Sweet Starry Shadows

Rescued

Sweet Starry Shadows

Chapter 25: Rescued

Did she make it? Watching as Aquarius flicked her head as she came through her gates, she didn't have enough time as the arrows went zinging through the air.

Ignoring Aquarius's ranting as she held her breath, she slowly widened her eyes as the arrows came very close to the dragon. Before it even made contact with her though, strong bolts of lightning came zapping towards the arrows, burning them where it crumbled after being burnt into crisps.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief, she heard the rustling again where she snapped her head towards its direction. Sting, Rogue and herself tensing up as they expected another enemy to emerge from behind the thick trunks of the trees, they sighed as Laxus revealed himself.

"Out of all times," Laxus grunted where Sakura turned to look at him and sighed. "Was this who you were after?" he then asked, pulling a man out that was knocked out and was swaying from his rough yank.

The blonde nodding as she ran towards him and pulled out her other whip, she tightly wrapped it around the man. "Yeah, he’s the one that we’ve been trying to stop... Thank you Laxus," she said with a forced smile where she then handed the handle to Rogue who came to her.

Sakura enraged that she was about to get attacked from behind, she angrily slammed her tail onto the ground where she dragged it across, breaking down any of the trees in which she assumed hid away the archers from her sight. With a shaky sigh, she changed back into her human form where she flew down to the others using her wings.

Landing, she stormed towards the Celestial mage and examined his facial features. Her head snapping to Laxus, she nodded her head where she then ran her shaking hands through her hair. "You've been away from the guild for a while... Don't tell me that you're with them asking for help," Laxus said, breaking the tension in the air where Sakura sighed again.

The girl dropping her hands where she walked towards him, she jumped onto his right shoulder and sat there. Lucy being shocked at the fact that Laxus was allowing her to do that, she slowly walked over to Sting and stood in between the two Sabertooth Dragon Slayers and remained silent.

It wasn't her place to say anything. It seemed like Laxus knew what was going on, hence the reason why he mentioned Sting and Rogue being "them."

Watching as Laxus and Sakura stared at each other in silence, she widened her eyes when Sakura looked away with a sad frown on her face. They had a past together she assumed as she watched the Lightning Dragon Slayer hold Sakura in place by wrapping his right arm around her legs to prevent her from falling.

"I'm not in the guild anymore," Sakura replied where Lucy noted Laxus raising his brow in question without the need of having to question her statement with his voice. "Fairy Tail is no longer my home," she whispered before looking back to him. "It’s fairly obvious that I can't leave Lucy and you know it," she then stated where both heads turned to look at the blonde who tensed her shoulders.

Laxus observing the mage, he noted the strong presence emitted from her body. Looking up to the crimson, he took in a deep inhale through his nose and blinked. "Does Takuto know about this? You're in a demon's territory," he asked.

The girl shook her head. "Takuto doesn't know, nor does he need to know about what’s happening, but I do know in fact that Rosette wouldn't attack us," she replied where he slowly nodded, not trusting her words completely. "We all met her Laxus... You, Takuto and I are her friends. Once we enter her territory, she'll grant us the sight to see her home..." she added on.

The two of them were back into staring at each other and Rogue felt a slight shift of weight on the end of Lucy's whip. Turning his head, he realised that the man on the end was regaining his consciousness. "Sakura..." he called, making everyone look at him. "The man's waking up," he said.

"We'll take him to our friend's home to ask him a few questions," Sakura said before turning her attention to the dragon that was quietly watching her. "Return back into your human form. He won't be commanding you until he fully wakes up," she commanded where the dragon nodded its head and changed back into her human.

Lucy watched as the girl slowly approached them, she warily gave out her hand where the girl looked up at her. "Come on," she insisted.

The girl nodding, she quietly accepted her hand and began to follow Laxus and Sakura who began to lead the way. "Knock the man out again if he fully regains conscious... I don't want him to command the girl to attack everyone again," Sakura said without turning back.

As they all nodded their heads, Lucy noticed how cold the girl's hands were. "What's your name?" she asked.

"C-Chaverine," the girl replied in a dead tone.

Lucy nodding her head in reply to Chaverine’s emotionless reply, she looked up to Rogue watching her as Sting carried the man with a scowl on his face. They were on edge knowing what a broken dragon could do once it reaches its breaking point. Giving them narrow looks where Rogue looked away, she looked back to Chaverine and smiled.

"Okay, Chaverine... My name is Lucy. We're not going to hurt you..." she said in a soft tone where the girl looked at her blankly. "That's what he told me multiple times. There's no meaning to words and all promises will sooner or later be broken, so there’s no point in bothering," Chaverine whispered which didn't go unnoticed by all Dragon Slayers and dragon.

Sakura turning her head where she sadly smiled to Chaverine, she gently heeled Laxus's chest where he stopped walking and let her hop off. "You guys continue, I'll be back with these two soon," she said where Rogue and Sting nodded and continued off without a word since they knew that she'll keep her word and keep them safe from harm.

As the boys headed off with Laxus leading the way, Lucy watched the crimson walk towards her where she went on her knees in front of the broken gem. Feeling that she was going to be on an emotional rollercoaster again, she added pressure to Chaverine's hand as a sign of security.

"Chaverine... I'm Sakura, an elemental dragon that also controls a part of your element. When you said that words don't mean anything, are you going to apply that statement with mine?" she asked with calming eyes.

The girl didn't say anything as she remained in her spot. Her eyes staring right into Sakura's, she could sense a feeling of familiarity as well as comfort within the girl. Looking away, the only thing she could do was nod in reply.

"We wouldn't go against our word. See? We haven't hurt you in any way," Lucy said where Sakura nodded and closed her eyes. "What type of guardian would I be if I don't protect our own kind? Chaverine... I am a dragon based on words and knowledge. You may be roughly my age, so you should at least know what type of dragon I am. Please trust and believe in my words when I say that I'll protect you from these bad masters," she pleaded.

Chaverine turning to look at Sakura, they widened their eyes when they noticed the crimson’s eyes watering up but was holding them back from falling. "I don't want to be like this..." she whimpered.

Lucy's eyes watering up, she pulled the girl into a loving embrace. "Thank you for letting us in," she said where the girl nodded and snuggled into her arms.

"It's been ten years since I've seen an elemental dragon... I thought that the entire kind was wiped out, but here you are, kneeling in front of broken thing like me. I'm such a disgrace for being captured like this," Chaverine said.

Running her hand on Chaverine's back, she hushed the girl. "Sakura doesn't think that way. You're all considered as a family to her..." she cooed before the girl pushed herself away from her to look at her with widened eyes.

"What are you?" she whispered.

Lucy looking to Sakura then back to her, she tipped her head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm a Celestial Spirit mage..." she replied where Chaverine shook her head. "A Celestial Spirit..." Chaverine took a few steps where Sakura stood up in caution. "Trust my words when I tell you this, Lucy will not hurt you, nor will she claim you as her dragon," she said boldly, noting the emotions slowly revealing itself from Chaverine's eyes.

"You have to believe that I won't do such a thing to you," Lucy said before gasping as Chaverine fainted.