Chapter Six
On their way out of town, they paused to fill their flasks with water at the river's edge. Laxus had turned up the volume on his headphones so that even Lucy could hear. She respected the need for silence as she had pestered him quite a bit that morning with all her questions. Soon the sun shone down upon their backs with merciless heat. By midday, Lucy was well on her way to either a tan or a blistering sun burn. Three days in the desert were wearing on her, and she was soon fantasizing about the cold of Seven.
As they walked north the lands surrounding the banks of the growing river were becoming more hospitable. Rich soils that had been deposited by years of river silt became home to a great expanse of life. Reeds swayed lazily in the wind, frogs croaking, and dragonflies' wings could be heard buzzing about. The appearance of trees was even more welcome; they granted her some shelter from the sun.
By late afternoon Lucy felt she was covered in a thick film of salty sweat. The pace Laxus set became a little bit slower, probably in consideration for how she'd begun huffing and puffing. She knew the initial speed hadn't been intentional, as the fast beat of the music had a direct effect on how quickly he moved. And, to be fair, she'd kept up with it for most of the day, but now she was exhausted.
The first tip off that something was coming was a low hum. It vibrated in the air, as if the sky was building up an electric charge. Laxus tensed slightly, coming to a sudden stop. Lucy hadn't been paying attention, and almost walked into him. Next came the rustling. Particles of sand grated against each other as they gathered in a cloud passing across the dunes. "There's a dust storm coming."
Lucy scanned the horizon, coming up with a blank. "I don't see anything."
Laxus began walking again, "We need to find shelter."
"There's nothing around here except a couple of trees."
He shrugged, "That's fine. Anything to break up the wind."
Having searched around a bit unsuccessfully, the storm started to darken up the sky. It was moving faster than any Lucy had ever seen. To make matters worse, there were frequent lightning strikes. The bolts of light reminded her, "You could probably outrun this." That caused the dragon slayer to pause, amber eyes fixing her with a piercing glare.
"Are you asking me to leave you behind?"
There was legitimate anger in the statement. Lucy became flustered, "I didn't mean it like that." The look he was giving her felt like it was physically boring into her. Appealingly, she held her hands out in front of her, as if to ward off his animosity. Laxus let her squirm until he was satisfied she wouldn't bring it up again. It was a personal insult to him that she'd even thought of it. Reaching into the bag of medical supplies, he retrieved some clean washcloths that he'd brought for washing out the cuts. He handed one to Lucy and instructed her to moisten it with some of the water.
"When the storm comes you'll need to keep your mouth and nose covered. You don't want the sand in your lungs."
Lucy nodded and did as he said. As the storm grew ever nearer they settled on a tree with a wide trunk. Laxus made sure they didn't choose anything in the river basin, explaining that the storm would actually be worse and that it might overtake them if they stayed low. The lone tree didn't provide much safety from the wind, unfortunately. Knowing this, he sat down, leaning against the trunk, and held open his coat for her. She raised an eyebrow skeptically, but he persisted, "Unless you have a better idea?"
Lucy couldn't suppress the blush of embarrassment. With a bit of hesitation, she sat next to him, and he pulled the coat up so it was covering their heads from the wind. To her further discomfiture, he also pulled her in closer and put his arm around her shoulder so he could hold the coat over her. It was very close quarters. Lucy focused on breathing evenly through the cloth when the sands started to pick up. It burned her eyes, so she shut them as tightly as possible. When she could feel the pressure of the sand building up around them though she panicked, "Are we going to be buried?"
If it had been anyone but a dragon slayer, they wouldn't have heard her over the wind. The comforting squeeze on her shoulders told her everything would be fine. Lucy struggled to regain her earlier calm, remembering when she inhaled some of the stinging sands to keep the cloth covering her mouth. More and more of the sands began to envelope them and a few lightning strikes came down close to them, but never actually contacted them. It was a strange phenomenon, as they were at one of the highest points in the desert, but Lucy chalked it up to something Laxus related. Half an hour later and the winds died down. It had been a fairly powerful storm. The sand was up to their shoulders and Lucy felt like every part of her had been scoured by winds. Her skin on her face was particularly raw.
