Yyyyaaaaaawwwwwnnnnn

[Ari]

A little glimmer of Omnilium shimmered nearby Gildart's slumbering form. It warped and twisted, forming itself into the shape of a small cat. It had cream coloured fur with the exception of mocha colouring on its paws and the tips of her ears. It looked like its head was too big for its body, but it didn't seem like it had any trouble carying it. The little creature yawned, mouth opening wide as it padded over to the large man and curled up on his chest.

"Mamma! Look at me mamma I can fly!!"

The young exceed leapt from the high loft of the barn, wings flapping uselessly as it fell deep into a pile of straw at the bottom. She giggled and squirmed around, burying herself further in the warm plant matter. It was so warm she could sleep here... all day... No one really noticed the kitten fall asleep, or that she was there to begin with. The absence of the kitten wasn't noticed until much later when she was being called fkr supper... and there was no response.

The kitten had fallen asleep, and started dreaming. A warm person, with a really deep voice and and a tickly beard. He was lonely. She didn't know why but they seemed very nice, even if they were lonely. Maybe he was a dragon slayer. The kitten had always dreamed of helping a dragon slayer fight someday. Dragonslayer or not he looked like he needed a hug. She could do that. Her mamma told her she always had the best hugs.

[Gildarts]

Spiraling in the darkness were confused thoughts, pieces of an unfinished puzzle, trapped in a maze of time and infinite space.

His consciousness fought to stay afloat, but there was no light for him to grasp, no end of the tunnel, no trace of a hope for air and the Prime continued not just sinking, but drowning on the pain of his bleeding mortal body.

Molten iron stained his lips, which were creased with bright crimson blood, but had been dusted with a coating of sand. In fact, his whole body had been covered in a blanket of sand, which explained why none of his comrades were able to find him in the rubble of the busted-up city.

It was hard to say how long the injured prime had been there, enough time for him to recover from his wounds of defeat- but no, there was another piece of truth that flashed before his eyes while his shuddering breath stirred his muscles awake. The creature that had defeated the distraught prime had given him opportunity to live. Quite like healing, yet different. An ounce of strength, for Gildarts to survive.

The prime grimaced, and only his dark eyebrows crunched together could be seen under the folds of shifting sand. A ridged path had been made around his nose for his lungs to receive labored breath. Nothing else, not even the slight reshaping of sand with every inhale, had given his presence away in the ever shifting dunes.

Pain brought him back to the world of the living, it had lassoed its way into his consciousness and nagged him awake like an annoying chill.

From beneath the pile. His eyes burst open, suddenly, the old timer was aware of his body, and everything flooded back to him. His throat felt as though it was going to burst into flames. Days, perhaps even weeks, he had gone without water, and his intestines had surely been filled with sand. His need for water overruled all else, for pain, while it demanded to be felt, would not help him live.

The prime heaved his chest upright, which took a significant amount of effort, and a large boulder rolled off of him. He had been in the remains of a shattered home. Spit out by the unknown world he had condemned himself and his opponent to. But all reason and logic swept out the door, and his muscles wriggled and wobbled while his stomach and throat gripped and howled for water.

His ands went out, shuffling and searching in the abandoned tatters of the broken building, hoping for water to be delivered when suddenly his eyes snagged on some water in a half evaporated vase. The vase was clear and full of bright, beautiful flowers. Each thrived on the life that the water and sun gave to them, now, Gildarts needed this sustenance in order to live.

Before the dehydrated man was even aware, his hands were around the flower stems and they were thrown to the ground. The vase tilted toward the sky and his throat was filled with the taste of gross, old, and decaying water- but water, none the less.

It was by fool's luck that those flowers had remained intact, but now, Gildarts was drowsy, and his stomach hurtled as his tongue wretched at the taste of sour water invading his body. There was a sea of nausea in his stomach which was not quelled by the shower of the water and the Prime growled at his shortcomings. The vase was set aside. And the sand-covered, dirt-encrusted, half-starved prime finally found the strength to stand. His heels dug into the shifty ground and his knees heaved his torso upward.

Noble Gildarts stood tall, under all the dirt, his cape and shorts were in tatters, of the bandages on his torso there was nothing left but scars buried deep in his tan flesh. The Fairytail wizard grunted once more as he got his bearings in the desert, and then realized his body hadn't eaten for days, and a slick shade of black fell over his eyelids like a curtain, closing him off from the world once more.

The Prime's body fell back into a long sleep, much like hibernation while his muscles sought to store the last reserves of his strength...



-


"GAH!" Gildarts jolted awake with the taste of wet dog- or death, he couldn't tell which- sliming all over his tongue.

Sand was spat from his mouth and he licked his lips absently, but the flesh was sensitive enough that just by that motion, the course sand ripped slashes deep in the thin skin. The stubble of his beard poked holes through the sand he was still covered with, and his organic hand immediately met the stabbing pain in his forehead. His teeth clenched, grating more sand in his mouth than he would have liked to taste, but the bloody salt was a welcomed flavor after the taste of morgue in his mouth.

