The wind howled like a mournful soul around Juvia as she pulled Grey through the forest. Swirls of falling snow filled her vision and the wind chilled her to the bone but still she persevered. Slowly, she turned towards Grey. The ice mage's head was hung low and his breath coming out in ragged breathes that were visible against the darkening sky.
"We need to find a place to rest for the night," he grunted in pain, the damaged arm hanging limply at his side. His footsteps were irregular as he staggered along with her. "You should let me go, I can manage." The moment he tried to take his weight off of Juvia's shoulder however, he gasped in agony as pain jolted through his arm. Catching him, Juvia slowly shook her head.
"You can't go on alone Grey-Sama," she shook her head, bearing his weight the best she could although she was still slowed down a great deal. Gritting her teeth, she looked around. Wherever she looked, Juvia saw only trees. Piercing up into the dark sky, mages beneath like beneath like malevolent sentinels, silently watching for any sign of weakness. "Juvia won't leave Grey-Sama here in the dark."
Grey smiled weakly at Juvia. As annoying as he sometimes found her, he couldn't deny the fact that her loyalty was touching. She smiled back briefly before taking on a mask of utter determination as she advanced through the undergrowth with Grey in tow. The temperature was dropping rapidly, causing even Grey to start shivering and without shelter, they would soon perish in the blizzard. Shaking violently, Juvia looked about her in attempt to find somewhere to wait out the storm. Squinting through the gloom, Juvia could just about make out an opening in a rock face ahead.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled Grey into the cleft. Once inside, she lay him down to study his wounds.
Reaching slowly across, the blunette hesitated slightly. The sleeve around the broken limb was stained scarlet. The tang of blood filled Juvia's nostrils as she slowly bent down and undid his buttons. Grey winced slightly as her trembling fingers sent sensations flaring through his arm. Gently as she could, the girl peeled back the coat to reveal the wound. The sight was nauseating. Protruding from his arm, the shrapnel shard seemed to throb slightly with beat of Grey's heart. Thick, oozing blood filled the area, some of it starting too scab over as the ice mage's body attempted to repair the grievous damage. Broken at the elbow, the arm itself was bent backwards. Tentatively, Juvia reached for the shard.
"No don't! Are you crazy?" Grey exclaimed, backing away suddenly as he saw Juvia's intentions, "You can't just yank it out like that! It could kill me."
Juvia pulled her arm back slightly. She regarded him with sympathetic eyes. "Juvia just wants to see it. Do you trust Juvia Grey Sama?"
Grey paused. Quietly, he looked at his arm then at Juvia. There was something about her that he couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was the gentle tone of voice or perhaps the way her eyes seemed to harbour such warmth that he had rarely seen before. He played back her words back in his mind. Hesitantly, he edged closer, allowing her to inspect the damage.
"Just..be careful." he muttered.
Nodding slowly, Juvia removed her gloves and reached out. Gingerly, she took a hold of him. Grey felt a strange shiver ran up his spine as she made contact, Juvia's soft, velvet skin running along his arm. He glanced upwards into the girl's face. Juvia's normal mask of flirtatious glee had been replaced by a look of grim determination, the oceans of her eyes washing over him. Slowly, she touched the shard, eliciting a pained wince from Grey before pulling away once more and locking her eyes with his.
"Do you trust Juvia?" she asked simply.
Grey nodded slowly in response. A shadow of a smile flickered of the water girl's features before once more taking the far more serious expression. Reaching into her satchel, she produced a length of cloth and a pencil before turning back to him. She then told him to bite down on the pen. Grey's eyes widening as he realised the extent of Juvia's plan. If he objected however, he kept his notions to himself.
Rolling up her sleeves, Juvia took a hold of the spear of metal and lightly tugged at it. Grey grunted in obvious pain but she tried to did her best to drone out the sound. She tugged again, feeling slightly less resistance as the thing started to come loose (luckily it had not gone down to the bone which both she and Grey were only too thankful for). She paused and risked a glance at Grey. The ice mage's teeth were clenched in agony, the pencil starting to splinter with the force. She swallowed hard. She hated that she had to do this to him. Better get it over with.
"Ready Grey Sama?" she asked. Grey nodded, bracing himself for the inevitable.
Taking a firmer hold, Juvia pulled at the metal, ripping it clear in one quick tug. Grey screamed in agony as blood began to spurt and flow from the freshly opened wound. Feeling pale at the sight, Juvia quickly reached for the bandage cloth. Urgently she wrapped it around the gash, stopping further blood loss. Once certain that the bandage was secured, Juvia stepped back to allow Grey room to breath. The mage's breathes came out in ragged gasps that condensed on contact with the air. Juvia gave him a sorrowful smiled as she knew his pain had not yet fully come to an end.
