Hey guys, I hope you had a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm back with another chapter thanks for the likes and follows now for this chapter it'll be a stretch. I don't want to spoil too much so without any further ado let's dive on in.
Chapter 14: Hard Knock Bonds and Growing Up
It had been a month ever since Carla Cait Shelters newest member had hatched, even though she appeared like a baby people were surprised to see that she was fully capable of speaking.
Although her behavior was unexpected she was distant from all the members and she always avoided Zodie and Wendy, and that wasn't the worst of it they'd offer Carla food but she rudely rejected it and then walked away.
This had been going on for weeks and Zodie was really starting to get fed up with the cats attitude but he not Wendy she made it her mission to be friends with Carla no matter what it took. It was in the morning and each member was going on about their day Zodie was doing some combat training with Keanu only this time Keanu was teaching Zodie to fight with his dagger. Keanu thought since Zodie had it with him he'd need to put it to use at some point and Keanu knew how to wield all sorts of weapons so it would all work out perfectly.
Though Keanu did advise Zodie that his dagger was a tool and was only used when necessary, which Zodie agreed to. Both males were trading blows with their weapons Keanus's sword strikes were strong and had such great force to their blows, but Zodie was faster and could maneuver over Keanu easily.
Keanu lunged towards Zodie with his sword but Zodie was fast and used Keanus size against him, Zodie used his dagger to kick up the dirt into Keanu's eyes which blinded him. Then he knocked the sword out of Keanus hands, jumped over him then delivered a kick to Kenaus back knocking him to the ground.
"Alright Zodie said"
Keanu got back up to his feet dusting himself off then laughed
"Not bad little Z not bad at all your getting better each day" Keanu said
"I had an awesome teacher" Zodie said Keanu then grabbed Zodie and gave him a noogie
This was soon interrupted when Master Roubal walked over to them
"Well done my boy you're getting better and better everyday, you'll be a powerful fighter some day" He said.
"Thankyou master" Zodie replied.
Zodie began to look around for Wendy curious of his friends whereabouts she was probably off following Carla somewhere.
"Hey i'm going to go find Wendy i'll see you guys later" Zodie said as he ran off
Not too far Lupita walked over to Keanu and Master Roubal "He's off to find Wendy and Carla isn't he"?
"Indeed ever since carla hatched she hasn't been friendly to them or anybody else" Keanu answered.
"I'm sure that will all change soon things like this just take time, you'll see" Lupita said
"I hope you're right," Keanu said.
With Wendy
In the forest Carla now wearing a pink dress was flying with Wendy following her this had been going on for a while Carla would wander off and Wendy would always follow after her curious of where she was going, and desperate to make Carla her friend. However Wendy wouldn't be able to keep up with her, she would often hurt herself for falling down or got tired of running after her just to keep up with her.
"Carla wait up please" Wendy yelled to the flying cat but like always her request fell upon faint ears, Wendy was too focused on her that she tripped over a rock and fell down face first. Finally this caught the attention of Carla who turned around and flew down to Wendy's level.
"Honestly, why do you insist on following me if you always end up hurting yourself" Carla asked her, Wendy got back up and looked up to Carla. "It's because you are a member of our guild and your friend and we look out for each other". Carla merely huffed and flew away, Wendy began to run after her again but Carla was too fast and she was out of sight.
"You're wasting your time you know" called out a voice.
Wendy looked up at a tree and saw Zodie sitting on a branch. "Zodie what do you mean" Zodie then leaped down from the tree and landed on his feet.
"I mean you're wasting time trying to befriend that talking furball " Zodie said.
Wendy puffed out her cheeks "I won't give up on her you and me made a promise to look after her when she was still an egg, we've been through so much she has to be our friend". Wendy said
"You've been doing this for a month now we try to be friendly and she never accepts it, i'm getting tired of her attitude and so now I give up" Zodie replied.
"But if you're going to waste your time then be my guest trying to befriend an unexpressive furball is just a fool's errand".
Wendy's face soon changed after hearing what Zodie called her, when the boy saw her face he tried to apologize to her but was interrupted.
"You may have given up on her but I haven't Zodie I just have to make her see" Wendy said a little sad with tears in her eye's.
"Wendy wait" Zodie said but Wendy was already gone.
"Ahh man I should go after her but she's probably mad at me for saying that" with that Zodie just turned around and went back in the direction of Cait Shelter.
