Hello! Sorry for the long wait! I hadn't meant to make this chapter this long originally, but I became inspired. The length is also to make up for how long it took to post and finish this chapter. Between school, life, homecoming parades, donating blood, and homework I've had not much time to write. Having a small bout of Writer's block didn't help either. I'd like to say thank you to my two best friends (you know who you are) who helped me through my writer's block.
But wow though! 63 follows and 23 favorites! That's amazing and thank you! It totally makes my day.
kurahieiritr Jio- Thank you for reviewing! I had wanted to make Lucy and Wendy stay in one location for a while and this also gives them an opportunity to train more. Besides working for my OCs will expand their skill set. I'm glad you enjoyed my chapter.
Exo-Toxicimpulse - Thank you for reviewing! I'm happy you find my story interesting!
Diasphro- Your review lit up my day and I'm happy you like my OCs. My biggest worry is that they will infringe on Laxus, Lucy, Wendy, and Carla or mess up my story. When I write them I try to make them as real as possible or I draw their personalities from people I know. The whole 'don't call me dear I'm not a four legged animal' comes from my mom. It drives her crazy when my dad does that.
Arouraleona- Thank you for reviewing and it makes me happy you find my story exciting.
An old Cherokee told his grandson, "My son there is battle between two wolves inside us all.
One is evil. It is Jealousy, Greed, Resentment, Inferiority, Lies, and Ego. The other is good. It is Joy, Peace, Love, Hope, Humility, Kindness, Empathy, and Truth."
The boy thought about it, and asked, "Grandfather, which one wins?"
The old man replied quietly, "The one you feed."
This was just something I found on Pinterest and I don't know who it's by.
Chapter 6- Recovery
The first thing Laxus recognized when he woke up was the pain. His skin felt like it was on fire. It was a crawling sensation that traveled across his upper body in waves and it left him in agony. It was a strange feeling. His skin burned, yet he felt freezing cold. Not only that his head wouldn't stop pounding, and his eyes felt watery and hot. He contemplated sitting up to see what he had done to himself, but thought better of it. He didn't want to aggravate the already painful wounds.
Not wanting to think about his dream that was more of a memory if anything, he thought back to what happened.
How in the world was he still alive? Last he remembered he was in the middle of a godforsaken desert that felt like the hottest fuckin' place on Earth, but now he was in a dark cold room. He didn't even have the drive to find out where he was. God he just felt like a piece of crap! He remembered being caught up in a sandstorm and the agonizing pain of the salt rubbing into his skin and the whipping peals of sand upon his covered back. He must have fallen asleep at some point but that didn't explain where he was.
Focusing on the sounds around him he could hear the whistling breathing of living beings. He could here three sets of heart beats, their blood rushing throughout their bodies. Taking a deep whiff of the air he could smell the pheromones of three different men, it was a strange smell, not really something easily described. They were talking in another room not that far away, seemingly about the weather. He heard the shuffling of feet and the squeak of the door opening. Light filtered through the doorway, and then with a click the lacrima lighting turned on.
The only thing Laxus saw was the ceiling, it was white, almost blinding to his sensitive eyes. He figured that he injured his eyes due to the blinding light in that wretched desert.
He heard light footsteps coming closer before they stopped.
"I see you've finally woken up. Laxus, right?"
The only response Laxus gave the man was turning his eyes from the ceiling to look at the man. The man appeared to be in his early forties, hair already graying. He was about 5'8 and had a lean build. His hair was held back and away from his face by a single braid that was slung over his shoulder and stopped in the crook of his elbow on his crossed arms. He had a wide set of shoulders and a short neck with a sharp, almost jagged, looking face. Silvery gray eyes seemed to bore through him as the man waited for him to respond, but Laxus didn't feel like talking.
"Sigh... I'll just take your silence as a yes. My name is Ryder if you're wondering. Will you by any chance be willing to tell me why you were in the desert in the first place?"
Laxus kept quiet as the man, Ryder he said, walked over to hanging bag of clear fluid next to the bed he was in and checked it.
