And Finally the next chapter. We have entered Ringo's personal Arc so I hope you guys can bear with me! After this one there will be one more arc centered around Laxus and then off to Tenrou Island they go! I do hope you like this chapter!

Silent Thunder

Arc III

Chapter 7: Spring Blossoms

The two mages stared at the crossroad in front of them. Their path had come to a fork in the road and a single sign with two wooden arrows pointing in either direction. Both of the signs were faded in colour but the names of the towns were clearly written out: Spring Blossom and Magnolia. Ringo glanced up at Laxus who seemed to be concentrating rather hard on the signs; a part of him wanted to openly deny going to Magnolia, the other didn't want to make a seen. As she watched her friend glare at the inanimate object, Ringo noticed the darkening clouds in the direction of Magnolia. An uneasy feeling washed over her as she saw the dark blue-grey clouds swarm and the sounds of howling wind and rain in the distance deterred her from wanting to go in the direction of the large town.

Deciding that she didn't want to be caught up in another storm, Ringo gently gripped the sleeve of Laxus's coat and tugged. With the winter coming closer, both wore light jackets as the warm front from the south still reached them. "Let's go to Spring Blossom," she suggested. "My house is there and we can avoid the storm in Magnolia."

Laxus looked down at her, a bit surprised to hear that Ringo's home was so close to his own before glancing over at Magnolia and seeing the storm. He could feel the magic charged in it and frowned. He had a bad feeling, but it was something the guild could handle on their own. "Let's go." he said, shifting in the direction of Spring Blossom. Ringo smiled and released his jacket sleeves, proceeding to lead him to her hometown.

Even with walking for a few miles, the two mages could still hear the sounds of thunder and win coming from Magnolia. Every now and then to two would look over at it and see how it focused solely on the town and saw no threat of it coming towards them. By the time they saw the edge of the town, night had already fallen. Small fire lanterns lit up the town instead of the lachrima that you would see in a typical city like Magnolia. The houses were plain and simple, the term cottage would fit them better than an actual house as most did not even hold a second story. There were carts all over the streets which were cobblestone but no one walked them now that night had fallen.

The house that caught Laxus's attention the most was a large white house with three stories that rested on a hill, a fair distance from the rest of the town. It had a stone fence wrapped all the way around it which held an iron gate, solidly locked. The front was an uphill walk made of cobblestone with trees and bushes lining it. From where he could see, Laxus saw signs of a lush garden in the back and tree ivy creeping up the sidings of the house. Whoever lived in the house had obviously gone to bed as not a single light was on, unke the other houses which all had windows glowing in the firelight.

Curious to which house Ringo owned, Laxus watched the twin-tailed woman but stopped when she went up to the iron door. He stared at her as she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a simple iron key which slid right into the lock and came opened the door. "This way." Ringo said with a smile, ushering her blond friend into the gates. Laxus passed her and Ringo locked up the door again. She looked up at his stare and glanced at the house sheepishly. "Grandfather left it to me. He built it from the ground up." Her face beamed in pride at what her grandfather had left her and Laxus nodded.

The two walked up to the house and walked up onto the wooden porch which squeaked slightly under the weight of them. Ringo rummaged through her bag for another key and unlocked the door. When they entered the room, a lachrima slowly started to glow when it caught sight of their movement. The house was organized but dusty from being uninhabited for a long time. Ringo tugged off her boots and placed them on a shelf as she trotted through the entryway and disappeared around the corner. Laxus took his own shoes off and slowly followed behind her.

The room Ringo had disappeared into was a fairly large kitchen with black marble top, dark wooden cabinets and a tile floor with simple floral patterns on them. In the center of the kitchen was a round, dark wooden table covered in a white cloth with a lachrima chandelier overhead. Ringo began to go through the cabinets and started pulling down a few boxes that appeared to be food.

"Most of the food is spoiled." she sighed, glancing into the ice box which held moldy cheese and rotten meats from her long absence in the house. "Is fried rice alright?" she looked at him as she pulled some canned vegetables out of the cabinet.

"Yeah." Laxus said, taking a seat at the table.

Ringo smiled and immediately pulled out the kitchen utensils. Washing them quickly, she got to work preparing the ingredients. As the veggies started to simmer, she went over to the table and yanked off the tablecloth, causing dust to fly up into the well lit room. Laxus stared at how much dust came up but noticed that the tabletop underneath was practically shining. Wiping it down with a cloth quickly, Ringo went back to her food.

