Once again, thank you for the patience as I try my best to write these chapters. Once again the chapter is a bit short. I had planned to add more but I do love to end suddenly as well. I do hope you like it!
Silent Thunder
Arc IV
Chapter 9: Cactus Rose
Two mages walked along a beaten path that edged between lush grassland and stoney desert. Though they walked on sandy dirt, tufts of yellow-green grass grew around them with the occassional wildflower patch and reluctant weeds. Even though they were still in the greener part of the region, Laxus Dreyar and Ringo Cloudminn could see the amber coloured dune and the strange rock formations that made up the desert, and their destination.
Before they started their journey, the two planned to make a stop at Cactus Rose, a small town that bordered the desert and provided the necessities for anyone who either wished to venture through or to avoid all together.
"The city provides clothing, food, magical items and even transportation through the desert." Ringo said after skimming through a thin book she held. She had found the book in the library at her house; one that she had decided to look for so that her desert experience was not the same as her last one. "Is this why you wanted to go here?" The young woman looked up at her partner.
Laxus glanced down at her and nodded. That answer was all she needed. The two continued their walk in a comfortable silence until Ringo stopped. Laxus took a few more steps before he too stopped and turned to look at the long haired woman. Ringo was facing towards an open area which sloped down hill, making it impossible to see what was below from where they stood.
"What is it?" Laxus asked. By now he had gotten used to Ringo's level of hearing and when she stopped, it meant something was coming.
"It sounds like a stampede." Ringo said.
Almost a minute passed before a thick dustcloud could be seen. The earth under them trembled, making them brace themselves to avoid falling. As the stampede draw closer, the head of the creatures causing it came into view-boars.
The boars stood taller than even Laxus's height, their fur a tomato red with orange stripes. The tusks jutting from their jawline looked like they could do more than just skewer a person.
"I don't think that's something we can just avoid." Ringo said, backing away and stepping closer to Laxus. The stampede stretched out almost a quarter of a mile wide, making it impossible to outrun it without Laxus's lightning jump.
"Then we don't avoid it." Laxus said simply.
He wrapped an arm around Ringo's shoulders and pulled her closer, lifting his free hand towards the oncoming herd. When the first one came just close enough, the dragon slayer released a jolt of lightning, sending the beam straight through the heard and downing any boar that either didn't get away or was too close.
The stampede took less than a minute to pass through, leaving over twenty boars behind, dead or paralyzed. When the dust settled, Laxus released his grip on Ringo, allowing the woman to fix her now static filled hair. "Standing behind you would have done better on my hair." she sighed, coming through the thick lockes with her fingers.
"It was easier that way." Laxus stated, glancing at the charred boars when a movement from the corner of his eyes caught his attention. He stared in the direction as two small figures ran off, in the direction of Cactus Rose. "Let's get going."
Ringo stopped fixing her hair and followed after Laxus.
Cactus Rose was a bustling town, though most people preferred to call it a trading post. The locals were easily distinguishable by their copper colored skin and colourful robes and scarves while visitors ranged. Mages, knights, treasure hunters and thieves were all mixed in and if someone wanted to hide, they could easily do it in this town. One could also easily get lost and distracted in the town which was why Laxus made sure Ringo stayed close; he had no intentions of repeating what had happened in the last large town they had visited.
Ringo too stuck close behind Laxus, watching his back rather than the crowd which caused her to get bumped and on a few times, have her long hair get caught in something. She tried her best to keep the long lockes secured and eventually promted to just hold them in her hands rather than let them flow free.
"Wouldn't it be easier to cut your hair?" Laxus asked when they stopped at a small resturaunt for lunch.
They were sitting outside at a small round table, their tea already served and waiting for their meal. Ringo blew on the green liquid that was in her cup and frowned. "Grandfather always liked to put my hair up in twintails." she said. "So I prefer my hair like this."
"Your grandfather sounds strange." Laxus muttered, knowing she could hear him. He watched her drink her tea, accidentally choking on it when she swallowed the stem. That must be where she got it from.
As the waiter brought them their food, Ringo glanced across the street. Most of the people walked through the dirt roads of the town but carts and wagons either magically or horse drawn littered the edges. The occassional one went through the street, causing people to scramble out of the way before going right back to where they were walking. Right across the street was a stand selling lachrima objects. From where she sat and the angle of the sun, the lachrima pieces sparkled brightly.