When Laxus didn't respond, Ryder sighed and turned to look at the man. "You're not one for talking are you?"
Laxus still didn't respond.
"You know if we had never found you, you would be dead. Severe dehydration, second degree burns, you almost had a heat stroke, and you have heat illness. Medically speaking when we found you, you were at the point where I shouldn't have been able to save you. You should have died."
It was a few more minutes before Laxus responded. His voice was hoarse and his throat burned as he spoke.
"Why did you save me?"
Ryder paused as he was switching out the bags. He looked over at Laxus, trying to decipher why he was being asked that. Laxus wasn't looking him anymore and was instead looking to the ceiling. He wasn't looking directly into his eyes so he couldn't completely see what emotions were there, but he could tell something was wrong. The look on the man's face reminded him of some of the look soldiers he's treated back when he worked in the military had. It was this haunted vacant look in the eyes that was entrenched with guilt and sorrow. It was survivor's guilt.
During the Laxus's sleep, Ryder looked him up on a lacrima computer. From what he could gather Laxus Dreyar was a powerful mage having gained the level of SS-class, defeated a Wizard Saint, and was a mage of the most powerful guild in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail. He was also apparently a ladies man. Ryder figured Carcillo and this man would get along quite well on that front, but now he wasn't so sure.
Something must have happened, but he wouldn't ask...for now at least.
"Well I'm a doctor it's my job to save people, just because you were in pretty bad shape doesn't mean I still shouldn't try and save you. What kind of doctor would I be if I said it was too late for someone without even looking at all the angles I can? I wouldn't be doing what I consider my duty as a human being. That is why I saved you."
Laxus turned his eyes away from the ceiling and looked at Ryder again. He didn't really know why he asked that question, but he felt like what was the point of trying to save him if he was already so far gone? It was something he had wanted to ask Porlyusica when she created the antidote for the barrier particles and saved him first when it should've been his team or Hargeon first. Not him. He couldn't really fathom why someone would go so far to save him. He wasn't saying he wouldn't move heaven and Earth to save anyone else, but why save him? He's caused so much hurt and pain. He couldn't even save people when he had the chance. He was too weak.
Not only that but Ryder didn't even know him. To Ryder he was a stranger, yet Ryder still saved him. Ryder told him why he saved him, but it didn't satisfy Laxus. He wouldn't ask for more of an answer though. He didn't want to explain himself.
"Where am I?"
Ryder had finished switching out the bags before walking over to the cabinets and grabbed a mug. "You're at my house." Filling up the mug with water from the sink, Ryder walked back over to Laxus. He put the mug on a metal table next to the man and then grabbing some pillows from under the bed. "Specifically speaking this is the town of Kimaro, the interior of Fiore, north of Crocus, north of the mountains surrounding Crocus, but south of the mage guild Blue Pegasus."
Putting his hand gently on the man's shoulder he, with much help from Laxus, sat the man up slightly and placed the pillows behind him. He then gently leaned him back on the pillows. Ryder grabbed the water filled mug and handed it to Laxus.
Laxus grabbed it with a shaking hand and tried to not drop or spill the mug. After a bit of a struggle he managed to get it to his cracked and painful lips. Drinking the water was soothing and painful. Laxus downed the glass, but he wanted more. How did he not notice he was this thirsty?! He felt like he could drink an entire ocean at the moment. Laxus handed the mug back to Ryder.
Noticing how fast Laxus downed the mug, Ryder went and grabbed a glass pitcher from a top cabinet to the left of the sink and filled it up. He put it on the table next to the bed and refilled the mug and handed it back to Laxus. This continued for the next few minutes.
Ryder would have told Laxus to slow down, so he wouldn't throw up, but he doubted he would listen.
Laxus slowly handed the glass back to Ryder and didn't make a motion for another. He was fine for now, but now he was curious. "Who is this 'we'?"
Ryder stared at Laxus trying to figure out what the man meant.
Laxus began to feel uncomfortable from all this staring and he felt his patience waning. "Are you going to answer the question?"
