04-10-2016, 08:57 PM
Time rolled along with the gentle breeze that stirred the branches of the surrounding trees. The heavy CLUNK! that sounded in the air every time Gildarts left foot touched the ground, made the weary Prime only more aware at the fatigue reaching his feet. The auburn-haired magus decided it was time to rest, and glanced at a sideways log not too far from the path. Dodging a few trees, and their respective trunks, Gildarts made sure he could still see the path from where he was, before relaxing his mighty gait into a restful sit. He leaned back, and felt the bark of the tree that served as a back to his makeshift wooden chair, itch against his tough skin.
There was a lot to think about. Whompt had ditched him, but this only made Gildarts think that he had a secure lead on the creature they were both seeking to destroy. And then there was that, how did Gildarts know Whompt wanted to destroy it? From what he had seen, Whompt seemed like the mercenary type. The orc had made himself hirable to do jobs, even the dirty ones. Perhaps he had a contract to capture it alive.
There were a million different possibilities all streaming and fleeting consecutively from the Prime’s mind. He never much let it bother him though, since he had a responsibility to first assure that he was not at risk for causing another crash magic cataclysm. At the idea of this, Gildarts felt his face visibly twitch into a hardened glare. The memory in his ears was silent, they had all died so suddenly, there had been no time for them to scream.
A steamy breath came from Gil’s mouth as he exhaled a sigh. The Prime didn’t seem bothered that the air had now chilled to a brisk thirty degrees, but perhaps he was too distracted by the fluent flow of thoughts forming and taking shape with the suspicion he felt from the look in Whompt’s eyes. Piqui, who had been quiet for the most part of the journey, now plopped her head out of the bag and looked kindly at the man. Her kitten eyes glistened despite how the sun had gone missing, and had gotten lost in the clouds.
“Gildarts,” she squeaked, her voice, high-pitched and accompanied by a cat-like purr, “We’ve walked for three days straight looking for this guy, how can you know where you’re going? All the trails coil together, it’s like a maze in here.”
The Prime grunted and stroked the cat behind her chocolate-colored ears, the rest of her fur, was the color of cream, and sometimes when Gildarts looked at Piqui, he thought only of chocolate-chip cookies. “More like a labyrinth, I daresay. But, it’s like I told you Piqui, I am not following Whompt, a Prime like him would be much too difficult to track. He tracks people for a living, you see, but instead, I’m going straight for what he and I both seek.”
“Oh, the orgo-sith?” Piqui’s still kitten-sized teeth prevented her from pronouncing it correctly, “But how do you know where it is?”
Gildarts felt a laugh tickle in his throat and let a smile broaden his cheeks, “Well, if I knew where it was, I think we’d have found it by now, however, I have this hunch...” He was not going to reveal to the youth exceed -one who depended so much on his already unsteady condition- that he actually had spoken to the creature, albeit, through its mind. Gildarts could not mention that he now, still, thought he heard traces of it’s calling. All he could do was chase those traces, for Gildarts had an odd feeling that they had been left for him.
“Gildarts, why don’t we go back to Guu’s place, she might have a lead on it, it’s better than walking around aimlessly in the forest, plus I don’t want to encounter one of those what’s-its again, that was scaaaarrrry.” Piqui wriggled her whiskers and scrunched her nose out of displeasure.
“Hmmm?” his mind had fallen into the ever-calling abyss once more, “Oh you mean the snake? Come on, it wasn’t that bad... Especially compared to that T-Rex. Curious monsters, aren’t they? So very similar to the dragons from our realm.”
“NOT SCARY? Are you blind?! SNAKES ARE TERRIBLE! You just don’t think so cause you’re all big and tall! What about us small people? Huh! D’ya ever think about us? Sure I’ve got wings to fly away from danger, someday, but I can’t yet. Standing next to you makes me feel... Protected, sure, but what if you got trapped in that man-eating rock again? Without you, facing that dinosaur with Nekui, I felt very, very small.”