Laxus began to shift, unburying them as he pushed the coat off. Lucy had to climb up out of the hole that had formed around them, and Laxus gently helped lift her. When she got up onto the hill she saw the river had been completely covered. Laxus noticed her confused look, and said, "That's why you don't go lower in a sandstorm. Always go to the highest point." Lucy nodded, as the basin had been practically filled in. There was just the hint of its edges in the way the sand had settled.
They set off again following the vague impressions of the river. It cleared after a couple miles, merely slightly muddy from the disrupted dust. Before they knew it a town was appearing on the horizon. While the outside edges were a sleepy sprawl, the center was bustling. They hit the fields first, walking down the dirt roads between large expanses of crops. Golden rippling seas of grains soothed the soul and several times they crossed paths with friendly farm dogs, which Lucy always insisted on stopping to properly greet. She was in very high spirits when they reached downtown.
Winding around traffic laden streets took time. The sun was growing heavy in the sky, leaning towards the horizon. Before them was a very empty dock, save a worker loading crates on the platform. Lucy found herself inquiring about the ferry, to which the worker responded it wouldn't be in until tomorrow morning. She shouldn't have been surprised to not find a ferry waiting for their fateful arrival, but it was frustrating to turn back and start looking for accommodations. Laxus lead the way, being more familiar with the surroundings. They tarried on their path to grab a bite to eat, his treat, which Lucy was grateful for. Her funds weren't really adequate for this extended travel.
Retiring for the day at a modest hotel, he bought them separate rooms and informed Lucy they would be leaving at daybreak for the docks. Jumping into the shower was first and foremost; that layer of grime had to be done away with. As the water cascaded her mind wandered. What exactly had she gotten herself into? For one, a week alone with a motion sick Laxus. She could hardly imagine how that would go. The last day or so had made it clear he handled his own weakness poorly in front of others. This meant she would need to be mindful of not drawing attention to the situation. With a sigh she resigned to a whole lot of doing nothing.
As she dried her hair there came a knocking at her door; a familiar male voice, asking for assistance. Lucy looked down at her pajamas. They didn't leave much to the imagination. Having literally just changed into them, she couldn't bring herself to put something else on. Already she could imagine the snide commentary as she went over to open the door. The look she received made her blush to the very roots of her blonde hair. It was thorough, to say the least, and she cleared her throat politely. After all, he was dressed similarly, having taken off his shirt to attempt the wrapping of his bandages. His hair was also wet, so she gathered he'd also taken a shower.
"I can't reach far enough to wrap it," he said simply and brushed past her while handing her the loose ball of cotton. The mattress creaked in protest as he sat waiting on the edge of her bed. Lucy could feel his eyes still as she rerolled the gauze, but was relieved to see he was stoically staring at a corner of the ceiling by the time she looked up. She might've thought the feeling was imaginary, but he had this smile like the cat that ate the canary. Pushing down her squeamish feelings about drawing close enough to put the bandage on, she focused almost clinically on the wound. Her attention was on the puffy appearance, and without thinking reached out to probe the edges with tentative finger tips.
Looking up, he was clenching his jaw and his hands were white knuckled as they clutched at the cheap comforter of the hotel bed. She took advantage of his resigned silence to examine it some more, but was careful to not put any pressure on it. It felt hot, and she could see some kind of gunk in the ragged edges deep within the wide gash. The whole thing was as long as from his right collar bone to the bottom of his left ribcage. "It's really swollen and you didn't clean it out enough; it looks infected."
He laughed dryly, "Well I won't stop you if you want to try to do better." Mutely she went and grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom. He braced himself against the pain, and she dug in, determined to get everything out. Laxus didn't make a sound. When she stepped back to look it over again, it was clear of any debris but bleeding. He waited while gathering his composure, eyes shut, before relaxing, hesitantly passing her the bag of salve. Lucy made short work of that too, and soon an exhausted looking Laxus was leaning back on his elbows while she passed the roll of gauze around him. All possible awkwardness had been long forgotten during the process.
A fleeting touch to his forehead, and Lucy said, "You feel too warm."
"I'll be fine," he insisted, pushing the offending hand away.
"Do you want me to wrap your hands too?"
"I've got it."
Without so much as a thank you, Laxus took his leave of her. She didn't take it personally, it probably stung like hell. The rag was brown and yellow; testament to just how much abrasion he'd suffered by her hand. It couldn't be helped however. Such a deep cut could not be taken lightly, even if he'd prefer not to think of it as serious. Lucy was more bothered by that then his indifference. She decided he just wasn't taking good enough care of himself. It was perhaps a good idea to get him back to his team sooner rather than later, as she remembered their constant attention upon an indignant leader. Certainly they would know him well enough to work this out; they would know the right words to say and have more of his trust.