Ryder was still confused, he may be a smart man but he didn't know where this question was coming from. "What do mean by 'who is this we'? I honestly don't know what you're referring to."
Sighing in irritation, he wondered if this man was going senile. "When you first came in here you said 'if we had never found you'. Emphasis on the 'we' in that sentence. That is my question. Who are the other people who found me?"
"Ah, of course! That is what you meant. Well it was actually Dimitri who found you first, but Carcillo and I also brought you here. It's good to know that was what you meant. I was starting to get some strange ideas!"
Laxus felt his face slipping into an annoyed blank face. It was an interesting facial expression. He really did not want to know what this man had concocted in his mind. While he was grateful to the man for a saving him, something in his gut told him that this doctor was a little eccentric. He hadn't decided if that was good or bad yet.
"How long do I have to stay here?"
"You had a temperature of 105 when we found you, and that only dropped to 104 when I began treating you. Your body was one degree away from having a heatstroke. When I said that you were incredibly lucky I wasn't kidding. You were going to die." Ryder sighed as he saw the alarm and shocked expression of the man. He never liked this part of being a doctor. Having to explain just how close one came to death or having a patient die while in his care was always hard. "Now I have my theories as to how you managed to survive, but… those are just optimistic."
Laxus was frozen in shock and his mouth was dry again, but not from lack of water. Just how close to death was he going to come?! It hadn't been even more than a month and he was already in this situation again. The biggest difference between then and now was that he was put in this situation by his own stubbornness. He wasn't saving anyone, or at least attempting to anyway. Bickslow was right. He does get in more trouble than they do and most of it is self-inflicted. Does he have a death wish or something? He didn't think so, but maybe he did.
Laxus was quiet and his voice was just above a whisper. "How optimistic?"
"Well one of my theories was that the desert sand cooled you down as well as insulating you against the cold, but I think it's more likely that somehow, someway, someone out there just really didn't want you to die."
Laxus looked down at his hands, they were one of the few parts of his upper body that weren't in searing pain. They were the same as they were in the desert, no difference. His arms though were covered in gauze. It was soft against his skin. In his right arm at the crook of his elbow he saw a needle covered with a square sheet of gauze. The needle was connected to the tube connecting to the clear bag. He could feel the needle in his skin, it was a strange feeling. Not a sharp stinging pain, but a dull sensation. The needle and tube were taped in place and he felt pain when he sat up as it moved in his arm. His hands were rested on his legs that still wore the same pants he wore in the desert, they were a dull maroon color.
Where does he go from here? He didn't know. That seemed to be the common trend for him. Not knowing where he was going. Always getting lost. Running in circles. Up. Down. Left. Right. Always traveling the hardest road. Is there something he's missing? Something he overlooked somewhere that would have prevented the worst from happening. He was never there in time to save those he considered family. Fairy Tail. That name was always bittersweet for him. Home. A reminder. Abandonment.
He felt as though he betrayed the Raijinshuu. Promising not to die. Yet he almost did that. So close yet not. So far yet close. So many circles. Always spinning, looping, looping. Endlessly. Was there an end? Does doing the same thing over and over always achieve the same result? Is it madness?
Anger. Grief. Sadness. He knew those emotions. He knew the pain. The endless cycle. Love. Did he know love? No, not really. Only with family, but they were always so distant. Close yet far. Pushing away then pulling closer. Always on repeat. Cycling.
Was everything done in cycles?
Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
Ryder saw the unusually open expressions from Laxus. It was astonishing the complexity he found there. It was like white light being broken up into thousands of different variations of the basic colors. Red. Yellow. Blue.
Anger. That was the most dominant emotion he saw, anger and… loss. Self hate. Loneliness.
Ryder didn't know what to say. From what he knew from the little research he did, Laxus was only twenty-four. What kind of life could he be leading to have those… emotions? Maybe there was a reason Dimitri found him in that desert. Some other reason than pure chance.
To help him.
Ryder walked passed Laxus and opened the white blackout curtains. The room became even brighter, and Ryder squinted at the change in light frequency. Looking outside the window he could see the town market with it's colorful canvas booths and massive, yet dwindling, crowds of people. They looked like ants, considering his house was on a rocky hill that the rest of the town surrounded, it made sense that they would.