Gildarts blinked at the exceed’s woes and looked at her earnestly. His hand had stopped stroking her behind the ear, but instead, had clamped firmly on her shoulder, “I’m sorry you feel that way, but you must know now, exactly who I do it for, don’t you?” the charismatic Prime’s gaze never wavered, “Piqui, without your help and courage, I would’ve died in that rock, not to mention, who can imagine what would have happened to some of the surrounding villages near Nekui’s if we hadn’t fought against the monster’s rampage. It wasn’t just me, Piqui, you helped save them too. And look, you’re not even a foot tall, yet you have such a big impact, I’d say that compares quite sizably to that of any person here. Also, Guu isn’t so tall, but you don’t see her complaining about being short.”
“Huh, I never thought you even noticed Guu’s height Gildarts. But, she doesn’t count cause she can get all stretchy!” Piqui protested and extended her arm, willing it ti shoot out as far as Luffy’s had whenever he would punch someone.
“Oh so now you’re saying Guu doesn’t count!?” Gildarts raised his eyebrows, quite shocked, “I think she’s won more battles than I have since I’ve come here. There’s one video on the Dataverse, Molly sent it to me. She sent that fellow off on on his way, though he was as tall as I am.”
“Wait... That’s not fair either!” Piqui had snatched his phone and was gazing at it, though she couldn’t quite type yet, her paws and their pads were much too small and uncoordinated to actually press the keys cleanly.
“I’d say, not fair for that other guy. I think I recognize him though, not sure where I saw him though...” Gildarts pondered and realized he had gotten a bit off topic.
Piqui thought that he was simply being forgetful, like always, and wanted to know where Gilgamesh had met Gildarts. The answer never came, and instead, Gildarts seemed to have crunched his brows together in anguish. “What’s wrong?” she mewed upwards at him, but it was as though the words never fell on his ears.
The man’s deep charcoal eyes looked distant, yet, it was as though he were listening to the sounds of the forest, far beyond what even Piqui’s cat ears could pick up. Her own ears sharpened keenly, though as she steadied herself on the bark, claws extended to better grip the tree, her footing was suddenly lost and she clattered to the ground. A helpless mew came from her as she realized what happened, and unlike a cat, she had not fallen on her four-paws. Still a kitten, her moon-sized eyes wobbled, and she huffed out a gravely somber breath as she attempted to claw her way back up the tree’s grooves.
When she finally made it back up, she saw Gildarts’ expression hadn’t moved an inch, and he had not noticed her shame or sorrow she felt during the fall. This was unacceptable. For the same reason human children cried if they fell to the ground, it was not for the pain, but simply to feel the flush of utter failure consume her. For that fleeting and helpless moment in the fall, Piqui could have died, and it was a mistake that could have cost her this. So she would whimper until the sensation of buzzing fear went away.
Gildarts seemed vaguely aware that the young cat was borderline crying, and suddenly held her close in his arms. Piqui feared she would surely be crushed. The steel one wrapped around his organic one, and pulled the soft fur ball close to his chest. Gildarts had never before resembled a father, comforting his child. Though, if he had stayed just a few minutes longer in his homeworld before he was snatched by Omni, he would have found out the truth, that he had a single daughter, who had grown up without him or his deceased ex-wife.
Instinct however, told him to release with the pressure of his arms. Piqui’s ears quivered as she felt the pain go away with his accepting embrace. Her eyes looked admiringly up at the stubble on Gildarts’ chin. Only one thought was strong enough to shake her away from her whimpering, Piqui could not help but notice that Gildarts was so strong, yet, he had somehow hugged her so gently.
Finally, when Piqui was feeling stronger, as though she had absorbed some of Gildarts’ strength along with his warmth, she wriggled free of his loose cuddle. She looked up, expecting some wise words to come from his stoic mouth, and to see his eyes looking into hers, only to find that his eyes were closed. Gildarts was fast asleep.
Piqui huddled into a little warm ball on his lap, and together their heartbeats fell into the same pace.
...