Feeling better after making this resolution, Lucy drifted off to sleep. Dreams passed in a meaningless blur. She woke well rested. Horologium commented that it was nice to see her looking so animated. To be honest, it was just such a relief to have everything set out before her. All that was left was the follow through. It was too soon when yet another rapping at her door shocked her out of her contemplation.
Having gotten properly dressed, Lucy informed Laxus and they headed for the docks. She was starting to appreciate the companionable silence. It gave her time to space out and take it all in. Having gotten to the docks at only a half hour past dawn, they found it full of activity. The ferry was not very big, and judging from where it sat in the water not overly laden, but the dockworkers were going full tilt to fix that. A few stuck out with similar attire, and Lucy guessed it was the crew. There were two males and two females, the rest of the group appeared to be local farmers loading their goods onto the ship for transport.
One of the crew called out for a captain Penelope, directing a plainly dressed woman in their direction. She had just been lifting the crates herself, and paused to walk towards them. "One of the locals told me you were looking for passage on the river?" She inquired in a no nonsense fashion, skipping past formalities. The work was tiring and left one without much love of small talk.
"To Halophila."
"We will be making many stops between here and the sea port," she pointed out. "We aren't a dedicated passenger ship either."
"That's fine," Laxus replied without skipping a beat. They haggled briefly on price, before the captain pointed out something else unpleasant.
"We also don't provide food, you'll need to get it yourself or pay me to grab some during our stops. And, since we have only a handful of rooms, I'll ask you to share."
Laxus looked at Lucy for any indication if this would be a problem, to which she simply shrugged and said, "How big is the room?"
Captain Penelope wordlessly led them over the ramp onto the deck. Several doors opened to the deck, a row of which were the rooms. When the captain showed them their quarters, Lucy couldn't help but make a bit of a face. It was tiny, maybe ten feet by ten again, with a singular cot. "I can bring you a spare pallet," Penelope added, as if this were a huge bonus. "It'll be tight, probably will cover all of the floor."
Laxus pulled Lucy aside, "Will this work? It may be quite a wait if we pass on this one."
"I don't see a bathroom," Lucy noticed. Penelope, who had been politely keeping her distance, intruded here.
"There's a shared bathroom inside the main living quarters. We also have a rain barrel for showers, so long as we're all mindful of how much we use."
Lucy wanted to tell the captain that her comments were only making it worse, but instead she nodded to Laxus. "This will work."
They paid the captain, plus a little extra if she would grab some food for the day, and they settled in. The ship was almost loaded, with the view from the cabins being eclipsed by crates. In half an hour the captain was back from town with a few pastries and an extra pallet. As predicted, the cot and pallet combined took up all of the remaining space. The captain then declared that they were about to shove off, and that she'd put a couple of chairs out on the deck for them if they so choose to enjoy the view. Laxus resolutely declined, claiming the more comfortable cot, and turned away from her on his side. The conversation was over.
Compared to Natsu's constant complaining, this was by far preferable. It wasn't fun getting denied the bed, but she understood his logic. Laxus being immobilized by his nausea would get more out of it. Penelope cleared her throat and stepped out. Lucy followed after, feeling uncomfortably cramped in that little cabin. A brief excursion showed the ship was double sided, but she couldn't quite figure out the mechanism of its propulsion. It didn't appear to be powered directly by magic like cars, but it didn't have large smoke trails coming from the stacks either, so it couldn't have been coal. Whatever it was made good time, as the paddle wheels spun with more vigor then she saw in a standard steamboat. Having been foiled in her quest to find the source of its power, she climbed onto one of the crates to sit in the sun. For the rest of the day she was passing the time on the deck with Plue. While he sat in her lap she read a favorite book for the hundredth time.