The town of Kimaro is a small desert town of a population of roughly eight hundred to nine hundred people. It was a pit stop in crossing the desert with many, many merchants. There was a pretty large school on the other side of the hill along with the church and town hall. The town was supported by an enormous underground river that was connected to a massive cave system. Most of the town was made out of brick but the poorer part of the town was made out of fermented mud that sat in water holes all year long till they reached the right consistency around the time of the sandstorms.
There was a sharp metal ticking noise.
Looking down, Ryder saw the most peculiar thing.
A red and black caterpillar.
Now there were red and black caterpillars in the desert, but not in this region. It was strange. Ryder didn't feel like thinking further on the caterpillar. After all there was so many other things that were stranger.
Ryder turned around to look back at Laxus. He was staring at his hands now, but he couldn't read his expression as easily as before. Now that he thought about it, why was he by himself in the first place? From what Carcillo had told him, Fairy Tail mages weren't by themselves for very long. The fact that he was by himself was rather strange. "I have a question."
Laxus looked up from his hands as his mental spiral was disrupted. All he wanted to be was left alone right now. He appreciated the silence Ryder gave him as well as opening of the curtains. The room was rather stuffy and he hated the smell of hospitals. It gave him a headache. "What's your question?"
Leaning against the window frame and crossing his arms over his chest, Ryder thought of how to phrase this question. "I thought Fairy Tail mages liked to travel together. All gung ho about the family stuff, and causing extensive amounts of destruction. Why were you traveling alone then?"
Laxus felt his mood get worse at Ryder's questioning. He really did not want to talk about them right now. He wouldn't deny the man an answer though since he did save his life. "I'm surprised you haven't heard. Fairy Tail disbanded."
Ryder blinked in surprise. That was rather big news. It was strange that he hadn't found some kind of article about it on the Lacrima Computer. Everything was getting rather strange lately. There's great undercurrent of mounting tension lately, and it's not just in Kimaro. Not just in Fiore. It was all over Ishgar.
"Well if your guild disbanded why are you all alone? Usually when something like that happens people like to stick together. I'd think that would be especially true for your guild."
Laxus felt a bitter laugh erupt from his throat. Ryder made a pretty good point. It is rather ironic that they would split up rather than stick together with all their great momentous family preaching. Maybe it isn't exactly preaching, but they've said it enough times to both ally and enemy alike they practically reformed some of them. "You're right, it would make more sense for us to stick together then split up. I can't say I'm any better than the others though. I left my team. I talked to them about of course, but they didn't like it. Can't blame them. With everything going on I needed space. Time to think." Laxus chuckled in a self deprecating way. "Didn't work out very well. All it got me was nearly killing myself in a desert from lack of supplies."
"What were you needing to think abo-"
The door to the room slammed open, cutting Ryder off mid sentence and making him almost fall over in surprise. It was Carcillo and Dimitri.
"Is he awake?!"
Grabbing a nearby popsicle stick Ryder threw it at Carcillo and hit him square between the eyes. He was annoyed. "He's awake now dimwit. What are you doing yelling?!"
"OW! What the hell man?!"
"Oh stop complaining! For someone of your title one would think you wouldn't be so childish."
Rubbing the stinging pain out of his forehead, Carcillo glared at Ryder. "Says the doctor who injures people instead of healing them."
Grabbing another popsicle stick from a jar on the counter, Ryder narrowed his eyes at Carcillo. He hadn't heard what was said since the man mumbled, but he assumed it wasn't anything nice. "What did you say?"
Dimitri peeked from behind the two arguing men to see Laxus awake. He was watching them with this nostalgic expression. Dimitri walked up to the, much larger even when partially lying down, man. "You're Laxus Dreyar, right?" He made sure to whisper as to not draw the attention of the two arguing men.