The dark curtains cast by his eyelids were only opened as he felt the cold chill of water dribbling down the bridge of his nose. Piqui was hissing at the rain, and had taken shelter underneath the back of his cape. The Prime, however, found himself assuming she was in his bag, so when he stood up to grab it, she let out a frightened caterwaul. “GILDARTS!!!”
“Oh, huh, sorry ‘bout that,” was all he could really say, as he lifted up his cape and saw her hanging at the last foot of it, her claws sinking into the fabric and tearing itty-bitty holes in the already frayed edges.
She freed herself, though, it took much longer than either of them expected and then Gildarts began to walk again. Piqui had settled for a place on his shoulder, however, on her perch, she evaded the rain by snatching a little leaf as an umbrella. Had anyone been traveling in the downpour of rain, they would’ve found the pair to be quite the sight.
A tall ginger Prime with a glossed over cloak, soaked in water, and weighing heavily on his shoulders, and on one of them, a cat with wings, using a small leaf for an umbrella. His foot squished with the water in between his toes, and his joints squeaked as they moved. Gildarts’s hair had gotten sloppy, usually it was very well kept -though with all the action he gets into, you’d think the only thing that could possibly keep it that way was magic- yet, now, its color had darkened considerably. It glistened with water, and was nearly as dark as the famed Aragorn’s. It even looked like it a bit too, since it was not straight, but wavy due to the moisture. This did not take away from the Prime’s appearance however, and the chestnut hair rather suited his face and looked very flattering framed around his coffee-colored eyes.
They kept onward, Piqui was feeling rather chilly after an hour’s time, meanwhile Gildarts looked as though he had forgotten about little Piqui, not that she was heavy on his shoulder, however, the way the Prime was walking so diligently, with such smoldering determination in his eyes, would’ve made anyone believe that he had taken no notice of the rain whatsoever, even though it trickled down the back of his neck icily, and had freed his hair of its familiar style.
Piqui wasn’t surprised when this obliviousness worked in his favor -in fact, more often than not, it actually did- and receded back into the only dry place in the rest of the forest, save a few dampened and hollowed out tree trunks and the underbelly of a few dozen, well protected leaves. She huddled in his bag, shaking for warmth, and started to preen the taste of water from her fur.
Meanwhile, Gildarts glided onward, suddenly quicker, as though he was once again onto something...
Onto the Malefactor’s trail.
There was a lot to think about. Whompt had ditched him, but this only made Gildarts think that he had a secure lead on the creature they were both seeking to destroy. And then there was that, how did Gildarts know Whompt wanted to destroy it? From what he had seen, Whompt seemed like the mercenary type. The orc had made himself hirable to do jobs, even the dirty ones. Perhaps he had a contract to capture it alive.
There were a million different possibilities all streaming and fleeting consecutively from the Prime’s mind. He never much let it bother him though, since he had a responsibility to first assure that he was not at risk for causing another crash magic cataclysm. At the idea of this, Gildarts felt his face visibly twitch into a hardened glare. The memory in his ears was silent, they had all died so suddenly, there had been no time for them to scream.
A steamy breath came from Gil’s mouth as he exhaled a sigh. The Prime didn’t seem bothered that the air had now chilled to a brisk thirty degrees, but perhaps he was too distracted by the fluent flow of thoughts forming and taking shape with the suspicion he felt from the look in Whompt’s eyes. Piqui, who had been quiet for the most part of the journey, now plopped her head out of the bag and looked kindly at the man. Her kitten eyes glistened despite how the sun had gone missing, and had gotten lost in the clouds.
“Gildarts,” she squeaked, her voice, high-pitched and accompanied by a cat-like purr, “We’ve walked for three days straight looking for this guy, how can you know where you’re going? All the trails coil together, it’s like a maze in here.”
The Prime grunted and stroked the cat behind her chocolate-colored ears, the rest of her fur, was the color of cream, and sometimes when Gildarts looked at Piqui, he thought only of chocolate-chip cookies. “More like a labyrinth, I daresay. But, it’s like I told you Piqui, I am not following Whompt, a Prime like him would be much too difficult to track. He tracks people for a living, you see, but instead, I’m going straight for what he and I both seek.”
