Please, for the love of all that is holy, listen to this band.
Synk - Thank you! And I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it myself either ^^
Aikoyu Saotome - I still really appreciate all of the time you take to help me with this, gives me a confidence boost before I put it out the ^^; and thank you so much ;3;
indescribable music - I'm very much alive, and I intend to stay that way XD Thanks! I'm glad you do ^^
13. It's Time (Imagine Dragons)
So this is what you meant
When you said that you were spent
And now it's time to build from the bottom of the pit
Right to the top
Don't hold back
Packing my bags and giving the academy a rain check
I don't ever want to let you down
I don't ever want to leave this town
Cause after all
The city never sleeps at night
It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit
I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand
That I'm never changing who I am
So this is where you fell
And I am left to sell
The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell
Right to the top
Don't look back
Turning to rags and giving the commodities a rain check
I don't ever want to let you down
I don't ever want to leave this town
Cause after all
The city never sleeps at night
It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit
I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand
That I'm never changing who I am
It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit
I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand
That I'm never changing who I am
This road never looked so lonely
This house doesn't burn down slowly
To ashes, to ashes
It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit
I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand
That I'm never changing who I am
It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit
I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand
That I'm never changing who I am
"You don't have time for breaks, pipsqueak! This is serious business."
Bent almost double with her hands on her knees, Shock glared up at her partner menacingly. Her chest heaved and her sides ached from exertion. Perspiration dripped from her chin, and she wiped it out of her eyes irritably. She felt as though her legs were about to give out on her, but she knew if she dropped to even one knee, Gajeel would be hauling her back to her feet in an instant.
She and Gajeel had been training from sunrise to sunset for the past two weeks straight, ever since he had brought her back from her failed solo mission. Makarov and Erza were still furious with her, and training with Gajeel had been their form of punishment for Shock – at first, she had thought it to be a far less severe punishment than what she had been expecting. Training with her partner after months of whiling away her time behind the bar in the guild hall – it sounded pretty good to her, in fact. But after two solid weeks of Gajeel's incessant drills and punishing routine, she was starting to see the method behind Makarov's madness.
"Excuse me for a moment while I catch my breath," she sneered, gasping in mouthfuls of air at a time.
Gajeel just grinned wickedly and cracked his knuckles. "No use catching your breath when you're just going to lose it again."
Shock groaned loudly, shoulders slumping in defeat. She swore he was making this as difficult as possible on purpose – he probably enjoyed seeing her suffer, the sadistic wretch.
"Enough of your whining, we have work to do," Gajeel sauntered past his exhausted partner, dragging her along by the collar of her jacket when she didn't move.
Shock just stumbled along behind him, limbs aching and wishing fervently that she wasn't so fatigued – she would have loved to clock him over the back of the head with her fist for thinking he could lead her around like some sort of pet.
"I can walk by myself, thank you very much," she bit out through clenched teeth, managing to shrug out of Gajeel's grip. With some difficulty, she straightened to her full height and marched on ahead.
Gajeel paused for a moment, watching his partner stride ahead like all of her fatigue had melted away in an instant. It kind of reminded him of when he and Shock had first met – she had barely been able to walk by herself back then too, but had still refused any assistance until it was literally forced upon her. He smirked. She had definitely changed a lot since then. His smirk widened into an almost feral grin – her pride was going to cause her a lot more trouble than it was worth, that was for sure.
Starting after Shock before she got too far, Gajeel snickered. "By the time I'm done with you, walking by yourself will be the least of your problems."
…
"I said dodge it!" there was a thunderous crack as Gajeel's metal fist collided with a nearby tree, splintering it into a pile of sawdust in the process.
Shock had just managed to roll out of the way of the attack, landing in a defensive crouch as she watched her partner retract his arm. Heart racing with adrenaline, she made a grab for her water charm. But before her hand could grasp it, another one of Gajeel's powerful attacks sent her sprawling out of its path.
"Didn't I say you weren't allowed to use those?" he growled, snapping his arm back and rolling his shoulder. He scowled at her. "You're not taking this seriously enough, squirt."
Shock rolled her eyes and snorted disdainfully. "Of course I'm taking this seriously! I'd just like not to get beaten to death with those iron clubs you call hands – and how do you expect me to defend myself if I'm not allowed to use my only weapons?"
Gajeel's scowl morphed to a smirk. "That's the fun part."
"You have got to be kidding me," Shock muttered under her breath, springing back to her feet as Gajeel readied himself for another swing at her.
"That's what you've got to realise, pipsqueak," he chuckled menacingly as he pulled his arm back. "You won't have those pretty little trinkets of yours to fall back on in every battle."
