The Knight and the Beast
Chapter Three: The Girl of Fate
A scarlet haired beauty stood outside of a little cottage on the edge of town. Her long right red hair ended near the end of her back. Her brown eyes were gleaming in the warm dawn light. Her green skirt reached the ground, but was a couple of inches above the ground so that she didn't trip on her black ankle-high boots. Her black laced-up corset was tight and amplified her already large chest. A sword was tied to her black belt.
The woman sighed out, happily before looking down to the basket in her hands that had a note in it.
"Hurry back with those things Erza," an old man's voice rang through the oak door she stood in front of.
The woman, Erza, smiled. "Yes Grandfather," she called out. She hopped down the stone steps of the cabin before walking down the dirt path.
A short man walked out of the cabin. His brown shirt was covered in soot from fire and his black pants were singed in some places. His white hair was covered by a mouse brown cap on his balding head. A pipe was in his hand and a smile was on his face. He watched as the young woman walked towards the town.
He huffed before turning around. "Erza, you were meant for greatness," he said. He looked up to the clear blue sky as a couple of birds flew passed. "So why do you stay in this town?"
Erza walked down the dirt road towards the town. She swung the basket back and forth as she made her way. She hummed an old tune her grandfather sang to her as a child. Her brown eyes scanned around the forest greenery and saw motion in it.
She stopped in her tracks to see what it was. Her hand went to the hilt of her sword and she tightened her grip on it as the rustling sounds came closer to her.
Erza pulled out her sword just as a baby deer popped out of the woods. She stared at it, blinking a few times before she sighed. She stood up from her fighting stance and sheathed her sword. The fawn crooked its head to the side. The woman smiled before reaching out to it. The fawn sniffed her hand before rubbing its head into it.
Erza's eyes softened. "I have to go now." She walked away from the fawn and the animal watched her before it went back into the forest.
{Line Skip}
The town market was busy as usual. Merchants from all over the area came to this town to sell their goods. It was the only town for miles in Fiore.
Erza took a deep breath of the baked goods as she passed the bakery. She looked through the colourful clothes in the seamstress' shop window.
She went into the bookstore and saw the two books her grandfather wanted. From the corner of her eye, Erza saw a blonde head hold a stack of books, perfectly balanced on her palm while holding some other things. The owner of the store was worried that the blonde would drop it.
Erza huffed as she paid of her things and walked out of the store. Strange…She walks around unattended by a man. She must not be from around here. She took note how the other girls are constantly having a man on their arms. Erza was an exception. Mostly because men get…nervous…around her.
She walked around the market place, looking for metal her grandfather needed. She saw a large man with blonde hair walking towards her with another man with light green that reached his waist and another covering his head with an armoured helmet. The blonde man waved out to Erza and she nodded back, making her way towards the three.
"Erza," the blonde said.
"Laxus," she said. She turned to the other two. "Freed, Bickslow."
"Erza-san," Freed said, bowing in respect.
Bickslow grinned in response before sticking out his tongue. "Whatcha doing here Erza?"
Her brown eyes peered down to the basket with the books. "Grandfather needed some things from the market so I'm going out."
"Busy making more weapons huh?" Laxus said.
Erza nodded. "What about you three? Looking around for potential wives?" She playful smirk made its way to her lips as she watched Freed and Laxus squirm and blush and Bickslow grinning alongside her.
Laxus stopped squirming and glared behind Erza. "Incoming Erza."
"It's him, isn't it?" she asked, her smirk immediately disappearing and replaced by a scowl.
"Yes," Freed said. "Shall we run for-"
"Well! Isn't it my most prized woman in town?!" a voice overly cheery exclaimed behind the redhead. She turned around and saw a few people behind the four.
Erza took noticed to a white-haired young woman with indigo eyes. Her brown eyes went to her first because of the way she was dressing. A very revealing light purple corset that went beyond of showing off her chest. Her white skirt was well above her thighs and that cocky smile of hers as she gripped tightly to a man's arm made Erza want to beat the woman senseless.
The man the woman was gripping onto had black hair with a couple of locks dyed white. His hair was loose except for the locks of white which were braided down the side of his face. His red eyes seemed that they were piercing through your soul. Covering his black shirt and pants was a large fur overcoat that practically buried his neck. There was a sadistic grin on his face.
Next to the man was another that held a scythe. He wore a black cloak over his bare chest. A large piece of midnight blue fabric acted as pants. His bald head was covered by the hood of his cloak and his black eyes were peering to the ground.
"Midnight," Laxus said with a glare.
"Now, now," the white-haired woman said. "Don't forget about Erigor and I Laxus-kun."
Laxus nearly puked. Freed and Bickslow glared alongside Erza. "What do you want Angel, Midnight, Erigor?" Erza asked.
"Just the usual Erza," Midnight said. He pulled away from Angel, obtaining a whine from her, and throwing an arm around Erza. He pulled the redhead close. "Marry me Girlie."
Erza scoffed before she pushed him away from her. "You know I don't roll that way. Besides," Erza said, pointing her chin towards Angel, "how will you handle breaking every girl's heart in the town?"
"I think I'll manage." Midnight took out a sword from behind his back.
Erza's brown eyes widened as she watched Midnight trace his fingers over the blade. "The hell?" She looked to her leather sheath; it was empty. Erza's eyes hardened. "How did you-"
"You simply get distracted easily Erza," Midnight said with a grin.
