No, I'm not dead -_-'
I apologise profusely for my lack of updates over the past few months, there has just been so much going on in my life that I haven't even had time to think for myself :/
This chapter is pretty short, but I felt that I owed it to all of you waiting for an update to post something, no matter how small :D the next chapter will be much longer, the usual length :)
As for now, enjoy reading! :D And another thanks to my awesome Beta for being so patient with me and hammering out the errors :)
TwilightMelodiac – The update is here :D
HichiShirosaki – really sorry for making you wait so long ;3;
Zororenjilover – unfortunately, this time the wait kind of was forever ^^' I can honestly never see Gajeel doing something even slightly remorseful, he just doesn't seem like the kind of person to regret anything XD
Deirim – Thanks for the understanding ^^ Yes, Shock and Gajeel definitely have some MAJOR issues they need to work through ;v;
11. This Is War (Nickelback)
Climb into the ring for a battle that you can't win
Swing as hard as you can swing, it will still mean nothing
Should've seen it coming
It had to happen sometime
But you went and brought a knife
To an all out gun fight
And the only thing to save
Is the banner that you wave
To be wrapped around your grave
You've gone too far
(get up, get up)
Who do you think you are
(get up so we can finish this)
Is this what you came for
(get up, get up)
Well this means war
(get up so we can finish this)
Say anything you want
But talk will get you nowhere
The only thing you've brought was psychological warfare
Well there's no getting out
And now you got to wonder
Who will dig you out when you're six feet under
And the only thing to save
Is the banner that you wave
To be wrapped around your grave
You've gone too far
(get up, get up)
Who do you think you are
(get up so we can finish this)
Is this what you came for
(get up, get up)
Well this means war
(get up so we can finish this)
And the only thing to save
Is the banner that you wave
To be wrapped around your grave
You've gone too far
(get up, get up)
Who do you think you are
(get up so we can finish this)
Is this what you came for
(get up, get up)
Well this means war
(get up so we can finish this)
Well this means war
Shock kept true to her word – Gajeel confirmed, by way of a few rather reluctant inn keepers and a bar manager, that Shock had indeed left for Magnolia on her own.
Needless to say, the dragonslayer was furious – in his opinion, Shock was being an overly-sensitive, childish brat. He had no time for brats. When he finally caught up with her, he was going to give her a rather large piece of his mind. He was going to show her why he was feared for his temper; put the girl back in her place.
Not that he didn't like her fiery temper – it made working with Shock all the more entertaining. But he didn't appreciate it when he was on the receiving end of her wrath. It annoyed him to think that someone was under the impression that they could walk all over him with no repercussions.
Gajeel had a few hours to mull over his attack plan before he was back in Magnolia with the guild house in sight. With his face set in a scowl – maybe with a tiny bit more of an angry undertone than usual – Gajeel marched into the guild hall with his fists clenched and temper boiling. He planned to find Shock and give her a what-for before storming off and waiting for her to run after him with a few dozen apologies lined up. At least, that's what he assumed she would do.
But as he approached the bar counter, ignoring the other members of the guild scattered around at the various tables, he realised that there was a major hole in his plan. Shock was nowhere to be seen. Again.
He growled in frustration and stalked towards Levy at the far end of the bar counter. He figured the best person to tell him where Shock was without a fuss was Levy – the two of them were damn well joined at the hip. And if Shock was holed up in her room back at the hostels, Levy would be the ideal person to fish her out again.
Gajeel leaned against the counter, his shadow falling ominously over the much-smaller Shadow Gear member. She paused from her task of sorting a few bottles beneath the counter and slowly looked up at the furious dragonslayer towering over her. She swallowed nervously – as much as she had come to forgive Gajeel over the past few months for his past misdeeds, when he acted like the Devil himself it tended to bring back unpleasant memories of her initial experiences with him.
"Can I help you?" she asked quietly, holding back the quiver in her voice.
Gajeel was irritated – he knew seeing Levy cower before him should have made him feel better in the current situation like it always did, but now all he felt was a sharp pang of annoyance at her fear. Maybe Shock had finally gotten through to him on some level about the other guild members being comrades rather than human punching bags. Maybe he was getting tired of being feared all the time. His mouth twisted in a snarl as he glared down at the younger mage, pushing the scandalous notion to the back of his mind.
"Where's that damn friend of yours?" he growled menacingly.
"W-who? Shock?" the blue-haired girl looked confused. "I don't know, I haven't seen her all day. Isn't she still on a job?"
Gajeel clenched his teeth, biting back a few choice words. "She left that dingy hole before me, she should be back already."
"I really don't know where she is," Levy apologised, swallowing down the lump in her throat once again. Her forehead creased with a sudden wave of worry. It was unlike Shock to not come by the guild hall after returning from a mission.
The dark-haired dragonslayer on the other side of the counter let out a sharp sigh and turned, scanning the rest of the guild hall for any sign of his wayward partner. The fact that Levy had no clue where she was unsettled him a bit. Those two were inseparable – it was almost impossible for the one not to know where the other was at any given time.
There was the sudden sound of hurried footsteps thumping along the second floor of the guild hall. Erza came into view and leaned over the balcony, her eyes scanning the hall below. She frowned, her eyes landing on Levy.
"Levy, are all the S-ranked mages back at the guild?" the red-headed mage asked. Gajeel frowned at the hint of urgency in her tone. Erza was clearly worried about something – and he had a sinking feeling he knew it had something to do with Shock.
Levy quickly looked around the tables and then back up to Erza. "Yeah, they're all here. Why?"
Erza swore under her breath, slamming a hand down angrily on the wooden banister. A few mages looked up from their conversation to see what the ruckus was about.
"Erza?" Levy started forwards, her stomach sinking. "What's the matter?"
"One of the S-rank missions is missing from the board," Erza ground out between clenched teeth.
There were a few collective gasps from the floor. If all the top mages in the guild were in the bar and a mission was missing, it meant a lesser-skilled mage had taken it. Realization suddenly dawned on Gajeel, and he froze for an instant before biting out a few choice curse words and bolting for the door.
The fool of a partner of his was going to get herself killed!
…
Shock crested the hill just outside of the town described in the sheet of paper clutched in her hand. It hadn't been all that hard to get an S-ranked mission off the second floor with the help of her Shadow charm. It gave her a small sense of accomplishment when she remembered how she had walked straight past Erza with the sheet in her hand. Her smile of victory faded to a scowl when she thought of the other S-ranked mage she knew – her partner would no doubt be furious with her for taking on a mission aboveher level, but she was sick and tired of his assumptions about her skill.
She would show Gajeel once and for all how strong she actually was, even if it took an S-rank mission to prove it.
Once again, really really sorry for the length of this chapter and the long wait – and I can't even say for sure when I'll have time for the next chapter ;v;
I just urge you awesome fans and readers to be patient and bear with me until things are normal again 3