A/N: Hey guys we're moving into a new arc that I have dubbed: The Rinan Arc, I hope you enjoy and also Fairy Tail is fun.
Herman the bonsai tree was sat on her window sill; Lavender was happily watering him whilst the sun shone through the blinds and thus signified a new day. And to everyone's favourite - and only fairy dragon slayer, it also meant new adventures.
A week had passed since Elijah had passed which in turn marked a week since her and Rogue established their relationship. The new relationship both scared and excited her, for both parties surprised each other and both were learning things about the other. She enjoyed his company and loved being by his side, and she never felt this strongly about anyone.
Herman - the sakura bonsai tree Natsu had bought her was growing bigger by the day, with both Rissy and Lavender happily welcoming him into their little home in Fairy Hills. To be fair the most difficult part about looking after a plant was that they didn't talk, which meant that Rissy couldn'y just outright ask Herman what he wanted or needed.
"Herman looks pretty happy" Lavender said with a small yawn, the pair had spent most of the night talking to Herman - which was mostly due to book that Levy had borrowed them that said talking to a plant promoted healthy growth, and as a result both mages spent an entire night conversing with a bonsai tree which to their sadness had very little to say.
Rissy nodded before patting her friend between the ears. She stretched her arms over her head with a wide yawn, to be honest she was more surprised that she hadn't awoken the rest of the Fairy Hills residents.
"Today's a new day!" She exclaimed with a wide smile before turning to pat Herman on his branches - she was certain that the aura given from him was male.
"Herman be good" She told the plant before Lavender enthusiastically started on climbing her like to tree to take her usual spot upon her best friends head.
"Hey cat, don't be lazy you walk" She moaned in an attempt to shake off her friend.
The exceed moaned in disagreement before curling up slightly, Rissy sighed before removing her to her arms.
"Stupid cat" She muttered with a smile, though both exceed and dragon slayer could easily sense her playful tone.
Walking out into the hallway she was greeted by Erza, Carla and Wendy.
"Juvia already gone?" She asked with a frown.
Both mages nodded sadly, though Rissy assumed that her friend left early to meet Gray as she sometimes did.
"Well I'm glad I ran into the two of you" she admitted with a grin.
Erza seemed intrigued and quirked a brow.
"How so?" She asked before quickly taking up stance next to Rissy to link arms with her.
The action caused Lavender to quickly wake up in her place in Rissy's arms and climbed down to the ground with a pout.
"Well I do sort of need relationship advice" She said as the five of them walked.
Wendy frowned before turning to face the older mages.
"Are you and Rogue-San having trouble?" Wendy asked.
Rissy shook her head with a small pout.
"No...but I just want to get him something as a present, but I'm not sure what, " she answered with a small pout.
"Didn't he go to the summit with the other guild masters?" Levy asked.
Rissy nodded with a small pout, for with Rogue gone that meant that the two couldn't see each other for at least a week.
"Yeah, Sting-Kun asked him to go...and I sort of want to get him something for when he comes back" she explained.
Wendy and Levy both nodded in understanding; however it was Erza that spoke.
"You need something that is close to the both of you, that has sentimental value" she stated with a small smile.
Rissy's eyes widened and her mouth formed an o shape.
"I have the perfect idea!" She gasped excitedly.
"And you're not going to share?" Carla asked with her arms folded.
Both Rissy and Lavender smiled, the small exceed offering Carla a grin.
"Carla-Nee that would be too easy you have to guess!" She commented excitedly.
Rissy nodded in agreement, seemingly sharing her partners and surrogate daughters excitement.
"So I'll see you three later," she exclaimed as she ran past the four mages whilst Lavender ran behind her in an attempt to keep up.
Wendy and Levy nodded in unison, whilst Erza delivered a brief smile.
"Don't worry, we'll tell Natsu that you aren't coming into the guild today" she called to her friend; her voice echoing down the halls.
