"You will be joining us" Mystogan said, raising an unseen eyebrow, he was skeptic as he had first seen this girl yesterday, and he had never even heard her utter a single word before just now.
"Yes, I hope that you will accept me" she said smiling, bowing gently.
"How do we make sure she doesn't slow us down" the masked ninja asked Elfman.
"Oh come on Mysto" Loki said grinning, "Has having a pretty lady with us on the way ever been a bad thing".
Elfman sent him a serious and annoyed look, and Loki immediately cleared his throat and began to whistle.
"Whatever the case" Elfman said drawing the attention to him, "Our Lord has ordered us to take her with us, she is however not to slow us down, or make any unnecessary stops, as long as she follows that we are not to complain" no more questions were asked, as they waited for her to mount her horse, a white steed with an equally white mane, the horse stood right next to Natsu's.
"I'm glad you could join us" the rose headed samurai said smiling at her with his usual grin, "I take it you can hold your own in battle then".
She smiled at him rather than answer, and first now did Natsu notice that she had no weapon on her, not even a small dagger.
"Alright" Mystogan yelled, "The more distractions we have the longer it will take us to reach the southern castle, we ride now, is that clear", his eyes were determined and serious, he was in the zone for battle.
"YES" answered the other riders, as their horses went into full run, and within minutes they were out of the woods.
The sun had yet to completely rise, despite this the whole area was baking and damp, a very unholy combo. And after only two hours of riding their horses were in dire need of a rest, they found a small forrest and stopped by the outskirts, if only for a couple of minutes.
Natsu sat down beside Lisanna in the shade "Want some water" he asked her, passing her a water gourd. It was tanned and hard as a rock.
"No thank you" she said smiling, "I have my own" she said and took a large swag of water from her own bottle.
"I was quite surprised that you chose to join us, and you must be either pretty brave or pretty strong to go without a weapon" he said smiling at her and pointing to her side where there would normally be some kind of weapon.
"Oh yes" she said awkwardly, "My father is hurt, and I was worried for him, so I asked Our Lord if I could join you" he said smiling at him.
"Is your father alright" he asked, having forgotten everything about the no weapon situation.
"No not really" she said, explaining the situation of what had happened to him.
Natsu sighed, and leaned back on the soft grass, "Well that's the risk of going to war".
Lisanna tucked her knees under her head, "Have you ever had an injury like that" she asked gently, first realizing that it was a kind of stupid question after she had said it.
"Well obviously not like that" he joked, trying to cheer her up, "But I did once suffer from a wound that should have killed me"
She opened her eyes curiously, "Do tell" she was suddenly intrigued by the story, however just when they had said this Elfman called for them, telling them that it was time to continue their journey.
"Another day" he said with a wide smile, mounting his horse once again and riding to the distance. Lisanna and the rest soon followed, with Mystogan leading the way, the sun had been covered, however the large plains still felt like an oven, and their heavy armor did not help. And therefor it was only after 2 more hours of riding before they had to take another break, this time they rested in a forest clearing, by a large pond where the horses could drink their fill. It was the middle of the day, and the samurai had not expected the heat, and the need for the constant stops, so as luck would have it, they had not brought any food.
"Lisanna" Mystogan said suddenly with an emotionless tone.
"Y-yes" she said, surprised by his sudden burst of sound.
"In our clan you need to prove yourself if you want to stay" he threw a small crossbow at her, one that all the samurai had "Go with Natsu and get us some food, and be quick about it" he turned and headed back to the others, who were busy cooling off their steeds.
"Areyou ready" Natsu asked surprising the girl, he had stood behind her without her even noticing it.
"Y-yes" she said smiling.
They began to walk through the dense wood, the tall and huge trees darkened the area, however small patches of sun lightened the forest up like small candles.
"So what are we looking for" she asked interested, she had after all been given a crossbow.
"Well really any kind of animal that you can eat and that can feed us" he said, his face plastered with his normal smile, on his back was Igneel, and in his hand his own crossbow.
"Like a deer or a..." she was immediately interupted as Natsu pulled his hand in front of her and went down on hook, he pointed to a clearing, where a large Suidae* was grazing. He loaded his crossbow and slowly crept closer, Lisanna followed, "What do you in..."