Next Day
Zodie was in his room doing exercise routines from push ups to practicing his martial arts by shadow boxing and kicking. It was a routine Keanu recommended to him while he's being trained. After twenty minutes of his workout Zodie went to have a snack that Lupita gave him earlier onigiri with seaweed.
"Yummy Lupita knows just how I like them" Zodie said with his mouth full.
After Zodie finished his snack he began thinking about the conflict he had with Wendy yesterday, he didn't mean to sound mean. He was just frustrated with Carla's stubbornness.
"I should probably go find her and apologize, " the boy thought to himself.
With that Zodie got up to leave his room and went off to find Wendy he ran through the guild area till he came across her room. He walked up to the door and knocked.
"Hey Wendy you in there?" He asked.
He stood there for seconds with no answer so he decided to go inside. "Wendy you in here"? Zodie looked around inside her room but she wasn't on site . He closed the door and thought to himself.
"Maybe Lupita will know where Wendy is" he left Wendy's room to go and find Lupita
Somewhere with Lupita
Lupita was currently in the guilds kitchen making a large pot of stew for the guild it was in a large massive pot.
"I hope everyone will love this for tonight's supper". Lupita said as she gave it a taste test,
"Mmm not bad".
"Hey Lupita"
She looked behind her and smiled as she saw Zodie walk up to her
"Zodie hello sweety did you enjoy your snack I made you"? She asked
"Yep it was so delicious" he replied
"By the way do you know where Wendy is I need to talk to her" Zodie said
"She went after Carla in the woods what's going on"?
"Well yesterday I said some hurtful things to her about Carla and we didn't say anything to each other after that". Zodie then went into more detail of the incident to Lupita and he told her what he said to Wendy and how he made her cry.
"I know I should go and apologize to her but I don't know how".
Lupita walked closer to him knelt down and placed her hand on Zodie's shoulder, the boy then looked at Lupita who had a smile on her face.
"Listen sweety from what you told me you sounded a little frustrated with Carla's behavior, and I can't blame you for that, also I know for a fact you didn't mean what you said if your truly sorry just tell her that you're sorry" Lupita told him.
After hearing Lupita's word's he understood and and nodded at her "Thank you Lupita I'll go and do that" Zodie then turned into the direction of the woods to go and find Wendy.
with Wendy and Carla
Carla was currently sitting in a tree collecting thoughts that was until she was interrupted by a voice, she looked down to see Wendy approaching. She noticed that she was covered with dirt and minor bruises, and she knew she went through great lengths to catch up to her.
"Carla I finally caught up to you" Wendy said as she was catching her breath from the running.
Carla sighs and looks down at Wendy "This is becoming tiresome child how many times are you going to hurt yourself over me"? Carla asked.
"Until you acknowledge me as your guild mate" Wendy replied.
Carla lets out a sigh then spreads out her wings and begins to fly away from the spot.
"Carla wait"
"Don't follow me child"
As Carla was flying away she wasn't looking where she was going and hit a tree hard knocking her out to plummet to a nearby river.
"Carla no" shouted Wendy she jumps to catch the little cat and both fall into the river. Wendy held onto Carla with dear life whilst being pulled by the strong current of the river.
"HELP" yells out Wendy hoping for somebody anybody to help her and Carla.
With Zodie
After getting advice from Lupita Zodie had wandered into the woods hoping to find Wendy and to apologize, so far he hasn't seen her.
"I know for sure that Wendy's chasing after Carla so I just gotta find Carla, but the only problem is I don't know where to find that cat at" Zodie said.
The phoenix slayer then climbs up a large tree hoping to get a view and find his friend, he reaches the top and looks around for any sight of her but finds nothing.
"Rats not up here either"
"HELP" a familiar voice shouts out Zodie recognizes it Wendy she must be in trouble Zodie thought, he looked into the direction in which the voice came from and then he used his great Phoenix eyesight Yubel taught him to find his friend. For a couple seconds he spots Wendy and see's er being carried down the river stream holding Carla in her hands.
"WENDY"
Zodie then began to swiftly move through the tree's to get to his friends.
"Hold on Wendy i'm coming" Zodie said.
Wendy's small body held tight onto Carla trying her best not to let the cat go as she was being pulled and pushed by the strong current, all the motion was enough to awaken her from being unconscious. She realized where she was and felt Wendy holding onto her.
"Wendy wha… why are you here"?
"Isn't it obvious you're my friend and my guild mate isn't that enough to want to save you, besides I wasn't going to let you die not after what me and Zodie went through to bring you into this world".