Shock started to run for the tree line bordering the edge of the training ring. She'd have to make sure he couldn't get a clear shot at her with his iron fists. Gajeel snickered at her tactic – she was a smart one. He began to power up his attack as she ran.
"The only thing you can rely on in battle," Gajeel hurled his metallic arm forwards, straight towards the treeline, "is yourself!"
Shock gritted her teeth and dove behind the nearest tree as she entered the treeline. She could hear the ominous whistle of Gajeel's rapidly extending fist as it hurtled towards her. She had just barely hit the ground when the tree next to her exploded in a shower of splinters and dead leaves. She hissed and covered her face with her arms to protect her eyes from the sharp little projectiles flying around in every direction. As the dust settled, Shock wasted no time in pushing herself to her feet and sprinting deeper into the woods – limiting Gajeel's range with his fists was one way to level the playing field. And with her smaller size, it also presented the opportunity to use stealth and the element of surprise to her advantage.
She scowled as she ran, dodging and weaving between thick tree trunks and leaping over gnarled roots on the forest floor. Gajeel certainly wasn't one to play fair – there he was, using his own embedded magical abilities to dish out the punishment, but she wasn't allowed to retaliate with magic of her own simply because it wasn't part of her natural state of being.
Shock bit her tongue as another shockwave from Gajeel's prolonged attacks sent her stumbling at full-tilt into another tree. She hissed as the rough bark skinned the palms of her hands, but she kept moving. He could keep charging around like a bull in a china shop – that suited her just fine.
It made it easier for her to track his movements.
While Gajeel had brute strength on his side, Shock was a lot faster. She used this to her advantage, disappearing into the bowels of the woods and hoping Gajeel would stop smashing it to bits. Her plan wouldn't be worth anything if her cover was just a huge pile of sawdust. She slowed to a jog when the sound of splintering trees was just a dull crackle behind her. Pausing to catch her breath, Shock surveyed her surroundings – the trees in this part of the woods were tall and looked sturdy enough to climb. Summer was starting to creep back into the area, and the limbs of the trees were covered in a thick layer of leaves – perfect for hiding in.
Shock turned her attention back to the sounds around her. No birds sang in the trees - they had probably all been frightened off by Gajeel's rampage - but it sounded like he had finally stopped smashing things to bits. An eerie silence descended upon the woods. Shock smirked – the chances of her surprise attack working were pretty high if things stayed like this.
Casting a furtive glance over her shoulder to make sure the coast was still clear, Shock began scaling the nearest tree with the thickest leaves. It had been ages since she had last climbed a tree of any sort, but once she was a quarter of the way up the trunk and had found her rhythm, the rest came as naturally as it had when she was a child. Resting on a high branch, Shock yanked her tank top over her charms to stop their constant clinking and rustling. Since she had been banned from using them during this training session, Shock knew she should have left them behind at the guild hall with Levy – but she couldn't bring herself to part with her charms for even the briefest of moments. In hindsight, it was not the best policy to follow.
Shock crouched on the sturdy tree limb and began her wait. She knew the chances of Gajeel passing under her particular tree were slim, but she was hoping he would follow the trail she had deliberately left through the undergrowth. If not, she had to keep a sharp ear out for any unusual sounds in the woods so she could adjust her position to the path he had decided to take. It took a few minutes before Shock finally heard the sounds of Gajeel making his way through the dense undergrowth of the woods – it seemed as though luck was on her side. She sniggered under her breath – he really did march around like a bull in a china shop, he had absolutely no sense of stealth. But then again, with iron-hard attacks like his, what need did he have for stealth?
Shock rolled her eyes at the thought and readied herself for the attack, waiting tensely as she scanned the ground below for any signs of her partner. She kept as still as possible, determined not to make a single sound until he was right underneath her.
Suddenly, Gajeel's heavy footfalls stopped. Shock strained her ears for any noise – the rustle of a bush, or even the sound of his breathing – but there was nothing. Suddenly very uneasy, Shock shifted slightly on her perch, carefully searching her immediate area for any sign of him. All she could see were tree trunks and bushes. A slight creaking noise somewhere to her left was Shock's only warning to abandon her position at light speed before a solid metal club smashed into the tree she had been perched in mere seconds before. Amidst the spray of debris, Shock muttered a few choice curses under her breath as she hit the ground, rolling on impact. She didn't wait around for her partner to make his appearance – she started running again, not keen to be on the receiving end of one of his trademark blows.
Shock was seething – although whether it was with herself or Gajeel she wasn't entirely sure. That clever bastard had managed to see straight through her plan. Was she too predictable? Was he a smarter tactician than he let on? Or had it just been dumb luck? A gap in the leaf cover he had managed to spot her through?