"Quite" he said shushing on her, he crept closer, and the game suddenly looked up in his direction, he held still, not moving a single muscle. The large hog stepped a little back, and Natsu redied the trigger, Lisanna was biting her lip, she had never seen an animal get killed. Suddenly the pig turned and ran, and Natsu pulled the trigger. The arrow flew and struck the poor animal in the shin, and it began to squeel in pain, something that cased Lisanna to hold her ears to keep the noise away. Natsu ran towards it, drawing his blade, ready to end it's misery. Lisanna gently looked, and suddenly her face was struck with horror.
"NATSU WATCH OUT" she cried, fumbling with the loaded crossbow in her hands. The samurai just managed to turn before a massive stag ran directly into him, the antlers pinning him to the tree, his armor protected him, however the massive size of the deer would soon become a legitimate danger. She fumbled with the crossbow, and attempted to fire, however the arrow went far to the right. The stag turned, spotting the white hair that stuck out of the dark forest, it turned and ran towards her, she was paralyzed in fear, she attempted to run but fell, the stag came closer, lowering it's huge antlers in order to impale her, she had no choice, she had to use it.
"Hide, Sutorausu*" she whispered into her amulet
Natsu came to his senses moments later, and saw the stag running at her, he drew Igneel.
"Burn Igneel" he said and the blade became coated in fire, he swung the blade down, and a blade of fire shot at the stag. The stag bolted to the right and the blade missed, fading into nothing. Suddenly there was a glow from where Lisanna stood, a loud scratching sound could be heard, and suddenly she was gone, there was no trace of her anywhere. Both the stag and Natsu looked around confused. Natsu however too the opportunity and rushed forward at the stag striking it in the stomach and tore it clean in half.
The stag died, however the corpse continued to twitch gently, he leaned down and close it's eyes, then he looked around, Lisanna was nowhere to be seen. He turned and looked at the trees, there sat a small feline being, it's eyes shone in the darkness, and it's white and pink fur stuck out like a sore thumb. It jumped down gracefully and shook it's head, suddenly another light appeared, but now Lissana stood in it's place, except with scraggy hair and a slightly torn outfit.
"Sorry you had to see that" she said smiling awkwardly and looked at the deer, "Poor thing" she said depressed, "Well now we have food".
"What was that" Natsu asked her with an annoyed tone.
"Uhh" she said and began to grow nervous, "I can't really tell you".
"So it's a secret" he asked interested and with wide eyes.
"Well yes" she said, growing even more nervous.
"Cool tell me" he said with his usual smile.
She sweat-dropped as she said the next line, "But I just told you that I couldn't tell you, so why do you think I would tell you now".
"I dunno" he said shrugging, "But if you tell me I promise I won't tell anybody" he said as he lifted the legs of the deer.
She sighed, "Natsu I'm sorry but I can't tell you, not yet at least".
"Oh, okay, just tell me when your ready" he said with his smile returning, "Then I'll tell you my secret".
She smiled at him warmly as a replu, and helped carry the remaining part of the deer, and soon they returned with the food, with scraggily hair and torn clothes, needless to say Elfman sent Natsu an evil look and Loki made some pervy jokes, to which they explained that they had been attacked, to which he just made more jokes. They ate quickly and rode off, there were no more stops until they reached the castle this time, and despite the heat and dampness they rode for 10 straight hours. In the time dark clouds had formed, and in the distance one could here a very faint sound of guns being fired.
The group entered the castle walls, this castle was much more like a large village than the one to the east. The houses were much larger and made of stone, and there were many more servants, there was even a shopping district and a red lights district. Waiting for them inside the gates were The Trimens, the 4 most powerful and 3 of the most handsome members of Blue Pegasus, and their leader also happened to be the ugliest member.
"GOOD DAY MY FELLOW SAMURAI" roared their leader Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki with an odd smile on his face "WE ARE GLAD THAT YOU HAVE COME TO AI..."
"Cut the crap" Loki said interupting him with a strike in his head, "We've just come to get the nobles, we sleep until tomorrow and then we leave".
The short man cleared his throat, "Well of course I will have Eve, Hibiki, and Ren guide you too" he turned and found that they had disappeared, and had gone to help Lisanna off her horse.
"Hello there madam, may I help you with this" Eve said with a wide smile, grabbing the rails of her horse.