Wendy words sunk into Carla's head Wendy did care about her and she was foolish not to see it before. Wendy was thinking about how she could get out of the situation, she couldn't use her magic to push herself and Carla out because she was constantly being up and down from the water.
"WENDY" A familiar voice had interrupted her thoughts she looked up and saw it was Zodie running on the road next to the river.
"Zodie you came"
"Of course I did I'll get you guy's out of this hold on," the boy said, keeping pace with Wendy and the current. As he was moving through the tree's he looked ahead and saw where the current ended unfortunately there was no stop instead the water would be moving downward Wendy and Carla were headed for a waterfall.
Seeing this made Zodie speed up he saw a large rock in the current he ripped off a long branch of a tree and made his way down to the ground where the nearby rock was
"Wendy there's a rock up ahead grab onto it" Zodie said
Wendy turned to see the said rock and with all her might she managed to grab on to it.
Zodie got closer to here from the shore and extended the branch out for her to grab and reach it.
"Okay on the count of three let go of the rock and grab the branch" Zodie told her
"1…. 2…. 3"
Wendy pushed herself from the rock and almost grabbed the branch but the current was too quick and strong for her and she was swept away.
"Wendy no" Zodie shouted he then started sprinting towards the end of the waterfall, Wendy and Carla were getting closer and closer to the drop until she felt herself plummeting. Wendy let out a scream of fear as she tightly held Carla in her arms.
Zodie looked on with horror as he saw his friend falling to her doom. "Nooooooooo" Zodie shouted before leaping off the shore line of the waterfall diving after the girls. All of a sudden Zodie phoenix wings sprouted out of his body and in one fell swoop he flew down and caught the feline and the girl, Wendy looked up and saw she was being held in Zoides arm's and that they were flying.
"Zodie"
"Wendy you and Carla alright"? He asked "yes thanks to you" she answered.
"I had no idea you could fly Zodie"
"It comes in handy in situations" he replied "Also it happens randomly, but maybe it happened because the need for it was serious, "We better get back to the Cait Shelter everyone is probably worried about us". Zodie said.
"Good idea"
With said Zodie took off in the direction of the guild.
Back at Caitshelter
Zodie had flown his friends back into the Cait Shelter where Lupita was waiting for them worried about them. She saw how wet and cold Wendy and Carla were and gave them both warm towels and blankets to warm them up. Master Roubal and Keanu arrived holding a bowl of stew Lupita made, he figured that the kid's were hungry. Zodie told them what happened and how he saved them causing Lupita to freak a little and hug Zoide with such strength.
"Honestly every time you kids go out somewhere you are always in trouble or in danger, please stop worrying me" Lupita cried out.
"Lupita please ease up on them okay it's not like there looking for it danger just ends up finding them, it's just out of their power" Keanu said.
"He is right my dear I understand where you're coming from but they're kids and things happen you can't stop that, luckily Zodie is a strong young boy and was there to save Wendy" Master Roubal said.
Lupita processed what the men had said and she nodded in understanding "Okay but please be more careful okay"
"Okay the kids said in understanding"
With that the adults left the three alone to eat to pass out stew to other guild members.
The kids were silent for a couple of minutes before Zdie started to break the silence by apologizing to Wendy
"Wendy I'm sorr.. But before he could finish Wendy had grabbed onto Zodie hugging him with tears running down her eyes.
"Thank you Zodie for saving us. I was so scared," Wendy said.
Zodie returned the hug comforting her "Don't mention it your friend I'll always save you upon hearing that Carla had remembered what Wendy said to her back in the woods a couple days ago. "Because you're my guild mate and my friend," she remembered Wendy saying it sunk into her now.
"Excuse me you two" Carla said interrupting the two "I feel like I owe you an apology for my behavior, and thank you Zodie for saving me".
Zodie smiled at Carla and grabbed Carla and brought her into a hug with him and Wendy.
"It's okay Carla and your welcome, also Wendy i'm sorry for what I said yesterday," Zodie told her.
"Apology more than accepted you saved my life that's an apology enough" she told him
Zodie smiled at this and they each let each other go Zodie stood up on his feet with a smile
"Let's look out for one another for now on" he said proudly
"Yeah Wendy said as she pumped her fist"
"Ohh someone will need to look out for you kids so im in as well Carla said with less enthusiasm"
Zodie knew she didn't want to show her feelings but she knew she was excited that he was ready for what the future brought.
