do with the fact that Kieran was one of the few magic practitioners in their town.
"Uh-huh, keep the dream burning, Kieran, keep the dream burning." Iris said
"To think that I went out of my way to deliver some good news for you," Kieran told her with a mock offended tone "that right there, Iris, is why you don't have as many friends as me."
"I think the fact that I am friends with you is what keeps them away," Iris retorted "what was that oh so good news you were going to give me anyway, dear friend of mine."
"Don't you dare take that mocking tone with me Iris," Kieran said as he ruffled Iris hair "well you see a –"
Kieran was not able to finish his sentence because a young girl tugged on Iris' skirt.
"Hold that thought." Iris said to Kieran.
Iris knelt so that she was face to face with the girl.
"Hello sweetie." Iris said
"Hi, miss" the girl shyly mumbled out.
"Do you need something?" Iris kindly asked, not wishing to scare the kid
"You're the girl who repairs stuff right?" asked the girl, looking hopefully at Iris' eyes.
Iris shared a confused look with Kieran before turning her attention to the girl.
"Yes, that's me." Iris answered
"Could you please fix him for me?" the girl said, bringing her hands out from behind her ad showing Iris a stuffed bird whose left wing was torn off its body and the cotton spilling out from the hole. "My brother was a meanie and tried to steal her from me and then Mr. Snuffles went rip and now he lost his wing and I don't want him to die."
Iris felt her vision become blurry for a second and a sharp ache blossomed in her chest as she heard the stuffed bird's name but brushed it off and just took the toy from the girl.
"We can't have that now, can we?" Iris told the girl "Don't worry; I'll make sure that Mr. Snuffles would be able to still play with you."
Iris pressed the two parts together and whispered a soft 'repair' and gave the fixed toy to the girl. The girl looked at her toy in amazed shock before hugging Iris and saying thank you over and over again.
"Thank you big sister!" the young girl exclaimed before suddenly turning shy "I don't have any money so I brought this with me."
The young girl pulled a small flower hair clip from her pockets.
"I bought this for my birthday!" the girl said "So please accept this big sister."
Iris shook her head ad placed the hair clip in the child's hand.
"I can't take that." Iris said "You don't have to pay me, you know?"
"But-but you saved Mr. Snuffles life!" the girl exclaimed "So big sister must have this!"
The young girl took the clip from her hands and stood on her tiptoes to place the clip on Iris' face. Iris stood shocked and touched the clip on her hair before looking at the young girl who was smiling at her.
"See? You look so pretty big sister!" the girl exclaimed "Doesn't she look pretty, mister?"
Kieran tensed as the girl suddenly turned her attention on him. He looked at Iris and frankly there was hardly any change on her face, there was just an extra hair clip and it did actually nothing, if truth be told. But the warning glare from Iris' eyes was basically telling him that if he made the girl disappointed then his life would be a living hell.
"Yes-yeah, she looks very pretty?" Kieran hesitantly answered.
"See! Even the mister agrees that big sister is pretty!" the young girl beamed at Iris
Iris felt her heart lighten while looking at the girls' jovial face.
"Well, I can hardly refuse this gift then, right?" Iris asked as the young girl nodded her head in happiness. "Well, then that means I'll have to take care of it and treasure it."
The young girl smiled up at Iris.
"Sophia!" a woman's voice called "Time to come home!"
"Oh my mother's calling me!" the girl said "Thank you again big sister!"
Iris waved goodbye to the girl as she watched her approach her mother ad show the fixed stuffed bird to her and was clearly rambling about the nice big sister who fixed him. Iris looked at the stuffed bird and a sudden image of a white bird flying to a younger Iris flashed through her mind.
"Why don't you offer to fix my stuff for free?" Kieran asked, snapping Iris out from her thoughts as he too watched as the girl and her mother turned a corner before vanishing from their sight.
"Well, because it's you." Iris replied "So I'm pretty huh?" Iris looked at Kieran with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Oh, shut up!" Kieran yelled as Iris laughed at her friend's awkwardness.
The two of them continued their walk after Iris' laughing fit and Kieran's hissed threats.
"So as I was saying-"Kieran was about to say when Iris interrupted him.
"Wait a minute, which one is better." Iris said as she walked to a stall selling cloth and grabbed a yellow and orange one.
"Iris, I was on the verge of giving you good news and you interrupt me to ask for fashion advice?" Kieran asked with his eyebrow raised.
"It's not for fashion, you twit! Just pick." Iris said bringing the two cloths closer to Kieran's face.
"The yellow one" Kieran said as he shoved the cloth away from his face.
"Now was that so hard." Iris said "Now I think I'll pair that with this!" Iris grabbed a turquoise coloured cloth and paid for her purchases.
"Now you can continue." Iris said while she was holding her purchase.
"Well as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Kieran said "Word got out about you and several towns were asking if they could hire you for your skills."
"Wow!" Iris exclaimed happily "I'm being hired outside of the town?!"
"Yeah, turns out some magic guild did a mission in their place and caused destruction in their place." Kieran shrugged out.
"They're not under attack are they?" Iris asked
"Oh no, the mission required the mages of the guild to fight and their town got caught in the action. I don't know why they keep sending requests to Fairy Tail when they always cause collateral damage."
"Fairy Tail?" Iris asked
"You know, the magic guild? Their quite famous since they have pretty powerful mages" Kieran said
"Don't we have a magic guild here in Oak Town? You're a mage right, aren't you in one?" Iris inquired further.