"Do you want to look?" Laxus asked, seeing the sparkle in Ringo's eyes at the equally sparkly lachrima.
"Can we?" Ringo asked enthusiastically.
"Eat first." Laxus said, taking a large bite of his own sandwhich. Ringo picked up her own and started to take bites of it. Compared to Laxus, her bites were much smaller, but she ate at an equal speed out of pure eagerness.
When their meal was done and paid for, the two mages crossed the street. Ignoring some protests of people they had intercepted, the two stopped in front of the stand. It was made of wood with basket holding the lachrima shaped jewelry, displaying them all perfectly. The old man smiled at them and welcomed them to try on any piece that they wished.
Ringo's eyes trailed over each piece. Most were rounded like communicaton lachrima but there were different colours. Some were earrings that improved hearing, fire spells, protection lachrima and even some that stored pure magical power. As Ringo remained fixated on the pieces, Laxus noticed something was missing from her.
"What happened to your headphones?" he asked casually, picking up a necklace.
Ringo's hands instantly went and covered her ears. She hadn't even noticed that she had forgotten to wear them and now panic started to grow in her stomach. Everything seemed to get louder and louder. She stared at Laxus, unsure of what to do and her mind going blank on where her headphones were.
Laxus glanced at her. "Move your hands." he said simply. Before Ringo even considered it, he started putting the necklace on her, forcing her hands off of her ears. When the lachrima stone rested just above her breasts, Laxus moved his hands away.
"This lachrima works, right?" Laxus asked the shoptender. The old man nodded.
"You may try it out if you want to." he offered, gesturing towards Ringo who had become fixated on the necklace.
The lachrima was yellow and blue sparks could be seen inside of it. She smiled at it, the sounds around her going back to what they were before she realized she was not wearing her headphones. Laxus lifted a finger and shot a small jolt of electricity at Ringo. The lachrima instantly reacted, glowing and absorbing the lightning without causing any harm to Ringo.
"I'll take it." Laxus told the man, pulling out the money to pay for it. Ringo was too busy staring between the blond haired man and her now warm necklace to process what was happening until Laxus was already dragging her away from the stand.
"T-thank you." Ringo finally managed to say, the stand out of sight. Laxus didn't say anything, simply held her wrist gently and dragged her along as he searched for the next shop. Ringo smiled to herself and tucked the necklace into her shirt, making sure that it wasn't lost.
The two finally stopped outside of a clothing store that specialized in desert clothing. Ringo beamed at it and instantly ran in to scavange any outfit that she could deem cute. Laxus followed behind her, shutting down any clothing that was impractical and cause more troubles. He expected a bit more arguement out of her, but Ringo accepted anything he was against.
By the end of the trip, she had a one piece of shorts and short sleeves with a hood and zipper. With the zipper open, she had a dark shirt on along with gloves, boots and thigh highs. The necklace from Laxus was in clear view.
Whilst Laxus shopped for his own outfit, Ringo started going through the cloaks since he had asked her to pick two of them. The rack for them was outside which made many of them already dirty with dust. While she was rummaging through the clothing, she felt eyes on her. Turning her head quickly, she spotted two childred, a boy and a girl, peaking their heads out from around the corner of the store. When they noticed that they had been caught, the two hid quickly but peaked out once more.
Ringo ignored them though they did give her an uncomfortable feeling. She picked out their cloaks and made sure that the one for Laxus was a good size. Once the couple were done at the store, they made their way to the market. As the gathered the food they bought, the two constantly felt the prying eyes of the two children who were constantly following them. Laxus ignored them, knowing they would stop once they left the town.
His prediction was wrong.
The two children followed them out of the town. Even when it was barely in sight they continued to follow the two mages. Eventually Ringo stopped and stared at Laxus. "If we go any farther they won't be able to get back." She said. Laxus gave a frustrated sigh.
"Get out here." he said loud and stern. "I know you're following us."
Ringo looked at the boulder cluster that the two children had taken as a hiding spot. She could hear their muttering before they finally emerged from behind the boulder. The two were roughly the same height, the boy just a bit taller. The boy had light green hair that was spikey and unkept with dirty trousers and boots. The girl on the other hand had long dark green hair, equally messy with a tattered dress and poncho.
Ringo took a few steps closer to them and knelt down. "Why are you following us?" she asked.