"Now to set the bone." she said quietly.
Juvia reached into the bag once more in search of wrappings to create a cast, only to pull up a pitiful amount of cloth. She looked at Grey then at herself. Blushing she looked at him as an idea made its way into her head. Gently she undid the buttons on her coat and to reveal the blouse underneath. Before Grey knew what was going on, she started to slide the blouse up a little to reveal the porcelain skin underneath.
"Are you crazy?" he exclaimed suddenly, turning to avert his gaze, "Don't take off your clothes in weather this cold. You'll freeze."
Juvia looked at him in amusement, enjoying the irony of the ice mage's request. Shaking her head, she pulled down quickly, tearing off the lower half of her shirt. Putting her coat back on, Juvia wrapped the torn fabric around the shattered limb with care in lieu of a proper cast. To hold it in place, she removed the pin emblazoned with the Fairy Tail crest that she otherwise wore about her collar. She lightly tugged on it just do double check its strength. Satisfied, she shuffled back to admire her handiwork. Staring in partial disbelief, Grey studied the handmade bandage. Despite the scavenged materials, it was surprisingly well suited to its purpose, as it held Grey's otherwise limp arm in place. He offered her a weak smile.
"Thanks Juvia," he said, "I must say that was impressive."
"Anything for you Grey Sama," she smiled radiantly at him. She shuffled back, closer than before to him. When Grey did not object, Juvia dared to move closer. Closer. Closer. Only when did she feel herself pressing lightly against his good side, did Grey shuffle awkwardly, although even then it was the most minute of movements that may have been unnoticed it Juvia were not so close.
"May Juvia ask you a question Grey Sama?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper against the howling wind outside the cave.
"Sure," he replied.
Juvia hesitated as she tried to find the words. Did she even want to know his answer? Briefly she considered the possible differences between the answer she knew she wanted Grey to give and the possible answer that he might indeed give her. No, she decided. She had to know. She deserved to know if nothing else.
"Grey Sama..." she paused once more before continuing, "What do you like in a girl?"
Grey appeared to be taken aback by the odd question. His handsome features taking on a look of puzzlement as he considered the question which had been asked of him seemingly out of the blue. "Why do you ask?"
"I was just...curious." she replied quietly, then repeated, "Juvia just wants to know. If Grey Sama does not mind of course."
"I don't see any reason why not," Grey nodded, "If nothing else, its the least I can do to repay you." He gestured to the sling. He then went quiet as he considered the question posed to him. Juvia watched him, eagerly awaiting his answer.
"Well I suppose that would depend on if you are referring to personality or body," he said at length as though still considering his answer, "I'm assuming you meant the former. Well I used to think that I was most attracted to flirty girls who know how to have a good time. You know the kind?"
"Yes," Juvia sighed sadly, guessing he was referring to girls such as Love Rival and Mirajane, girls renowned for their love of fun and beauty, one of which was a literal supermodel. Eyes cast down, she stared at her feet as she hugged her knees to her chest.
"But recently, I may have had reason to think otherwise," Grey continued. Slowly Juvia raised her head.
"Really?" she asked quietly, "What makes you say that?"
Grey smiled a little. "Nothing in particular. Let's just say I'm starting to think of another type of girl." Quietly he reached other with his good arm and rested his hand on Juvia's shoulder. The girl glanced towards him, her cheeks going slightly pink. Sighing happily, she scooted over to him and rested her head against him, enjoying his warmth as they listened to the howling wind outside.
~~~
Grey jolted awake at the sudden sound. Rubbing his head he looked around. Although the sun had started to rise, the light was still very dimmed, in no way aided by the dark clouds overhead. Peering out in to the twilight, he squinted as he tried to make out what was going on. There was no sign of movement beyond the cave mouth. Had he imagined it?
Crunch. There it came again. Grey was sure of it. It sounded like footprints on the freshly settled snow. As silent as he was able, he turned to Juvia. The girl was breathing slowly, unheeding of whatever approached. Grey paused, watching her for a moment. He smiled and reached down, lightly caressing her cheek with his good arm. Another crunch snapped him back to reality.
"Juvia?" He whispered, his breath forming clouds of vapour on contact with the air. Slowly hers flickered open and she groggily propped herself up on one elbow. She blinked her eyes rapidly, giving him a puzzled look.