Angel giggled behind her hand, earning a glare from Laxus. "You shouldn't be carrying a sword with you Erza-san. It's unladylike."
"Why you-" Bickslow said. He was stopped by Freed.
"Let's not get too crazy, shall we?" Freed said. "Simply give Erza's sword back to her Midnight and we can all be on our way."
Midnight smirked. He held the sword out to Erza's neck. "This sword belonged to your father, yes?"
"What of it?"
"Nothing." The man looked up to Erza with a dark look in his red eyes. "How 'bout I make a bargain with you?"
"A bargain?" Laxus said.
"What kind of bargain?" Erza asked.
"I'll give you back your sword, if, you agree to marry me."
Erza's eyes widened. She looked to the sword then back to Midnight's eyes. He was serious. The sword meant a lot to her. It was her father's when he served under a king some time before he met her mother and had her. After her mother passed away after Erza was born, her father and grandfather were all that she had. Now, she only had her father's silver sword as a memoir of him left. But, was it enough to give her freedom away to keep it?
Erza gulped and opened her mouth. "I…"
"Meow!" A blue cat ran through Midnight's legs. He looked down confused.
"HAPPY!" a girl yelled.
"Huh?"
Someone ran into Midnight, causing the man to fall and Erza's sword to fly into the air and into her hands. The person who collided with Midnight was kneeling in front of Erza. The redhead's breathing hitched when she recognized the blonde hair from the bookstore.
The girl's shoulder length blonde hair was slightly dishevelled. Her brown eyes were looking around, searching for something. Her bag was hanging on her back and her basket was filled with spilled books, stone figurines, cleaning utensils, torches, and wrapped fish. Her navy jacket had ridden up, exposing her stomach and her short skirt was half-an-inch from showing her unmentionables. Her chest nearly seemed to be spilling out from her jacket.
The blonde girl pouted. "Where's that stupid cat?" she asked herself.
"Uh…Miss?" The blonde looked up to Freed. He pointed to Bickslow holding the blue cat that ran through Midnight's legs. "Is this your cat?"
The girl's face lit up. "Happy!" She got about, leaving her things on the ground, before running over to Bickslow and grabbing the cat from the scruff of his neck. Her brown eyes glared at the cat. "Do you know how deep in shit I would be if I lost you Stupid Cat?"
"Isn't this your cat?" Bickslow asked.
The girl shook her head. "No. It's my…hm…" She cocked her head to the side, thinking. "I don't actually know what to call him."
There was a muffled voice from somewhere. Erza could've sworn the voice said something along the lines of 'boyfriend'. The blonde girl's face had a blush on it as she turned back to her bag, mumbling to herself.
"I better go," she said. The blonde picked up the bag and shook it before throwing it over her shoulder. She slid the fallen books into the basket before picking it up. Her hand pat the blue cat on her shoulder before she turned around to leave. "Sorry for the bother."
"Wait!" Erza called out.
"Hm?"
"I wanted to thank you for getting back my sword," the redhead said, looking down to the silver blade in her hands.
"Sword? Oh." The blonde looked to the redhead's longing look to the blade in her hands. Strange…No woman around here carries a sword. The blonde waved her hand. "Don't mention it." She turned around again.
"Can I know your name at least?"
The blonde looked back and had a bright smile on her face. "I'm Lucy. What about you, Red?"
Erza smiled at the nickname this girl she just met gave her. "I'm Erza Scarlet."
"Nice to meet you Erza," Lucy said.
"Likewise Lucy."
"I have somewhere to be. Or else I'll have a lot of people on my back," Lucy said.
As Lucy walked away from Erza and her group, Erigor of Midnight's grabbed the blonde's wrist. She looked to the hand on her arm before glaring to the man. Erigor had no emotion in his eyes, but they were looking down to Lucy.
"You do realize that you made Midnight-sama fall to the dirt?"
Lucy looked back to the white-haired girl on her knees next to an enraged man on the ground. She hid her smirk well before turning to Erigor.
"No, actually. But you better let me go before you regret it," Lucy said.
Erigor cracked a grin. "And what if I don't?"
Lucy sighed; "You asked for it." Lucy took a deep breath before releasing a tune from an old sung into the air. She turned back to Erza, Laxus, Freed, and Bickslow. "I warn you to get back."
Midnight looked around, waiting for something to happen. Erigor's grip on Lucy's wrist weakened. Angel looked around with an angry look in her indigo eyes. She turned back to the blonde.
"I think you're bluffing!" she yelled. "There's nothing around-"
"DRAGON!" someone yelled.
A shadow descended upon the town square. A red scaled dragon stood in the middle of the square, its head held high. It roared. People from the village were scattering about. Erza was separated from her friends but still saw Lucy in the distance. Midnight's red eyes widened as he looked up. Erigor removed his hand from Lucy's wrist. Angel grabbed onto Midnight's arm in fear.
Erza looked to Lucy who was walking towards the dragon. She's a dragon tamer?! Erza thought.
Lucy laid a hand on the dragon's leg. It looked down before nuzzling its head on Lucy's arm. She stroked its head before it wrapped its tail around her and placing her on his back. She smiled before turning to Erza. She nodded sadly before patting the dragon.
"Let's go home Natsu," she said.
With a roar, the dragon flapped its wings and flew in the air. The dragon disappeared into the skies to the west.