Laxus raised an eyebrow at the...young teen? He wasn't really sure though. The boy was dark skinned like the other man who barged into the room. It reminded him of that ash-for-brains idiot Natsu and the way he made sure to always barge into the guild. The boy was extremely thin looking, but not in a malnutrition way, just a naturally lean figure. He was maybe 4'11 and had these ocean blue eyes that popped off his face, that was rather soft in the features.
Instead of actually answering Laxus just nodded his head.
Dimitri's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he did this little dance in place while whisper yelling yes over and over again. "Oh my gosh! You're Laxus Dreyar! The Laxus Dreyar! You know I've watched all your fights in the Grand Magic Games and I have all the Sorcerer Weekly articles on you and I even have some figurines that I ordered from the guild you're a member of and...and you're here! This is just so awesome! I'm talking to Laxus Dreyar! My friends will never believe this!"
Laxus was a little freaked out by this boy. At first it was cool that the boy recognized him from the Grand Magic Games, but now the kid was just mumbling to himself with this creepy starry look in his eyes. It was strange.
"Calm down Dimitri. You're freaking the poor man out."
Dimitri jumped and turned around to face Carcillo with surprised pleading eyes. "But you're his biggest fan! Why aren't you as excited as I am? When you saw him fight in the Grand Magic Games you wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks."
Carcillo scratched his beard and gave Laxus a sheepish smile. He wouldn't meet any of their eyes. "While I happen to be a fan of his, I am still going to treat him as a human being."
Ryder turned to Carcillo in surprise. "When did you mature? Last I remembered you were acting like a child."
"I find that insulting. I am mature all the time."
Crossing his arms, Ryder deadpanned. "You were just whining like a three year old over a popsicle stick."
"Cause you hit me with it!"
Ryder shook his head and turned to Laxus with a mock apologetic look in his eyes. "Sorry about his attitude. I helped raise him. One would think he doesn't have some manners. This is Carcillo by the way. The young boy over there is Dimitri. They're siblings."
Suddenly all their eyes were on him. He nodded in greeting. He didn't need to introduce himself they already knew who he was.
He felt uncomfortable and looked out the window. He couldn't meet their eyes.
"So Laxus…"
Laxus turned to look at Carcillo. He still didn't feel like talking and he was in a sour mood after talking with Ryder.
"Do you know how long Ryder's holding you captive?" Another popsicle was thrown. "Bed rest! Not captive. Bed rest!"
"No"
He was blunt, not particularly loud but his voice seemed to thunder throughout the room. He just didn't feel like talking.
Carcillo turned back to Ryder. "Why didn't you tell him?"
Shrugging Ryder looked back towards Laxus. Expression unreadable. "Just never got around to the part of the conversation." Well they did, but he never said when Laxus would get off bed rest. They had gotten sidetracked. He didn't say anything.
"Well?"
Ryder looked at Carcillo confused. "Well what?"
Carcillo rubbed the crease between his brows. Why did their conversations always end up here? "How long does he have till he gets off bed rest?"
"Well I was thinking maybe two days at most. As long as he drinks plenty of water and stays out of the sun for a while, he'll be fine."
Laxus felt a weight lift from him. He was sick of hospital beds. He's been in them far too often for his liking. "Is there anything I owe you? I have some money in my bag.." Looking around the sides of the bed than the rest of the room, Laxus didn't see his bag anywhere. It had everything of value to him and it wasn't here.
Carcillo and Ryder looked at Laxus blankly. They didn't even see him with a bag when they found him. They had been too busy trying to save his life. "We didn't see any ba-"
"Ooh! I picked it before we left along with your coat Mr. Dreyar! I'll go get it right now!"
Dimitri raced out through the door they had carried Laxus through earlier to the Speed racers. He ran to his Sand Speeder and unlatched an inner compartment. Pulling out the bag that he had stuffed the large heavy fur coat into before they left, Dimitri made sure not to yank it out as to not damage anything inside. Using his right hand he pushed the panel back into place and latched it back into place.