Lucy exhaled loudly as herself, Natsu and Happy trudged through the East Forest in pursuit of the bandits. To be fair it was a low pay job but when Natsu offered her the chance of a job was a little surprised at the fact the rest of the team weren't joining them.
She soon stopped due to exhaustion, her back slightly bent forward and hands resting on her thighs. Her skin sported multiple scratches from the plant life and a few bite marks from insects; it was fair to say that Lucy regretted wearing shorts.
"Are we getting close?" She asked with an added pant.
Both Natsu and Happy turned to face her, his usual wild hair looked even wilder if it were possible and his brows were furrowed slightly.
"Almost," He answered before walking towards her. She almost blushed at their proximity, though it seemed to have no effect on the dragon slayer as he continued to look her dead in the eye.
"Luce, if you're tired we can slow down" he suggested, Lucy smiled at his concern.
"Yeah, Natsu and I are probably going too fast for you" Happy offered with a grin, which only caused Lucy to pout slightly at how cheeky the blue exceed was.
She opened her mouth to speak however Natsu crouched slightly so he was level with Lucy's knees; she then turned to face her with a grin.
"Climb on," He stated, which caused Lucy to blush slightly.
She shook her head which only caused the dragon slayer to pout slightly.
"Luce, I don't want you to waste energy before we get to the bandits" he said with an added whine.
Lucy laughed at his childlike innocence, she sighed as she walked over to him seating herself on his back and loosely wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Kay, but let me know if you get tired" she she said before a blush threatened to take over as he placed his hands on her bare thighs to support her.
"Natsu, Lucy's gone all red...maybe she's sick?" Happy suggested, the worry was clear in his voice however Lucy knew that if the exceed caught that her redness was from embarrassment, she wouldn't hear the end of his teasing.
"I think it's the heat, yeah heat" she answered quickly as she placed her face against Natsu's back to hide her growing blush.
The pair had been walking through Magnolia for some time now, as they avoided the crowds of tourists and the general bystanders Rissy stayed on lookout for one particular store. The Magnolia regulars seemed excited at her presence in the town, the townspeople were always happy to see a member of Fairy Tail and a new one often peaked interest with tourists.
Being stared at never bothered her, for Rissy was glad to talk to anyone that generally seemed nice however Lavender shifted uncomfortably in her place in Rissy's arms in an attempt to avoid eye contact with any strangers.
"Rissy-Chan, they keep staring" She whispered.
Rissy smiled before turning back to the crowd that quickly averted their eyes once they were spotted.
"Don't worry, Lavender, they're just excited to see Fairy Tail members'" she explained with a smile.
Lavender nodded before turning to face forward once more and avoid the looks from the crowd. As they continued to walk she noticed the store that she was looking for, a small photography store that specialized in making personalised photos. As she walked in, the cashier smiled his eyes brightening and causing small lines to appear in the corners.
"Miss Dragneel, I have your order here for you" He said with a grin as he pulled out a brown paper bag. Rissy grinned as she took the bag and pulled out the lacrima inside, both herself and Lavender gasped as photos of her, Rogue and their exceeds flashed across the screen sort of like a home movie.
"You'll think he'll like it?" She asked her partner as she held the lacrima sphere in her hands.
Lavender nodded before offering her a smile.
"Of course he will, Rogue-Kun likes anything from you" She answered causing Rissy to smile
She then turned back to the cashier whilst fishing out some jewel from her pocket
"Thanks for the photo lacrima, you didn't have to go through so much trouble" she said as she placed the jewels in his palm.
He shook his head with a smile, "Anything for a member of Fairy Tail" he answered.
The two mages walked out if the store with grins, the sun starting to set signifying the end of the day.
"I wonder how Rogues doing with Sting at that summit" Rissy sighed as the headed for Fairy Hills.
Lavender shrugged before kicking a stray pebble, it knocked into a wall causing her to huff.
"Fine, but he'll be back soon, there's no need to worry" Lavender commented.