"You two are mages, right?" The boy asked, revealing a couple of missing teeth. He pointed a finger at Laxus. "I saw him shoot lightning at those boars!"
"And when you shot some at her, the lightning disappeared." The girl butted in, pointing at Ringo. "You have to be mages!"
"We are mages," Ringo said, "but my necklace caused the lightning to disappear. It's a lachrima."
"What's that?" The boy asked loudly.
"Lachrima is a stone that has magic in it." Ringo explained.
"So you can't use magic?" The girl asked, looking disappointed.
"I can." Ringo said. "But I use sound magic, not lightning."
"Well you're both mages and that's all that matters!" the boy said. He put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. "Teach us magic!" he demanded.
Ringo and Laxus stared at the two children. The girl copied the boys pose and gave off the cocky attitude as well. "We want to be mages." she said simply.
"Magic isn't something you can just teach." Laxus told them sharply. "Only ten percent of people in this world can use it. And I don't sense any from you two."
The two children stared at the man in shock. "Does that mean it's impossible?" the boy asked. Ringo gave him a sympathetic look. "But that's not fair! I want to learn magic too!"
Ringo brought her hand back and slapped the boy gently, but hard enough for his head to jerk. "There are people who wish they weren't born with magic in this world as well." she told him. "Whining about it being unfair will not get you anywhere."
Laxus stared at the Ringo. He had never pinned her as the type to raise their hand against a child. Her words started to echo in his head.
"But if I become a mage, I can join a guild and make money." the boy said, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Then we can leave the orphanage."
"The closest mage guild is four days away by carriage." Laxus told him. "Even if you had magic, you would have to make it all the way there. Some guilds won't accept children either."
"W-we never thought about that..." the girl said. She gripped at her dress and bit back her own tears. "We just wanted to live better."
"There are better ways to do it." Laxus told her.
When the two started to finally calm down, smoke erupted in the direction of Cactus Rose, thick and black and meaning only one thing: fire. Ringo stood up and stared in the direction that the smoke was coming from, right on the edge of town. "The church!" The little girl shouted as the boy started to run. "Anyone without a home stays there." she started to follow the boy.
Ringo looked up at Laxus and the man frowned. He had a bad feeling about this. The two mages followed after the kids. Laxus picked them up as they easily caught up to them and swiftly made his way to the fire. When they arrives, the church was wrapped in bright red flames, engulfing anything that was inside. The heat caused beads of sweat to drip down Ringo's forehead and they couldn't even come withint twenty meters of it.
Laxus dropped the children who scurried to their feet and started to look around. They didn't see anyone from the church around, only people trying to put out the fire and spectators. No one had gotten out.
It took two hours to put out the flames. Other than the two children who had followed Laxus and Ringo, only a small handful of kids and adults who had been staying at the church were left alive. Ringo couldn't find any words to say to the two green haired children as they walked over to the other children. When Laxus gripped her arm and pulled her along did she finally look away from them.
"There's nothing we can do." he told her. "Don't let it get to you too much."
Ringo simply nodded.
By the time the sun was setting, Cactus Rose was still just in sight. Laxus was tempted to just spend the night at an inn but after the fire, he figured it would be best to avoid the town. When they finally found a spot where they could sleep, Laxus started to prepare their tent while Ringo sluggishly built a fire pit.
Her mind was filled with the fire scene and the two children. It preoccupied her so much that she never caught the signs of someone coming closer until they were ten meters from their camp. Her head snapped up, catching Laxus's attention and causing him to turn to the person.
The person was tall, a long trenchcoat hid his body but he wore pants and boots. His mouth was covered with a tight cloth and his gray hair was never combed. A shiver ran over Ringo as he stepped closer. Laxus stood up, getting between them; he could feel the magical power that came from the man, as well as his killing intent.
"No need to be on guard." The man said in a hoarse voice. He raised his hands, trying to show that he meant no harm. "I'm only here to talk."
"You smell like gasoline." Laxus said.
"Well I had a bit spill on me earlier." The man said, lifting his chin in the directon of the town.
"You were the one who destroyed the church." Ringo stated, standing up. "Why?"
"I simply needed to catch your attention." The man said, turning his attention to Laxus. "Master Ivan has been patiently awaiting your return, but his patience has grown thin. It's time to return to Raven Tail, Laxus Dreyar."
I do accept critiques and I would love any helpful tips. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.