“Oh, the orgo-sith?” Piqui’s still kitten-sized teeth prevented her from pronouncing it correctly, “But how do you know where it is?”
Gildarts felt a laugh tickle in his throat and let a smile broaden his cheeks, “Well, if I knew where it was, I think we’d have found it by now, however, I have this hunch...” He was not going to reveal to the youth exceed -one who depended so much on his already unsteady condition- that he actually had spoken to the creature, albeit, through its mind. Gildarts could not mention that he now, still, thought he heard traces of it’s calling. All he could do was chase those traces, for Gildarts had an odd feeling that they had been left for him.
“Gildarts, why don’t we go back to Guu’s place, she might have a lead on it, it’s better than walking around aimlessly in the forest, plus I don’t want to encounter one of those what’s-its again, that was scaaaarrrry.” Piqui wriggled her whiskers and scrunched her nose out of displeasure.
“Hmmm?” his mind had fallen into the ever-calling abyss once more, “Oh you mean the snake? Come on, it wasn’t that bad... Especially compared to that T-Rex. Curious monsters, aren’t they? So very similar to the dragons from our realm.”
“NOT SCARY? Are you blind?! SNAKES ARE TERRIBLE! You just don’t think so cause you’re all big and tall! What about us small people? Huh! D’ya ever think about us? Sure I’ve got wings to fly away from danger, someday, but I can’t yet. Standing next to you makes me feel... Protected, sure, but what if you got trapped in that man-eating rock again? Without you, facing that dinosaur with Nekui, I felt very, very small.”
Gildarts blinked at the exceed’s woes and looked at her earnestly. His hand had stopped stroking her behind the ear, but instead, had clamped firmly on her shoulder, “I’m sorry you feel that way, but you must know now, exactly who I do it for, don’t you?” the charismatic Prime’s gaze never wavered, “Piqui, without your help and courage, I would’ve died in that rock, not to mention, who can imagine what would have happened to some of the surrounding villages near Nekui’s if we hadn’t fought against the monster’s rampage. It wasn’t just me, Piqui, you helped save them too. And look, you’re not even a foot tall, yet you have such a big impact, I’d say that compares quite sizably to that of any person here. Also, Guu isn’t so tall, but you don’t see her complaining about being short.”
“Huh, I never thought you even noticed Guu’s height Gildarts. But, she doesn’t count cause she can get all stretchy!” Piqui protested and extended her arm, willing it ti shoot out as far as Luffy’s had whenever he would punch someone.
“Oh so now you’re saying Guu doesn’t count!?” Gildarts raised his eyebrows, quite shocked, “I think she’s won more battles than I have since I’ve come here. There’s one video on the Dataverse, Molly sent it to me. She sent that fellow off on on his way, though he was as tall as I am.”
“Wait... That’s not fair either!” Piqui had snatched his phone and was gazing at it, though she couldn’t quite type yet, her paws and their pads were much too small and uncoordinated to actually press the keys cleanly.
“I’d say, not fair for that other guy. I think I recognize him though, not sure where I saw him though...” Gildarts pondered and realized he had gotten a bit off topic.
Piqui thought that he was simply being forgetful, like always, and wanted to know where Gilgamesh had met Gildarts. The answer never came, and instead, Gildarts seemed to have crunched his brows together in anguish. “What’s wrong?” she mewed upwards at him, but it was as though the words never fell on his ears.
The man’s deep charcoal eyes looked distant, yet, it was as though he were listening to the sounds of the forest, far beyond what even Piqui’s cat ears could pick up. Her own ears sharpened keenly, though as she steadied herself on the bark, claws extended to better grip the tree, her footing was suddenly lost and she clattered to the ground. A helpless mew came from her as she realized what happened, and unlike a cat, she had not fallen on her four-paws. Still a kitten, her moon-sized eyes wobbled, and she huffed out a gravely somber breath as she attempted to claw her way back up the tree’s grooves.