Rissy pouted slightly, clutching the bag close to her chest.
"But I miss him..." She whined.
Lavender laughed before walking over to hug her best friend.
"I know, but you have me, Rissy-Chan" Lavender stated with a smile.
Rissy grinned before lifting her friend into her arms.
"I can always count on you, cat" She smiled with Lavender returning her own as they continued towards their home. It was as they neared the premises did Rissy feel a chill down her spine, the tell all signal that something wasn't quite right. Fog started to fill the air, causing both mags to stiffen, however as she narrowed her eyes she realised that it wasn't fog but smoke.
"Rissy-Chan...can we go home?" Lavender asked drowsily, her head was lulled to one side and her eyes half closed. Rissy's eyes widened as she gently tried to shake her friend awake, however with the smoke closing in she had other worries.
Her vision was starting to blur and her breathing became ragged, her senses were also out of sorts making her vulnerable. An invisible force had knocked her sideways and sent both herself and Lavender into the walls of some rather nice looking houses.
Having protected her exceed from the brunt of the attack she would only have minor bruising come morning, however Rissy felt as if her body was on fire due to the throbbing pains originating from her ribs.
"Lavender, are you okay?" She asked as she crawled over towards her friend.
Lavender didn't respond, the small exceed was out of it due to the weird smok. Moving to stand, a hiss of pain was released due to putting too much weight on her legs, however she knew that she needed to stay alert in case they were attacked again.
A sound to her left signified the attackers' movements and gathering up magic energy sent an attack their way.
"Fairy Dragons Roar!" She shouted as multi coloured light was released from her mouth and was sent at her invisible foe. A loud noise was heard, signifying that the opponent was down, so naturally she picked up Lavender and went to investigate.
The attacker lay motionless on the floor, Rissy assuming that her earlier attack knocked him unconscious.
"I wonder who he-" She started however the attacker grasped her ankle with a hand and pulled her down to the ground, he had abruptly stood up with a ball of purple liquid in his hand - however she wasn't going to stick around wondering what effect his magic had.
He released the ball of liquid, giving Rissy barely enough time to avoid the attack by rolling away with Lavender in her arms. Glancing back she noticed where his magic had come in contact with the ground, the pavement slabs had caved in with smoke erupting from the damage as if it was corroding it.
"It's like acid!" She gasped in amazement; however she knew that she didn't want to get hit by such magic.
She quickly picked up Lavender with her free hand, carefully stepping backwards as the cloaked mage advanced towards her. The purple liquid coated his hand and where some of it dripped to the ground a loud sizzling sound was released, causing Rissy to flinch.
The smoke was starting to make her dizzy and her movements were slow, allowing the cloaked mage the upper hand. A scream was released from her as the liquid came into contact with her right arm, the combination of sound of her flesh burning and the pain caused her to fall to the ground. Blood stained her entire Q1arm and was continuing to fall like rain .
She glanced up in an attempt to get a peek of her attacker however the smoke was making it hard to breath and she knew that she was to pass out from lack of oxygen.
Helplessly she fell to the ground, darkness claiming her; though she was unaware of the blur that whizzed past and saved her from certain doom.
They continued walking through the forest in silence, albeit the odd sounds of the natural wildlife and the occasional shriek as something touched her bare skin, and it seemed that the trio were having trouble finding the bandits.
A small rustle to the left of them caught their attention, Natsu released his hold on Lucy thus allowing her to jump down to the ground with her hands placed on her whip in case of being attacked. The three of them waited wondering when the unknown party were to show themselves.
"Definitely those bandits…" Natsu clarified in a hushed voice. Lucy nodded in understanding, for wherever they were they weren't going to show themselves and they certainly weren't going down without a fight.
Just as the hand on her whip tightened, a loud bang noise sounded instantly causing the mages to spring into action. One of the three bandits attempting a sneak attack had jumped out of the trees, however with his enhanced senses Natsu already had him taken care of with a strong right hook and without the need of exerting magic energy.