Laxus leaned against the table, propping his elbow up and places his chin on his palm. He watched as Ringo fluttered about the counter, opening cans and pouring oil into the frying pan. As soon as the rice hit the pan with the veggies, hunger started to claw at his stomach. It wasn't until she added a few sesame seeds to the mix that he could almost feel his mouth water. Laxus could cook, but most of the time he made simple meals or ate out, so having something as elaborate as fried rice (even with it not being quite that elaborate) was a nice change of taste.

Ringo placed a lid on the pan and let it simmer. She pulled down a few plates and forks and started to clean them. Drying them off, she placed them next to the pan and started to pile the yellow rice into the plates. Placing the fork into her piles, she placed one down in front of Laxus and took the seat next to him. As her plate tapped against the wooden table, Laxus sat up straight. "Thanks for the food." he said quickly and began to eat.

The food was good, not the best he had eaten, but the taste of someone who had to cook for themselves made is more than just edible. "You don't look like the type to cook." Laxus said between bites. Ringo looked at him, her fork sticking out of her mouth.

"Grandfather always cooked before but after he died, I had to cook for myself." she said simply. "You do it enough and you get good at it."

Laxus remained silent after that. When they were finished eating, Ringo took their dishes and cleaned everything by hand. As she dried off her hands, she looked at Laxus. "I guess you can stay in the guest room." she said, walking to the door. "I'll give you a tour of the house."

Laxus stood up and walked over to her. Ringo left the kitchen and walked back to the hallway that showed the front door. Next to it was another open room with a fireplace and a decent sized couch. There were bookshelves lining every bit of open wall space and Ringo called the room the library. She lead him to a room that had a door and opening it up revealed a rather large bedroom. However, despite its size, the room was practically empty other than a bed which was positioned parallel to a french double door and a few dressers and a full length mirror. "This is my room." Ringo said. "Outside the doors is the back deck and the garden. I'll show you that tomorrow. It's my favourite place in the whole world." Her tanned cheeks flushed as she explained it to the man.

Ringo pointed to one more closed door, the bathroom, before leading him up to the second floor. "This is grandfather's room." she said, pointing to a locked door. "Please don't go in there." She walked to the room next door and opened it. Though only have the size as Ringo's room, it was still a large bedroom with a closet, king sized bed, dressers and even a desk and book shelf. The window had a small cushioned seat underneath it where someone could sit down comfortably and look out at the garden which Ringo said was right below. The room was a bit dusty but she promised to bring him fresh linens later on. After the tour of the second floor, Ringo began to walk downstairs. Laxus remembered seeing a third story outside the house and questioned her on it.

"Grandfather never told me how to get up there." she said. "I never asked since it was probably a place I was never allowed to go to." Laxus nodded at her answer and went to the library as Ringo went to find them fresh linens.

He glanced around at the books on the shelves. The room was lit with lachrima unlike the other houses he had seen and he wondered exactly how well off Ringo was. She did seemed spoiled and never worried about how much money she had on her. But she never seemed to fit the part of a filthy rich girl either. He walked to the window and looked out it. Even in the darkness he could make out the shape of a gate, overgrown with a flowering plant that was in the shape of a ball.

"I finished changing the sheets." Ringo said, walking into the room and Laxus turned to her. "I dusted too so it shouldn't be too uncomfortable sleeping." she smiled at him.

Ringo was wearing comfy looking clothing which consisted of a pair of short shorts and a tank top. She wore socks on her feet but that was it. In her arms was a bundle of clothing. She handed it to the blond man and nodded. "I found some clothes that should be able to fit you thought the shirt might be too tight." she admitted after her took the clothing.

Laxus thanked her and went to the room she had offered him. Ringo went to the kitchen table as her friend began to get dressed and pulled a piece of paper out of her bag which had been left there from dinner. Finding a pen and ink tub on the counter, she sat down and opened it. The parchment was a bit crisp from the weather but still remained an eggshell colour and the ink was formal lettering at the top was a single word: "Will"

Ringo stared at the word and then at the contents she had written below years ago. Her writing was a bit coarse then, having written it only a few weeks after her grandfather's passing. Taking a deep breath she dipped her feathered pen into the tub of black ink and started to scribble onto the paper.

"What is this?"