Years later
Six Years had passed by at the Cait shelter guild Zodie and Wendy had grown up. They were now both twelve years old now both were much better with their magic skills Wendy was better at her healing power and Zodie was a stronger fighter and stronger wizard. Currently Zodie was flying through the air in the forest. He was wearing new clothes. He wore a tan long sleeve tribal shirt and green tribal shorts with sandals. He even wore his hair in a new style. It was low braided back reaching to his shoulders.
"Wooooooo" he shouted whirl flying "this is even better when I would ride in Yubel"
He then flew higher and higher into the sky above the clouds, til he was facing the sun that moment he was meant with warmth and nostalgia of how when his mom Yubel flew him up this high. He soon began to descend back down to the ground before sprouting out his wings again and flying safely back to the ground.
"Oh man the breeze today feels amazing" he said
Zodie felt a rumble coming from his stomach he was hungry.
"Boy flying sure works up an appetite" the boy said
He then began to head back to the guild for a bite.
With Cait shelter
The Phoenix slayer made his way through the guild towards the canteen for a bite, there he saw his best friend Wendy sitting with Carla eating soup, wearing a yellow dress with two wavy stripes running across it and ending in a small pointed edge, she had wing like attachments on her arms and legs, she also wore her hair down straight.
Carla wore a simple blue dress both the girls noticed Zodie walking towards them.
"Zodie" Wendy greeted greeted "Hey girls" he replied.
He pulled up a chair next to them after grabbing a bowl of soup and a loaf of bread, and a large slab of meat.
The girls watched as Zodie inhales his food
" wow flying worked up an appetite huh"? Carla asked
"Yep" Zodie replied with his mouth full
Wendy began to giggle while Carla pinched her nose. Suddenly Keanu who was now sporting a beard made his way toward the three.
"Hey guys" he greeted
"Hey Keanu" the kids greeted back
"Master wanted me to come and get you guys, Says there's something he wants to talk to you guys about when your finished go by his tent". He told the kids
" sure" the kids said in unison
"I wonder what master has to say to us, sounds important" Wendy said
"Not sure but it sounds important" Zodie began to swiftly finish eating eager to see what master wanted.
Masters tent
Roubal was sitting in his chair smoking a pipe with his eyes closed along with him was Keanu and Lupita who now wore her hair in a curly style. Soon Zodie along with Wendy and Carla arrived inside.
"Hello master you wanted to see us"? Wendy asked
Roubal looked his eyes and put out his pipe and looked into their direction
"Yes thank you for for coming have a seat" he told the kids
"Now children you both have grown so much as people and as wizards and I've seen that you two are full of potential" he complimented the kids.
"From venturing into the woods alone and displaying courage for each other" Lupita added
Keanu cutted in
"That's why we feel like you guys are ready to go out on your first job together"
"A job" the kids said together
Master Roubal smiled "yes you are at the age where it's time to get used to the jobs were used to around here, and besides see more of magnolia by traveling" he explained.
Zodie liked the idea of a chance to explore excited him. Wendy was a bit timid at first but she also wanted to see what was out there for them. The kids looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They turned to Roubal
"Yes we're ready" Zodie said "I'll do my best for the Caitshelter guild" Wendy added
"Very good but since your starting out you'll be staring at something small" Lupita told them.
"Cait shelter is known for its famous fabric we have a delivery service for our clothes and" Lupita explained.
"Your job will be to take this basket of fabric to the buyer in the west of here" Keanu said
"It's kind of far so you two will need to take a train in order to arrive" Lupita told them.
"A train" the kids said in unison "We've never been on one before" Wendy said
"Yeah I mean I've seen what they looked like in stories and I know that you need money to get a ticket to ride" Zodie added.
"Not to worry kiddos here" Keanu said handing them jewel "This should be enough to cover you three to get to and back from the job.
"I've already packed your bags with things you'll need a packed lunch a lacrima map for navigating and some healing potion just in case Wendy exerts herself" Lupita said handing the kids the bags.
"Thank you Lupita" Zodie thanked "we'll do our best master" Wendy said with determination in her voice.
With that the kids and Carla were off making their way towards the train station.
Lupita had a worried look on her face which didn't go unnoticed by Kenau "Hey don't worry Lupita those two will be fine their not the same defenseless kids six years ago they've become stronger now"
"Yes Keanu you are right"
And done man sorry you guys for the long wait had writers block, but so yeah Zodie and Wendy are older now and are going on their first job. Thanks for all my followers if you guys have any suggestions for my story please leave me your reviews your opinions are helpful, any way see you guys next time peace.