A stop was coming up. Lucy could feel the wheels slowing and the pull of the river on the boat. Not bothering to get up, she remained seated and tried to finish up the passage before her. Her spirit started to shake even more, giving off a distressed, "Puun pun!" The celestial dog even tugged lightly at her sleeve, but Lucy brushed the paw away, insisting that she was almost done. A deep rumble interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up to see a very large man towering over her. "You're in my way," he grumbled at her, shocking her into hopping rather clumsily off the crate in her haste. Plue closed his own gate as he fell off her lap. The man was at least six and half feet tall, possibly even seven. It made it so Lucy had to crane her neck to look up at him. His eyes were severe and underscored by deep black bags. Despite the heat, he was clothed in a thick flowing coat that was reminiscent of the royal guard, except in a blood red hue. It matched those intimidating crimson eyes that bored into her as she sheepishly backed away, only to bump into the captain.
"Mr. Regus, I won't have you intimidating our guests," Penelope huffed whilst steadying Lucy, who'd nearly toppled over the captain. The man's expression further soured when the celestial mage squeaked, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry captain Penelope! I didn't see you there."
"You should address the captain properly, as captain Regus," he groused. Penelope smacked him in the arm, undaunted.
"Just grab the crates you formal oaf, I'm the captain and I can go by any name I want. Besides, don't you see you're terrifying her?" The man, which Lucy now knew was Regus, grunted and grabbed two humongous crates, which incidentally she had been sitting on when he'd first shown up. He could be heard grumbling about what a disobedient wife he had while walking towards the lowered ramp. Penelope turned back to the mage, "Don't mind him. He's really a nice guy, but he doesn't get out of the engine room much."
This reminded Lucy of her earlier curiosity. "How does this ship run, anyway?"
"Regus is an accomplished fire mage. He's in charge of fueling the pistons. Now, why don't you go relax in one of the chairs I put on the deck for you," the captain chided. She had more important things to do, like unloading cargo. Having been left to her own devices, Lucy took the woman's advice and settled back down to read. She wasn't bothered by anyone else, and retired after sunset to the cabin. Quietly she settled down to sleep, careful not to disturb her companion. He didn't look like he'd moved an inch all day. Just as she'd left him, he was on his side, facing away from her.
Later that night, the hour of which was unclear, Lucy woke having felt the telltale sluggishness of the ship signaling that they were stopping. While the crew had been about their business, Lucy had overheard that Regus stopped the boat at night for rest. She curled up in the blankets and tried to go back to sleep. Her efforts were futile, as soon she could hear her companion moving. From his pack he withdrew the lacrima. It's soft blue glow filled the room, illuminating it. He cleared his throat, but his voice was still haggard sounding and rough when he spoke, "Lucy?"
There was no sense in pretending to be asleep. She rolled over to see him, finding that he was sitting on the edge of the cot. "Yes?" Even in the dim light of the lacrima, he looked awful. Pale, with a thin sheen of sweat, and his eyes looked a touch sunken. His attitude remained unwavering; typical. It was the way he held himself even now. Such ideas were disregarded when he heaved a pained sigh as he offered her a cotton roll. "Oh," she said, putting two and two together.
Laxus pulled his shirt off to give her access to the wound. A soft hiss came unbidden from Lucy at the sight of it. "We'll need to bring you to another healer." To confirm her suspicions, she placed the back of her hand to his temple. He didn't try and push her away this time. "It's worse." Laxus simply nodded. He had expected as much. Whatever had been on those dragon's claws had clearly taken hold. A yellow sebaceous fluid had seeped into the bandage and formed a crust. When Lucy tried to pull at the edge of the wrap she felt a crushing grip around her wrist. Laxus quickly released her when she yelped in pain, and he mumbled an apology.
"I'll have to get it," he added. Politely she averted her gaze. The sounds of the bandages being ripped off were nauseating. "Done," his voice was barely above a whisper. It looked like something was literally eating at him. The edges were a deep red and there were little tendrils of that redness spreading through his chest. Lucy was becoming increasingly concerned. She didn't need to have a medical degree to know there was something deeply wrong with this situation. Laxus wasn't moving much either, simply leaning against the wall, trying to catch his breath. She began to clean it out, exposing raw flesh beneath the scabs. Quickly she replaced the salve and put new cotton over it.
Lucy patiently sat there, waiting for some indication of how he wanted to proceed. He didn't say anything more; he got up, probably to go to the restroom. A few minutes later he walked back in and fell gracelessly onto the bed. It pained her to see him in such discomfort. She wasn't even certain if she should pull the blankets over him. His fever was terribly high; it might be good to leave him as is to cool off. She wasn't confident enough in her abilities to try and break the fever. She laid down again to try to sleep.