"Levy chan, help us," the prisoner yelped for the thousandth time.
"Who is this Levy chan you keep yelling for?" Juvia asked curiously, bringing them some food and water.
"She's amazing."
"Smart."
"Kind."
"She's our best friend."
"And she's gonna kick your ass!"
Gajeel was tired of watching these babies, they never shut up. Natsu seemed unfazed, excitedly going through their stuff. Nasty knocked one bag over, an apple, book and a tablet fell out. Picking the tablet off of the book Gajeel turned it on.
"Hey thats mine!" The skinny one yelled.
"Put a sock in it." Gajeel took the tablet with him and decided to take a walk in the woods. He sat down on a log and scrolled through the tablets images. There was a folder named 'friends', curious Gajeel opened it and was bombarded by images of a trio, the blunette and their captives. There was a video too.
'Hey Jet, happy birthday! Sorry I'm not there to tell you in person, I knew you and Droy would try and stop me if you knew I had signed up for the experiment. As you know Lu chan and I have signed up to go into cryogenic sleep for 7 years in order to preserve oxygen. I need you two to look after my research, Jellal's taking care of everything down there, but I don't want him to get lonely, with Ultear working on the council now. There are a hundred of us in cryogenic sleep, please promise me you won't join us, I need you to continue your research into the possibility of returning to earth. Be safe, I'll see you soon.'
7 years. To voluntarily go into cryogenic sleep for 7 years in order to save your friends? Gajeel was taken aback. He knew how it felt, 10 years ago there was a plague that wiped out half the village, the only cure was to bring your body temperature to bellow zero. Gajeel had been among the ones who were sick, taken to the mountain and laid in the frozen lake, winters had been warming up and it had taken 7 years to reach the correct temperature. He was taken out of his thoughts by an angelic voice.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where dead man called out
For his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
He swayed slightly as he sat on the log deciding whether or not to follow the voice.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of rope,
Side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
He got up and followed the voice to the heart of the woods where the giant oak tree was. It was nearly night and the fireflies were hopping from flower to flower.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
He eventually got to the source of the singing, a few tents were pitched around a fire. The blunette, Levy, and the cat sat against the oak tree, while their companions slept.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where dead man called, out
For his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.
"Thats a happy tune." Gajeel laughed sarcastically, still a few metres from their mini camp.
"Who are you?" Levy asked, with more curiosity then fear. She put the sleeping cat down and stepped toward the tree line, clutching her red jumper in the cold.
"You should go home little girl, the woods aren't safe. Especially when your alone." He stayed in the shadows.
"But you're here, so I'm not alone." He turned to walk away but was blocked by her small form. "Who are you?"
"Well I guess I'm the big bad wolf." He decided to scare her into leaving with his most threatening face that sent others running for the hills.
"Well Mr. Wolf, I'm Levy." Her eyes wandered taking in the man before her, his tall build towered over her, power radiated from his body. "You're a survivor aren't you?"
"Yeah, and you're from space." He turned to walk away.
"Are there more of you?" Her curiosity pulled him in.
"Yeah, an entire village."
"How is this possible?" She muttered.
"Magic, our village deity protected us." They walked silently around the tree line. "That song, where's it from?"
"Porlyusica, one of the medics on the station, she used to sing it to me and the other orphans." Levy looked at her hands. "She said it was about a man she once loved who decided to stay on Earth instead of follow her to the station." Gajeel looked shocked. "She's 125." Levy clarified not knowing his shock was for something else. Gajeel looked at this girl and wondered if there was a single unkind bone in her body, her friends were right to adore her. With his heightened eye sight he took in her small form, dressed in jeans and a red jumper, her messy blue locks pulled into a pony tail. She was beautiful.
They walked into the open, engulfing them in moonlight, even though it was still dark she could just make out the shape in his hand. "Thats Jets!" Her voice alerted Lily, who's sword appeared between them in an instant.
"Get away from her!" Lily growled.
"Wait Lily, he knows where Jet and Droy are!" When she turned back the man was gone. Frustrated she went into her tent to sleep, Lily curled up next to her, ready to protect her.
Lily dreamed of the day he met Levy, when he needed information for a mission. He walked into the library to see a girl perched on a wonky ladder. He reacted swiftly as the structure gave way, catching her in his arms. She thanked him and then helped him find his information, the two soon became good friends. She was stubborn but also smart and kind, during a meteor shower she found him hiding in a cupboard and comfonted the exceed. When she told him she was signing up for the 7 year oxygen saving experiment he signed up immediately. He was very attached to the girl.
The next day Levy couldn't stop thinking about the man in the woods. Lucy drilled her friend but Lily told her to keep last night a secret, so she simply said she had a bad dream. They were getting closer to the signals, no doubt the man must have warned the captures that they were on their way.