Ringo nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Laxus's voice right behind her. It was confused but a tinge of something harsh rested in it, almost a growl. She turned to face the man who leaned over her, a hand on the back of her chair for support. He was wearing the dark sweatpants she had given him and was shirtless but his orange eyes flared in anger. He reached over her and grabbed the will off the table, lifting it up for him to read it.

"Why are you writing something like this?" he asked, showing her the will. The still went ink started to drip down the pages.

"Because I am going to die." Ringo said calmly, refusing to look the man in the face. Laxus was mad, something she didn't like.
"You aren't going to die." Laxus said flatly. "And why is my name on this?"

"You're the only person I can trust." Ringo said. "I don't have anyone else I am friends with that can take my property when I'm dead."

"You are twenty-two." Laxus said. "Why do you keep talking about you dying like an old hag?"

"Because someone is trying to kill me!" Ringo said, standing up. "Isn't that a good enough reason?"

Laxus stopped and stared at her. Ringo's eyes showed no signs of lying but he still didn't like it. He held up the sheet in front of her, catching her off guard as he tore it to pieces. With a small scowl, he turned around and left the kitchen.

She heard him storm up the stairs as she slumped back into her chair. When his door slammed shut, she covered her face in her arms and bit back tears.

Ringo's eyes opened again when the grandfather clock that rested in the hallway near the bathroom rang for midnight. She sat up and looked around; the lachrima lights were turned off and there was no sound in the house. The only noise she could hear was the wind wrapping around the house. She stood up and looked at the ceiling as if she was looking for Laxus. She closed her eyes and her hearing wrapped around the house and found him in his room. He wasn't sleeping; his heart beat wasn't calm like it was when someone slept. He was still awake and she knew she had to apologize to him.

It wasn't plainly obvious, but Laxus had a pride that Ringo could never compare to. He knew he was strong and was happy with that, but she had stepped on that when she said she was going to get killed even though they traveled together and on many times, he had saved her.

With a determined step, Ringo walked to the stairs and began to climb them. When she got to the top, she went straight to Laxus's door. Standing in front of it, she took a deep breath and knocked. A gruff 'come in' came from the other side in a volume that only Ringo could hear. She opened the door slowly and scuttled in, closing it behind her.

Laxus was sitting on the window seat, staring at the window which, even from her distance, Ringo could see his reflection of furrowed eyebrows and a glare still. He didn't look at her, only glanced at her own reflection in the dark window. Ringo took a step forward and folded her hands in front of her. "Laxus…" she began quietly. "I'm sorry." She looked at him straight, wondering what her next words should be. Conversing with people had never been something she had done before meeting Laxus, so she had never had to sincerely apologize to anyone.

"I insulted you when I said I would be killed, didn't I?" she asked quietly. Laxus turned his head towards her and pointed to the spot next to him.

"Sit." he ordered. Ringo stared at the empty seat but went over to it and sat down. She curled up against the wall, bringing her knees to her chest and looked at him. Laxus faced her, arms crossed over his chest and a solid frown on his face. "Who wants to kill you?"

Ringo stayed silent and looked out the window. "There is a man named Kalor. He is an underground real estate buyer who uses any means necessary to get land and property at cheap and then sell them for a high price. Seven years ago he set his eyes on this house and land but my Grandfather wouldn't let him have it." she finally said.

"Why would he want you dead?" Laxus asked. Kalor sounding like a normal black market guy to him.

"Because he will do whatever it takes to get what he wants." Ringo said. "Grandfather stood in his way so he killed him. But Kalor is paranoid like me, he heard the rumours the townspeople spread about me from when I was little and decided to avoid me. But he can't get the house."

"Rumours?" Laxus asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Let's just say I was a kid who couldn't be taken care of." Ringo said. "I broke many windows."

"No control over your magic?" Laxus guessed.

"None at all." Ringo smiled.

"How do you know he'll come back?" Laxus asked, getting back to the point at hand.

"He waited six years." She said. "I'm certain his patience is up. Tomorrow the people in the town will know I'm here and then he will know."

"What do you plan to do?" Laxus asked.

"No clue." Ringo said immediately. She shifted and sat next to Laxus, leaning her head against him. "But I think I'll be fine since I got you." she grinned at him, her cheeks darkening.

"What if I decide to leave you?" Laxus asked. Ringo's face instantly turned to shock and she gripped his bare arm.