"Well, we used to have one here in Oak Town. Remember that castle where Caleb and I take you to?" Kieran asked as he looked at Iris "That castle used to belong to the Phantom Lord Guild, that's why we call it the old phantom building."
"I've always thought it was haunted by ghosts. What happened to the guild?"
"The guild master went nuts and declared war on Fairy Tail. They lost and Fairy Tail won." Kieran explained "The magic council disbanded the guild and then poof, no more Phantom Lord."
"Fairy Tail is that powerful, huh?"
"You can say that, they have some pretty powerful mages there." Kieran explained "Even the Titania is in that guild."
"Titania? Isn't that the mage you were fanboying over?"
"I do not fanboy!" Kieran said as a blush spread on his cheeks "All requip magic users respect and admire the Titania's skills!"
"Sure, sure whatever helps you sleep at night." said Iris
"Let's just talk about the requests okay?!" Kieran said
"Fine, fine, which towns asked for help anyway?" Iris asked
"There's Tully Village, Lupinus Town, and Freesia Town." Kieran replied "They're willing to pay high so that you would accept."
"How much is high?" Iris asked as she paused at a stall.
"Trust me high means very high." Kieran answered as Iris left the stall when the vendor said that there were currently no vendors selling cotton.
"Ooh, duck feathers!" Iris said as she caught sight of it in one of the stalls.
"Once again, you prove that you have the attention span of a four-year old." Kieran said as Iris went to the stall. "Are you even listening to me?!"
"Why do you even need duck feathers?" Kieran asked when he reached Iris.
"For this." Iris answered, gesturing to the cloth she bought earlier.
"You need duck feathers for your cloth?" Kieran asked her slowly
"Yeah, it would have been better if it was cotton but there were no vendors selling them." Iris replied with a shrug.
"I don't want to know." Kieran said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Okay just, wait for me at your house and I'll come by later to give you more information about the requests okay?"
"Sure, see you later then." Iris said.
Kieran left for the castle while Iris continued to look through the stalls in search for some thread and needle. Seeing the girl with the stuffed bird suddenly made her want to make one. She doesn't know why but after seeing the girl with her toy and the sudden image of that white bird in her mind, she felt that making one of her own was something she needed to do.
After finishing her chores at the town center, Iris hurriedly went on her way home. She ate a fast meal for dinner and laid out the cloth on the table after she wiped it clean. She raised her hand to start using her magic but she suddenly came to a stop. She thought for a moment and the idea of using magic to make the stuffed toy suddenly felt wrong. Something was telling her that this was something she needs to do by her own, with no assistance from his magic.
She took a deep sigh and got up from her seat and took the necessary materials for her stuff toy. She drew the basic outline of the bird from her memories on the cloths. She then cut the outline and proceeded to stitch the edges, leaving one side open. Once she was finished with her stitching, she grabbed the duck feathers she bought and stuffed it inside the toy. Once satisfied with the amount of feathers she stuffed, she began to stitch it close.
She then proceeded to make the bird's eyes and beak using the threads she bought earlier. It was an arduous process but one that she painstakingly dedicated herself to. After several minutes has passed, she was now the proud owner of a stuffed bird doll and a set of wounded hands.
She lifted the doll and looked into the fruits of her labour.
"You look nothing like I expected." Iris sighed.
Instead of the image of the bird she had on her mind, the final product she got was, well, different.
"That's what I get for not using my magic." Iris moaned out.
The stuffed doll she made has a large head with a small tuft on top, a small beak and round eyes, as well as small wings, feet and a tail and is primarily yellow with a turquoise shirt, very far from that noble and fierce looking white bird from her memories.
It was when she was bemoaning her lack of knitting skills did Kieran arrive and knocked on her door.
Iris took the doll with her. Even if it was disappointingly far from what she imagined, it was still her creation and she was proud of it. Iris opened the door and practically shoved the doll in Kieran's face.
"What the hell is that?!" Kieran exclaimed, his vein throbbing in irritation.
"It's a stuffed doll I made!" Iris said, waving the doll in front of Kieran's face.
"And this matters to me why?" Kieran hissed through his teeth.
"It is your job as my friend to praise me for my achievements." Iris told Kieran as she opened the door wider to let him in.
"Good job! Yey!" Kieran said in a deadpan tone.
"Hmm, alright then, say what you have to say Mr. Grumpy-pants." Iris said as she went to sit on a chair.
"We'll be leaving town next week." Kieran said " We'll go to Lupinus first then to Freesia before proceeding to Tully Village."
"Oh, alright then," Iris said "Wait, what do you mean we?"
"I'll be coming with you, of course" Kieran said with a smirk "I'll be your security detail, so to speak."
"Can't I just take Caleb?" Iris moaned out.
"Nope, he's busy at the old phantom building." Kieran grinned evilly at Iris.
"God, I hate this trip already."
" Oh trust me Iris it will be one trip you will never forget." Kieran smirked at Iris.
Iris has already seen Kieran out of her home and was preparing to go to bed.
She placed her stuff doll on the table beside her bed before plopping down and closing her eyes. As she lay sleeping, the ring sitting on her fingers started to glow. Its glow was flickering for a while before it became steady. The glow became a little bit brighter but not enough to rouse Iris from her sleep. As the glow's brightness increased a small hooting sound passed through the air and suddenly the stuffed doll on the table began to glow as well.
After a while both the ring's and the doll's glow dimmed slowly until everything was once again bathed in the darkness of the night.
Suddenly a small yellow wing twitched.
=TBC=
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yay! Thanks for the support, please leave your thoughts in a review so that I can know what you would like to see! We will get our first glimpse at Team Natsu next chapter!