A grimace crept once more on his face, and glowing brightly in the moonlight were the luminous orbs of his dark eyes. He almost forgot where he was, but the sand made it a hard place to forget. The chill of night had crept into his bones. And the prime attempted to stand tall once more. He was still thirsty, but now, he gripped his abdomen as his stomach howled with pain.

Grr... As if my body aching from age wasn't had enough. On the brighter side of things, with his body in such rough shape, his magic was potentially weakened as well, which meant he probably couldn't do much damage to the already tattered town around him.

True, he had been battered, his bones shattered, and nearly abandoned to die, but all he really had the hankering for was a good sandwich. He wasn't hungry for revenge, or even a cure for whatever had caused his magic to go out of whack. Grrrroooowl his stomach roared like a mighty lion, Gildarts still lived up to his name.

The hunger of a man was enough to cause trepidation in anyone. After all, a man with a hunger for his ambition could easily make him into relentless monster. A wizard who was hungry was even worse. And a hungry Gildarts? Who to his knowledge had been left to die, might've been as bad as Diablo himself!

The Prime's eyes sharpened with savagely ferocious intent for anything to quench the pangs of hunger that scratched at his stomach like claws again a chalkboard. As Gildarts stood, heaps of sand toppled off him in the darkness, creating a cloud of fluffy dust at his feet.

"Oof!" A muffled voice could be heard from the Prime's feet and a pair of slowly blinking eyes looked up at him while the clutter of dirt sifted away.

Gildarts stood tall and intimidating, with the moon on his back, his eyes bore down into the ground, searching for what had made the sound, and his appearance was enough to send a fright into anyone, let alone a very tiny kitten.

Chunks of mocha and chocolate slowly broke through the cloud, and finally revealed the kitten, with what seemed to be wings on its back covered by a small and distinctive cape.

Beautiful eyes wobbled in the moonlight, with a hue that glistened in the pale shimmering of the night. Just when it appeared Gildarts may have been a monster, or a "Sand-man" his cheeks creased into a smile, and his stubble broke away come of the sand, revealing a bruised cheek and some broken skin. But it was the skin of a man. He was no monster, despite the now-melted ferocity in his eyes. His body ached and the metal creaked as he dipped down to pick up the kitten with one of his hands.

"Hey," his gruff voice barely managed, and cracked due to the sting of time and lack of water. "I am sorry, I didn't see you there." His eyes offered the cat an assuring gaze while he cradled her in his weakened and near limp arms.

He held her chin up with his silver hand and examined her for any wounds before asking with the mighty pride that always seemed to be a force that surrounded the wizard. Gildarts asked, "Who might you be?"

[Ari]

Piqui stared up at the giant man in awe.

He looked so powerfull and intimidating and well, a little dirty. Piqui was okay with dirt though. She liked getting dirty too. Maybe he was a sand dragon slayer. That would be fun. Then they could make a beach wherever they went! On second thought. Sand always got in the worst places when she went to the beach. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.

Before Piqui had even registered being picked up she was already waaaayyyyy up. Waayyyyy up near the giant’s shoulder. The little kitten took a moment to glance down at the floor. Just about the same height from the loft to the hay stacks. Piqui, pleased with this, cuddled up to Gildarts’ chest. Her ears rubbed sand off onto her nose, making her sneeze adorably.

When the man tried holding her chin so he could look at her the kitten squirmed and pulled away, almost falling down to the ground. A quick wing flutter righted herself properly and Piqui gave herself a mental high-five for the flutter even happening.

“Piqui is Piqui!!! Imma exceed and I wanna work with a dragonslayer some day!!! Are you a sand dragon slayer? You look like someone who likes sand since yer all covered in it like a beach ball.”

[Gildarts]

“Dragon slayer!?” Gildarts gaped. Now that he looked at the kitten, it did kind of resemble Happy, but it was missing the Fairytail crest, or at least he was not able to see it. “Of sand?” Gildarts smiled, “I’m not versed in that kind of magic, I use Crash magic, which....” his eyes looked around at the pretty demolished house, though it hadn’t necessarily been demolished by him, that he could remember, at least, “Usually gets me into a little trouble. More or less, I can easily make something sand.... Who are you calling a beach ball!?!”

Gildarts blinked and before he knew it, Molly was the next thing on his mind. Well, after the throbbing pangs of molten agony that seared in his skull. The powerful prime stooped low, and his shoulders wilted under the immense pressure that his body was under. The poor girl was in Ambrosia with Guu, and he hadn’t bothered to ‘write’ as they say. It didn’t help Gildarts already had little perception of time, now in the Omniverse, it was much more difficult for him to keep track in the verses.