"Please don't." Ringo said with a slightly frantic tone.

"I just might." Laxus said with a small teasing tone.

"I don't want you to!" Ringo hugged his arm as if she could prevent the man from leaving that way.

"Why not?" Laxus asked, raising an eyebrow at her with a small grin.

"Because I like you." Ringo said smoothly, leaning against his shoulder again.

"Don't say stuff that can get confused for something else." he warned her.

"What if I mean it that way?"

"You're going to get hurt."

"If it's you I don't mind."

Laxus stared at her and sighed, looking away. "I think you might be the dangerous one." he said. Ringo giggled and leaned up, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek. Laxus turned to her with a frown and started to lean over her. "If you're going to do that…" he began, pushing her down gently until her head was against the wall. His lips pressed against hers, gentle but still holding a bit of force. To Ringo, it felt like she was going to get eaten and she welcomed it.

Laxus broke the kiss and sat up, still pinning her to the wall slightly. He licked his lips and spoke: "Do it properly, understand Tails?" Ringo stared up at him and a smile crept up onto her lips.

"I understand." she said.

Laxus sat up the rest of the way to allow Ringo to sit up as well. With the tension gone between them, the rush of sleepiness she had pushed away was back. Rubbing her eyes slightly, she let out a stifled yawn and stood up. "I'm going to bed." She told the man and stood up.

Laxus watched her begin to walk and his large hand trapped a few locks of her thick hair. Instantly Ringo's head turned to face him. Laxus looked up at her, amazed that she had noticed that but let go of the air and waved her good night.

Ringo nodded and left the room, closely the door firmly behind her. She swiftly walked down stairs and to her own large bedroom. Falling into the bed she stared at the ceiling before curling up into a ball and gigging quietly. She covered her blushing face with her cheeks and smiled. Laxus had kissed her and that was good enough for her.

When Laxus woke the next morning, Ringo was already in the kitchen making breakfast. From the look of things, she had already gone out to buy groceries that could last them a few days if they decided to stay for that long. The pigtailed girl was frying bacon when the man walked in, shirtless as the night before. However, now in the light, Ringo could see the black tattoo that wrapped around his left arm and chest. There was one thing that caught her attention: a large opened space on the tattoo that seemed to be missing something.

"How do you like your eggs?" Ringo asked, holding up a couple of brown eggs. Laxus grumbled over easy and sat at the table. He was still tired.

Ringo didn't say anything and continued cooking their breakfast. She piled the food onto their plates and placed them on the table. Right before sitting down, the doorbell rang. Ringo frowned and pushed her seat back in as she went to the door. Whoever was on the other side was silent and waiting for her to open it.

Standing on her porch was three men, the scrawniest one stood in the middle. He was an aging man with silver hair that was pulled back in a tight but short rat tail at the base of his head. His sharp eyes grinned at Ringo but the one on his lips was even scarier.

"Welcome back, Ringo-chan, I would like to-" Before the man could even finish, Ringo slammed the door on his face and held onto the handle. A frustrated growl came from the other side as one of the men forced the door open. Ringo tried to push it shut but the man put his foot in the way.

"Come now, Ringo-chan, that was quite rude." The man smiled. "I thought you were a polite girl."

"I am to everyone but you, Kalor." Ringo glared.

She was so busy trying to prevent them from entering her house that she didn't notice Laxus come up behind her and put his hand on the door. She looked up at the dragon slayer, her head hitting his bare chest. Laxus had an irritated glare on his face, his orange eyes jumping even more than they had the night before when he got mad at her.

"Oi." He looked at Kalor and bared his teeth. "Leave."

Ringo stared up at the angry Laxus as Kalor and his lackeys chose to flee instead of face the beast. When they were gone, the blond haired man closed the door and locked it securely. He noticed Ringo's bewildered stare. "What?" he asked her.

Ringo snapped out of her daze. "And here I thought you were just a cute dork." she said, walking towards the kitchen with him. "You are really scary too."

Laxus stopped and brought his hands up to her cheeks, squishing them slightly. "Do you honestly think I am the cute one here?" he asked her as Ringo struggled in his grip.

"I said cool, I said cool!" Ringo lied as Laxus continued to squish her. The man accepted the lie and stopped.

"Let's eat." he said.

Ringo rubbed her cheeks and followed behind him. "I'll show you the garden later." she promised.

I do accept critiques and I would love any helpful tips. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.