The second bandit took this as an opportunity to sneak up on Lucy, since Natsu was still busy with the first bandit. The cowboy like criminal had pulled out his pistol, a blue magic circle appearing in front of his gun signalling him readying to strike. Quickly grabbing her whip, she used it to smack the bandits' hand, the force of the hit causing him to drop his weapon and howl in pain. It was then as he released a string of curses directed at her did Happy fly over and grab the bandit by the waist and place him hanging in the tree via a very uncomfortable looking wedgie.
"Happy...I had that one" Lucy stated playfully as she folded her arms over her chest. Happy merely offered her a grin before landing on the ground beside her, to be fair it had been too long since the three of them had went on a simple mission and she was enjoying it.
Suddenly Lucy had her hand forcibly pulled and glancing down she noticed a brown rope tightened around her wrist. The celestial mage used her free hand to reach for her keys in the hopes of escaping however her keys were shot off her belt by a bullet.
"Oh dear, blondie trying to ruin the fun?" The third bandit asked with a grin.
Lucy frowned before reaching for her whip, however the bandit had other ideas and used her rope to yank Lucy and send her flying into a tree. Lucy groaned as she struggled to get up, the female bandits laughter was starting to annoy her.
The bandit walked over towards her, her heeled boots making indents in the forest floor and her pistol making clicking noises as she twirled it round her index finger.
"You do-gooders think you fight for the right side...but you know shit" She stated as she continued to walk towards Lucy.
Lucy groaned, fearing the beginnings of an evil monologue however, not wanting to get shot any time soon decided on stalling her.
"What do you mean 'fight for the right side'?" She asked with a raised brow.
The bandit smirked before yanking the rope tied round Lucy's arms and causing the celestial mage to release a small yelp of pain.
"The council is just as guilty as I...we are the same, only they make the rules and prance around in their fucking fancy outfits" She spat whilst twirling round her gun.
Lucy sighed before glancing back up at the woman, who was still smiling at her. It was then that she raised her gun ready to shoot and Lucy silently prayed that some miracle would happen to prevent her from sporting bullet holes.
"To be honest, it was nice talking to you blondie, but like the rest of the do-gooders I've got to put some lead in ya" She stated as she moved her finger over to the trigger, a magic circle appeared in front of her gun.
Suddenly a blur whizzed past knocking the bandit over, the shock caused her to fire her gun the bullet narrowly missing Lucy's head. Now free from the bandit's grasp she walked over to where she lay motionless.
"Happy, thanks for saving me earlier" Lucy said with a smile; however to her confusion th exceed just stared at her with a blanks expression.
"Lucy, I was with Natsu" Happy answered gesturing to where Natsu was walking with the other two bandits now tied up.
Lucy frowned before turning to where she saw the 'blur' whatever or whoever it was, it had saved her and she was grateful to that.
"Luce, you okay?" Natsu asked with a frown, she turned to face him with a small nod, though she was still confused.
"I-I think someone else was here" She said quietly as she continued to stare at the same spot through the trees.
Natsu frowned at the statement, before sharply inhaling through his nose. Whatever he smelt seemed to have concerned him as he walked over to where Lucy was stood.
"You're right, Luce," He firmly stated which caused Lucy to pale slightly - she didn't exactly like the sound of his tone.
"But….?" She asked with slight anticipation, Happy frowned in his place beside her.
"It smells like two people we know...only they're not here," He explained with a frown, which only seemed to further confuse both Lucy and Happy.
"Natsu, who does it smell like?" Happy asked, Lucy nodding in agreement.
He frowned before turning to face him, only he seemed as confused as they were and perhaps that wasn't a good sign.
So what did you think of that?
What or who was the 'blur' that saved Lucy and Rissy?
What does Natsu mean he says it smells like people they know?
And who's the cloaked smokey man that attacked my OC?!
Find out next time on FDS
JustAnotherFairy :)