When she finally made it back up, she saw Gildarts’ expression hadn’t moved an inch, and he had not noticed her shame or sorrow she felt during the fall. This was unacceptable. For the same reason human children cried if they fell to the ground, it was not for the pain, but simply to feel the flush of utter failure consume her. For that fleeting and helpless moment in the fall, Piqui could have died, and it was a mistake that could have cost her this. So she would whimper until the sensation of buzzing fear went away.
Gildarts seemed vaguely aware that the young cat was borderline crying, and suddenly held her close in his arms. Piqui feared she would surely be crushed. The steel one wrapped around his organic one, and pulled the soft fur ball close to his chest. Gildarts had never before resembled a father, comforting his child. Though, if he had stayed just a few minutes longer in his homeworld before he was snatched by Omni, he would have found out the truth, that he had a single daughter, who had grown up without him or his deceased ex-wife.
Instinct however, told him to release with the pressure of his arms. Piqui’s ears quivered as she felt the pain go away with his accepting embrace. Her eyes looked admiringly up at the stubble on Gildarts’ chin. Only one thought was strong enough to shake her away from her whimpering, Piqui could not help but notice that Gildarts was so strong, yet, he had somehow hugged her so gently.
Finally, when Piqui was feeling stronger, as though she had absorbed some of Gildarts’ strength along with his warmth, she wriggled free of his loose cuddle. She looked up, expecting some wise words to come from his stoic mouth, and to see his eyes looking into hers, only to find that his eyes were closed. Gildarts was fast asleep.
Piqui huddled into a little warm ball on his lap, and together their heartbeats fell into the same pace.
...
The dark curtains cast by his eyelids were only opened as he felt the cold chill of water dribbling down the bridge of his nose. Piqui was hissing at the rain, and had taken shelter underneath the back of his cape. The Prime, however, found himself assuming she was in his bag, so when he stood up to grab it, she let out a frightened caterwaul. “GILDARTS!!!”
“Oh, huh, sorry ‘bout that,” was all he could really say, as he lifted up his cape and saw her hanging at the last foot of it, her claws sinking into the fabric and tearing itty-bitty holes in the already frayed edges.
She freed herself, though, it took much longer than either of them expected and then Gildarts began to walk again. Piqui had settled for a place on his shoulder, however, on her perch, she evaded the rain by snatching a little leaf as an umbrella. Had anyone been traveling in the downpour of rain, they would’ve found the pair to be quite the sight.
A tall ginger Prime with a glossed over cloak, soaked in water, and weighing heavily on his shoulders, and on one of them, a cat with wings, using a small leaf for an umbrella. His foot squished with the water in between his toes, and his joints squeaked as they moved. Gildarts’s hair had gotten sloppy, usually it was very well kept -though with all the action he gets into, you’d think the only thing that could possibly keep it that way was magic- yet, now, its color had darkened considerably. It glistened with water, and was nearly as dark as the famed Aragorn’s. It even looked like it a bit too, since it was not straight, but wavy due to the moisture. This did not take away from the Prime’s appearance however, and the chestnut hair rather suited his face and looked very flattering framed around his coffee-colored eyes.
They kept onward, Piqui was feeling rather chilly after an hour’s time, meanwhile Gildarts looked as though he had forgotten about little Piqui, not that she was heavy on his shoulder, however, the way the Prime was walking so diligently, with such smoldering determination in his eyes, would’ve made anyone believe that he had taken no notice of the rain whatsoever, even though it trickled down the back of his neck icily, and had freed his hair of its familiar style.
Piqui wasn’t surprised when this obliviousness worked in his favor -in fact, more often than not, it actually did- and receded back into the only dry place in the rest of the forest, save a few dampened and hollowed out tree trunks and the underbelly of a few dozen, well protected leaves. She huddled in his bag, shaking for warmth, and started to preen the taste of water from her fur.
Meanwhile, Gildarts glided onward, suddenly quicker, as though he was once again onto something...
Onto the Malefactor’s trail.
![[Image: -Gildarts-fairy-tail-35651033-300-180.gif]](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/35600000/-Gildarts-fairy-tail-35651033-300-180.gif)
"I have never met a strong person with an easy past." -Atticus