The sun was just beginning to travel in a downward arc down the sky and dark shadows were extending throughout the town. Some shadows were light and easily seen through. Others were dark. There was movement in the dark. A soft clicking noise. It was another caterpillar. Black and Red.
oO-0-Oo
The two days passed and Laxus recovered quickly. He was standing in the bleak living room of Ryder's house, about to leave. He felt bad he didn't have anything to repay them for saving his life. Well technically he did, but he didn't know if they would ever use it. It was a small rectangle shape communication lacrima. He was originally going to give it to his grandfather, but the old man left before he got the chance to give it to him. It was a one way pager basically, but it sent a recorded message as well.
It was strange being around people again. They reminded him of Fairy Tail and they were surprisingly open about themselves. Carcillo was the leader of a small caravan of twelve that traveled the desert during the storms looking for fulgurite. Dimitri was his younger brother. Well the brother that was alive anyway. Their mother had seven miscarriages before him. The father had died six years ago and the mother had died last year from a plague that had swept through the town. They recently had the cure for it and they were incredibly lucky to have been out hunting when the initial wave swept through. The town had been quarantined for six months.
It was Black Death.
Ryder was the town doctor and ran a small clinic from his house. He also happened to be Carcillo and Dimitri's father's best friend.
Laxus was still surprised they had been so open with him about their lives. Like how Carcillo had at least two girlfriends at a time. Or how Dimitri was the top of his grade. Or how Ryder apparently thinks pickles taste good in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
He physically cringed at that. It sounded disgusting. Laxus pulled his fur lined coat a little closer to his body. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't make his injuries worse.
A white muscle shirt was under the coat, it was easier and less hot than his normal shirts, and he wore a pair of dark brown cargo pants.
It was early morning, the shadows dark and deep. It was clicking.
Laxus was beginning to get bored. There was a soft thumping of footsteps, a brisk pace with wide light steps, it was Ryder.
He walked into the room from down the hall with the stairs. Ryder wore a white button up collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of rich brown shorts that stopped just above his knees. His shirt was loosely tucked in and his hair style didn't change.
"Are you sure you want to leave?"
Laxus sighed and looked away from the ground to the man. He could see concern in the steel gray eyes. It was strange. People didn't worry about him often. "I can't stay. I…"
Raising a hand, Ryder cut Laxus off. "I don't need to know why. Just try not to get yourself killed. I'd hate to have to patch you up again."
Laxus felt his brows plunge down. Normally he would have blown a gasket if anyone interrupted him, but he didn't. He couldn't find a temper in himself to care. "I wasn't that bad of a patient."
Shaking his head, Ryder pulled a loose hair out of his face. "It's not you. It's that idiot Carcillo and Dimitri. They're driving me up the wall. Why can't they just shut up?! How many times does someone ask 'How did you do that' before someone loses it?! Sheesh! They're all children."
Pushing his lips together, Laxus tried not to laugh.
Ryder quirked an eyebrow up in surprise. "You're laughing at me."
Laxus looked away. He didn't want to laugh. "You're imagining things."
All he received was a disbelieving stare. "Are you going to wait for the other two to get up before you leave? If so it'll be a few hours."
Laxus sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "I was, but I need to leave and I can't wait that long." Reaching into his bag hanging from his shoulder, Laxus opened the leather flap. Pulling out the small square magic pager, Laxus walked over and handed it to Ryder.
Ryder looked down at the small square lacrima. It was blue and light with the edges rounded. He had no idea what this was.
"That's a magic pager. If you ever need any help just think of me and it will contact me. You don't need any magic to operate it. If you are in any danger and you can't actually get to it, it will page me as well. The pager has a video message option if you want to give me some info before I come."
Ryder was a little speechless. Why was he being given this? Laxus owed him nothing.
"Consider this a thank you for saving my life. I couldn't think of anything else." Laxus felt awkward. He wasn't used to given people things like this. He could feel the intensity of the steel gray eyes boring into him.
"Thank you."
With that Laxus turned and walked through the living room to the front door. He turned the knob and walked out the beech wood door. He was instantly met by the sun. Pausing before closing the door, Laxus turned back to look at Ryder. "Tell Carcillo and Dimitri bye for me."
Laxus was gone out the door and into the town.