"Grey Sama? Wha..?" She began before Grey placed a single finger to her lips.]
"There's something out there," he whispered and gestured outside with a flick of his head. Understanding at once, Juvia got up, adopting a defensive stance. Wincing in pain, Grey pushed himself slowly to his feet, his wounded arm flaring in pain. He cursed silently. Without use of one arm, his ice make magic would be unstable, putting at him at a major disadvantage. He toyed with the idea of using one handed casting but ultimately decided that he would only do so in dire straits. He told Juvia of this.
"Juvia understands," she nodded grimly, turning back towards the cave entrance. "She won't let anything hurt her Grey Sama?"
The sounds of crunching snow picked up. Out of the gloom, a woman stepped out towards them. Her long flowing hair was jet black, although Grey could make out faint streaks of red highlights. Her eyes burned with amber fire as she locked them on the two mages. She wearing armour of an unknown black material gilded with gold.
"Well, well," she said, her words like poisoned honey, "What do we have here? A couple of Fairies caught out in a storm." Her eyes fell upon Grey and a smirk spread across her face. "And one of them is quite the looker."
Grey shifted uncomfortably at her words. Juvia meanwhile, was visibly shaking in rage as she took a bold step towards the girl.
"Who are you and what do you want?" She said, her voice struggling to remain level. The girl let out a small laugh and flashed that same sneer at her.
"My name is Whisper and my master has a strong desire to have you removed from the picture." she said simply, "If you come with me, you might be allowed to live in relative agony."
"Not a chance," Grey growled out, a cold mist starting to surround him.
Whisper grinned. "I hoped you would say that." Sorcerous energies began to crackle around her. Realising the threat, Juvia leapt into action, summoning a water whip to lash out at Whisper. The spell struck hard against Whisper, causing her back to stagger back a few feet. Teeth bared in anger, Juvia drew back her arm.
"Water Slicer!" She exclaimed, swiping her arm out across her chest. The slicer shot towards Whisper. Unlike the whip however, Whisper saw the attack coming and gracefully leapt over the watery projectile. Smirking darkly, Whisper reached out, her fingers posed like claws, green witch fire flickering around the tips.
"Eldritch spear!" She barked. A lance of darkest energy sprang from her outstretched hand, sizzling past Juvia's ear and obliterating the pillar of rock behind her into tiny shards. Unfazed by this, Juvia leapt into action. Unable to call upon his own magics reliably, Grey was forced to sit back and watched.
The two girls weaved back and forth, trading spells and blows. Green arcs of energy crackled through the air only to be met with torrents of water in reply. Stalagmites exploded as the girl's tore up the earth around them. Juvia ducked a blast of energy and shot at her opponent with a water nebular. Rising above her head, the tide came crashing down, slamming into Whisper with tremendous force. For a moment, Grey watched as she feel and dared to hope for the briefest of moments that perhaps Juvia had defeated the dark mage. Eyes filled with anger, Whisper sprang back to her feet, droplet trailing down her forehead and her chest heaving as she caught her breath.
"You little Bitch!" She roared, "You'll pay for that Water Girl. Eldritch Blast!" Emerald flames exploded from her hands. Sensing the danger, Juvia brought forth a wall of water to defend herself. With a hiss, the two forces clashed but as great as Juvia's power was, Whisper's was greater. Breaking through the water wall, the emerald flames exploded, driving Juvia back. Whisper strode through the dancing steam vapours, her hand outstretched to deliver the final killing blow before Juvia could regain her composure.
"Ice make Dart!" The shard of ice that exploded against Whisper's pauldrons was weak and brittle. Yet it served its purpose. Averting her gaze from Juvia, Whisper locked her eyes on Grey. Wounded though he was, the ice mage knew he had to step in. Unstable as his powers were, he refused to be caught defenceless or to stand by and let his friend be killed.
"I must say that was pathetic Dear," Whisper chuckled, "I hope you weren't trying to defeat me with that puny incantation."
Grey shook his head. "No I wasn't trying that at all. I was just trying to distract you."
"Distract me..?" Too late did Whisper realise her folly. As she began to turn, Whisper was caught by the full fury of Juvia's spell, thousands of water darts striking her down. Whisper staggered under the assault then collapsed, unconscious. Grey smiled as Juvia stumbled over.
"We need to get out of here." he said.
Juvia seemed concerned. "Can you walk on your own Grey Sama?"
He nodded slowly. "I think so. Let's just get out of here before she wakes up." Walking forward, he headed out of the cave, Juvia walking by his side as the red rays of the sun finally crested the horizon.