The exceed kitten had sprouted wings from its back, however, it was not at an age where it could fly. Gildarts wondered how he would carry the kitten, when he staggered a bit, still woozy from all the turmoil that was going on in his body. The magic that coursed through his veins slushed and frothed like jelly. He waited for a wave as big as a tsunami to render his self-control powerless once again.

There was little to be seen from his perch, other than some ruin, and some shacks of a rebuilding city, created on and with sand. This was Nippur. Gildarts hoped he wouldn’t black out again, and suddenly he realized it might be dangerous to return to Ambrosia.

For them.

Not that Gildarts hadn’t always had this “effect” so to speak, but now, as his stay in the Omniverse was becoming more permanent, it seemed so was this defect in his magical make up. It was bad news. Because a powerful prime like Gildarts couldn’t afford to lose control and those he loved and those around him probably couldn’t afford to take the hit.

So there was his dilemma. Yet again, always hanging over his shoulders like some godly burden. And then there was this exceed. She was young, and he couldn’t exactly leave her, she might die. Then again, if he took her with him, she would die.

Gildarts grunted and found it within himself to smile at his sad situation.

The Fairytail wizard looked at Piqui’s big, wobbling eyes fondly, and squatted down to her level. He caressed the kitten’s cheek and murmured in a voice that so distinctly sounded like hope, that one in his presence might have heard only love. He spoke:

“It looks like you and I are both in need of a friend.”

[Gildarts]

The phone started to chime in his ear as Gildarts held it there with his organic hand. The prime was still worried he would break it, but so far, not even crash magic had given it so much as a crack.

Finally, the line picked up, and a little girl's voice hummed from the other side, "Hello?"

"Molly! It's me, Gildarts, I-" before he could finish, there was a loud scream and he heard the sound of objects falling and clattering on a hardwood floor.

"EEEEEPPPPP!" the little girl's voice howled from the other side and went straight into his ear.

The prime's expression grimaced with pain and pleasure, "How are you?" Gildarts wasn't one for small talk, but he wanted to hear the girl's voice.

"Oh! I'm wonderful, but Guu just left to fight the bad guys!" Molly started.

"Bad guys?" Gildarts' expression turned gravely concerned.

"Yup! But I have faith in her, she'll do great, she's been gone for a little while now, I'm expecting her any time now..." Molly concluded.

"What bad guys?" Gildarts was worried, hadn't he just fought with them?

"Didn't you get the email?" Molly sounded a little worried herself, "WAIT JUST A SECOND. Where have you been?! I've been expecting you for a few weeks now!"

Gildarts blinked, and told his truth, "It's only been a few days for me."

"Darn, in the Omniverse, time works like this though Gildarts, I kind of figured you'd get looped up in it." But despite it all, Molly still smiled, and Gildarts did too.

"Well, I'm on my way, and it looks like I'll be bringing a new friend. Pass the news on to Guu? Or well, I suppose I should practice emailing." Gildarts sounded as though the word were more dreaded than a fire breathing dragon.

"Hurry back, okay? OH HEY WAIT, where are you, which verse?" Molly was curious, primes always had the best stories and she ate any adventure up.

"Uhh, I'm in the one with the sand. I was in the nexus and may have taken a wrong turn... Also Molly, I have to tell you," There was a pause, it was morbid and foreboding even through the phone, "I'm sick."

"You're in the endless dunes? What are you doing all the way out there? And.. How sick? You're a prime you should be fine..." Molly sounded a little frantic and the tone of her voice quickened.

"I was initially looking for a cure, things got pretty ugly, real quick. Tch," Gildarts grimaced as he accidentally rolled over a tender bump on his head with his other hand, "The magic in my body..." Static quickly over took the call, Molly from the other side played with a pencil in her hand.

"What's that Gildarts? I can't hear you, you'll have to speak up?"

"WHISSSHHHH TCCHHHH GRRRRR!"

"Molly are you still there?" Gildarts grew confused.

"WHIIISSSHHHHH-G-I-L-D-A-R-T-S-"

More static.

Suddenly the call dropped dead. When the less than savvy prime went to click redial, the screen went black. Gildarts had no idea he ever had to charge his phone.

"Well the call dropped, or something," Gildarts concluded to the kitten, "Oh! Do you know what a phone is, Piqui? It's a unique kind of magic that isn't natural to our world."

He showed her the phone, and she sneezed like a hurricane on it. It was then that Gildarts' felt his eyes widen, because maybe this little tiny exceed, had more power than he imagined. The phone of course, charmed by Guu herself, was indestructible. Even when uncharged.

Gildarts picked up the cat and set her on his shoulder, her still growing wings sprouted from underneath her cute little cape. A gust of wind carried just over the sand, and swept over the two Magnolia natives, bringing both of their capes to a calm flutter behind them.

It was in this moment, that each of them, resembled superheroes, it was even more comforting, that they would not have to go the journey alone.