No matter, the fact still remained that Shock had to come up with a new strategy – something completely out of the box; something that Gajeel would never see coming. In other words, something completely opposite to what she would normally do.
Even though Gajeel and Shock had never formally trained with one another since becoming team mates, it was obvious to the charm mage that during the few times they had fought together on missions, he had been paying attention to her fighting style. Well, he had yet to see the tactician in her.
"You're going to have to come up with something a lot better than that if you wanna win this thing, squirt!" Gajeel's mocking voice echoed through the trees behind her as Shock ran.
Gritting her teeth to stop a sharp retort slipping out, she kept going. She could hear Gajeel ploughing through the scrub behind her, probably grinning like a maniac because he thought he had her cornered. A thought suddenly occurred to Shock, and she let a twisted grin of her own form.
She veered off sharply to the right and dove into the thick underbrush between the trees, completely concealing herself in the dense bushes. Knowing time was of the essence – it would be a matter of moments before Gajeel passed her hiding place – Shock quickly flipped herself onto her stomach and tensed her legs, ready to spring. Peering through a gap in the leaves, she watched carefully for her partner's approach.
It wasn't long before Gajeel came tearing through the woods, the aforementioned maniacal grin still plastered on his face with the thrill of the hunt. Shock smirked for a split second before launching herself out of her hiding place. She sped over the distance separating her and her target, spearing him neatly in the ribs as he passed. The two of them hit the ground and rolled with the force of impact, Shock managing to keep her hold on her partner's shoulders as they tumbled through bushes and piles of leaf litter. Once the pair had skidded to a halt, Gajeel wasted no time in flinging Shock off of him, and jumping to his feet. But, before he had managed to get hid guard up again, Shock had already sprang to her feet and proceeded to tackle him to the ground yet again. She was determined to win this sparring match.
Gajeel hit the ground with a grunt of surprise, Shock's weight on his chest driving the air from his lungs. She had probably landed with her knees in his gut on purpose. Gajeel bucked his entire body to the side to try and throw Shock off balance, but she used the movement against him and managed to flip him over onto his stomach. Growling, Gajeel tried to right himself, but Shock was already sitting squarely on his back. Even though she was so much lighter, and Gajeel could have easily thrown her off, Shock had somehow managed to hook her feet underneath some nearby protruding tree roots. He was locked down.
Shock smirked, sensing Gajeel's seething, enraged indignance at being pinned by the 'lesser-experienced' member of their partnership. She noticed his left arm curling into a fist, and grabbed hold of it before he could initiate another one of his speciality attacks. She twisted his arm halfway up his back, earning a growl of protest from the dragonslayer.
"You sure know how to fight dirty, don't you?" he hissed menacingly, turning his head slightly to glare at her through the corner of his eye.
Shock just smirked and laughed. "Coming from you?"
"You just wait til I get up-"
"Oh come now, Gajeel. Don't be a sore loser," Shock interjected smugly, twisting his arm a little higher to make her point. "I think we both know that I've won this little sparring match."
Gajeel growled, teeth bared. She laughed again, but shuddered slightly on the inside. She knew it wasn't going to be a pretty sight when she eventually had to let him up again. Shock was already formulating a way to get up and away in light speed.
"You may have won this round, pipsqueak," Gajeel snarled menacingly, his shoulders tensing, "but don't think I'll make our next training session this easy."
"The fact that I wasn't allowed to use any magic at all counts as easy?" she snorted disbelievingly.
"I could have made you do it with your hands tied behind your back, too," her partner smirked.
Shock just rolled her eyes. "You're so generous," she drawled sarcastically, digging her knee into the small of his back.
Gajeel snarled violently, and Shock knew it was time to stop pushing her luck. Sniggering, she eased herself off of her partner's back, being careful to still keep a firm hold on his twisted arm. She slowly wiggled her boots free from the tree root anchors and scouted her immediate area for the fastest escape route. Having found a suitable path with the least obstructions, Shock smirked as she said,
"Until next time, loser!"
In a flash, she was gone, hurtling down the woodland path at light speed. Letting out an enraged roar, Gajeel was on his feet in a nanosecond, tearing down the path after his fleeing partner.
Hearing what sounded like an inhuman beast charging through the trees behind her, Shock doubled her speed, grinning wildly. Laughter bubbled in the back of her throat, although it was tinged with a hint of panic.
It felt good to have things back to some semblance of normality between her and Gajeel.
I've got a few more filler chapters lined up to sort of build on Shock and Gajeel's relationship, I promise they won't be boring ^^;
Thanks so much for all the support! As always, constructive feedback is much loved ^3^