"No let me help you" Hibiki said smiling at her.
"Oh don't worry about them I'll show you the perfect place to stay" Ren said wrapping his arm around her shoulder. All the while she was blushing from embarrassment, not used to being showered in so much affection.
Ichiya cleared his throat once more, and as if on command the three more handsome members of the Trimens assembled behind him. "I apologize my lady, my friends are quite flirtatious, by the way, my lovely Erza is not with you is she" he said as his face became entranced in happiness.
"I thought that Erza was married" Lisanna whispered to Elfman.
"She is, Ichiya there is just very slow to learn of things" he said as the short man was fawning of their love.
"I'm sorry to interrupt" Mystogan said, "However we wish to meet the Nobles so we can introduce ourselves and explain the plan".
"Yes of course" the short man said smiling, and had their horses lead to the nearby stables, and led them to the main residential area, the buildings there were much larger, and they all seemed to have been built recently, in the streets there were stalls selling the finest of wares, and longer down the street the buildings began to grow more and more red.
After 30 minutes or so the main part of the nobles that resided in the city had gathered in the main hall, they were all clad in clothes of fine silk or cloth, and they all had an aura of wealth and nobility, of which they had both.
"So what is this about" asked a woman in the front, she was a black hair and a straight back, beside her sat a very tall man, he was quite and didn't flinch, he was probably her husband. "Why did you gather all of us here" she said with resentment in her voice, obviously she didn't enjoy this.
Mystogan sat in front with Natsu and Loki sitting beside him. Lisanna and Elfman had left them in order to see their father, who despite also being a noble, was still in the infirmary. Mystogan cleared his throat, "As you know the battle to the south of this castle has intensified, soon the battle will end for the day, and tomorrow we will take you to the north for protection, any other questions"
A man stood up, "Why are you taking us and not one of our own samurai or warriors" he said angrily.
"The local samurai are staying to aid the soldiers in battle, but we are more than qualified to take their place"
The man sat down, only for a new one to take his place soon after, "How far is there to the eastern castle" he asked calmly, he seemed more relaxes about the sudden move, though his voice was still slightly nervous,
"It will take less than a day if we are fast, however with this many people it might take 2 days" he said, he knew that it was a rough estimation, but a good one none the less.
He sat down and this time a woman stood up, she was different than the others, he clothes were tighter and shorter, and her hair was not tied up like the others. Besides that it was not the usual shade of black or blond, it was a dark shade of green.
"What is your question my lady" Mystogan asked her gently.
"Well I would like to ask if a servant was allowed to leave his masters side without fulfilling his contract" she said, her face had an annoyed grimace.
"Well no, but I don't see what that has anything to do with our current situation" he replied confused.
She smiled and brushed some hair aside, "Well one of you is breaking your law" she said sending a look to the three samurai.
Loki sent the woman a look, and suddenly stood up and clenched his fists, his face was locked in and angry grimace, but suddenly he dropping to one knee and lowered his head "I apologize...mistress Karen"
TBC
DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO KEEP THE RELEASE DATE FOR ONCE. Oh and Karen is there to, dun-dun-dun or whatever. Anyway 16 followers and only 4 chapters that pretty good right? Ah who cares I'm just happy that I'm pleasing at least 16 people with my mediocre stories YAY, and 26 reviews awesome. I got some good ideas for Lisanna's powers, and most of them led to transformation, so that's her power, but don't worry there is a twist to it, and the next quiz can be for you guys to try and guess that. Now let's reply to those reviews, shall we:
Fire Girl 108: Sweet
Mushuxlll: Fatastic, I like that, I'll try looking at the grammatical errors soon
darkfire1220: I'm glad you enjoy it and that you find the plot original and yes you were right with the transformation thing, expect the next chapter next friday.
Maiden Warrior: Those are some good suggestions, and one of them are used, to an extent, which one is it I WILL NOT TELL MUHAHAHAHAH
Cantthinkofaname: Don't worry I will update soon, and correct guess, almost
Casey10rok:Good for you
Like before there's only a couple of words I need to explain, and here they are:
Suidae: A large hog like animal that lived in Japan once, but is extinct in the area in modern time
Sutorausu: A japanization of a name all of should know
That's it, goodbye ad if I don't see you next week, goodbye again.