Just one more scar

[Kade Lazarus]

Things had been a bit rough for Kade, sure, but he was a trooper. He neither had the time nor the patience lately. He’d been very busy lately. He went to a tournament, found out that his least favorite individual was a dragon slayer, and that really just made things worse. So he went on a training frenzy. He needed to be better than that… that… person. He needed to be stronger. And he absolutely couldn’t calm down.

He’d packed up and left the guild hall. He didn’t need the attention and he didn’t need the conversation. He asked someone to watch his garden and he high tailed it out of there. He’d been taking on more violent jobs. He had been shorter with enemies and quieter with victims. It was really messing with his personality, but he took a good beating the day before, and it knocked a bit of sense into him. It didn’t really matter if he was taking jobs if he was a jerk about it. That was what separated him from… that person. Morals. He took a deep breath and re-wrapped his shoulder. He was in a tank top and jeans, his bag of supplies hanging over his right shoulder. His left shoulder was bandaged, but the walking around was rising a bit of blood back to the surface. He looked sort of dirty, and the summer sun beating down on him should have made him uncomfortable. It just kept him energized. He felt good, but he was in Fairy Tail territory, and he didn’t like that.

He stopped just outside of town by a stream and got a drink. He washed his face too, pushing back his increasingly shaggy blue hair. He could probably use a nap, but… it was so nice out, he wanted to enjoy it. He heard someone walking around nearby, but he only gave them a small glance before cupping some more water to drink.

[Hannah Jaymes]

Hannah had not been busy. She had been taking things slow, enjoying life, and avoiding people she didn’t like. Yeah, things were good. She had probably let things go too long though and she was getting a bit out of practice. She needed to fix that and was ready to start working again. She had rode that little bit of money she had for long enough and now she needed work. Work was hard though.

Hannah was out for a walk. She hadn’t seen any good jobs lately, and just wanted to get out for a bit. She was walking down a small road near a stream when she noticed someone down at the stream. At first she thought he was a homeless guy. Bag of supplies, check, a bit dirty, check, and bandages? No, that wasn’t right. She watched him for a minute as he re-wrapped his shoulder and went to get a drink. Hannah was not the nicest person around, but the guy looked like he might need some help.

She slowly walked closer to him. ”Hey dude. Are you okay? You need any help. You look a bit… hurt.” She was also not all that tactful. Hopefully he wasn’t going to be hostile or beg her for money, or crazy. Hannah didn’t want to deal with any more crazy. Nice sane people were good.

[Kade Lazarus]

Being busy was hard, and work too. Kade still had to get it done. It had helped him to be so obsessive with work lately. Sure he was tired, and sure he was worn, but he wasn’t insane raging at the world. It wasn’t right of him to be so crazy. He needed to be a better role model, a better guild mate, and a better dragon slayer. That was why he’d left, and maybe it had worked. The physical fighting really hadn’t been the most helpful, but feeling like he was in control of his own actions, instead of letting some kid control them, definitely helped.

Kade heard someone approaching him, but didn’t react. Even as he was drinking water and tired, he could hear someone walking up. It wasn’t as if she was sneaking after all. He did look over to her when she spoke. She seemed to be trying to offer him help, instead of offend him, but her attempt was rather amusing. He chuckled at it, wiping the water from his lips with the back of his hand. “Thanks for noticing,” Kade teased lightly. “I’m fine actually. Well… not perfectly okay… but I won’t die or anything,” he added, more for her benefit. He glanced at his injury, “Are you a wandering good Samaritan?”

[Hannah Jaymes]

Crazy was definitely a bad thing. Hannah didn’t need that either. She hadn’t had too much crazy around, but a little was too much. She honestly didn’t like being around people most of the time, so she just needed time away. In all honesty she had a lot of time away before, but more never hurt. Hannah was a good enough dragon slayer. She didn’t do bad things, and didn’t go around telling people she was one.

The guy didn’t seem too affected by her approach, that either meant he wasn’t paying attention or didn’t care. Hannah hoped for the later and it seemed to be that way when he turned and looked at her when she spoke. So he could tease too, that was a good thing. She chuckled at his comments. ”Yeah, totally, I’m a wandering good Samaritan.” She walked over to him to get a better view.

”Dude, you look like you’ve seen a lot. You know there is clean water in town… right?” She wondered if he was avoiding town, poor, or what. Not that drinking from a stream was bad, but it might make you sick. It was his choice, but it didn’t seem like the best thing to do. He looked in too good of shape to be homeless, and he smelled different. Not smelly, but different.

[Kade Lazarus]

Dragon slayers were meant to be something special. They were meant to be the legacy of their mentors, their parents. Whether or not that legacy made them a hero was up to the dragon who they learned from. Still, when a Dragon Slayer could be considered a good enough dragon slayer simply by not being a bad person and not spilling their secret… that was bad. Really, really bad. Unfortunately it was absolutely the case right now.

It was nice to have some light hearted company. Despite some people thinking Kade was boring, he liked a good time. He also liked a good conversation. So being able to take a joke and return one was nice for him. Especially in this area. He’d given this area enough grief, and it had given him more than enough stress.

“Well it’s a good job description. Nice benefits, I hear,” he said. Of course she couldn’t just let him off like that. She had to tease some more. Oh, or it wasn’t a joke. Clean water in town. “I know,” he said simply. “I’ve been in and out of town a lot. Just finished doing some things around the area… but its nicer outside. No… business. Just the company of nature. Or are you a city person?”

[Hannah Jaymes]

Hannah had kind of forgotten that. Being a dragon slayer was supposed to be something special. She needed to relearn that, and to feel that way again. She would eventually though, given enough time and the right circumstances.

So far Hannah did not think this man was boring, he kidded slightly about being injured, so he couldn’t be too much of a stick in the mud. Besides, crazy did not mean exciting and calm did not mean boring. Hannah also enjoyed a good conversation. She crossed her arms and leaned against a tree nearby. She figured she would relax and make sure the guy was actually alright and not just saying he was.

”Eh… benefits could be better. A lot of people don’t appreciate the work I do. But I’m not going to complain.” She listened to him talk. He had been in and out of town, she should have watched town more carefully, maybe she would have noticed him before. He wasn’t too bad looking, so it was a pity she hadn’t noticed him before. ”I’m a whatever I feel like person. I’ve spent enough time outside and inside. I’m well rounded I guess.” She shrugged a bit. ”Name’s Hannah. You sure you’re alright? What did you do to get beat up like that?”

[Kade Lazarus]

Eventually and the right circumstances. Those were luxuries. Not that chaos was knocking at Kade’s door, but he felt the pressure to always be on. Not that on a day to day basis he actually felt stressed or unhappy, but… he just needed to be attentive. There were people counting on him, and he needed to be there for them. Also he felt the guilt when he did mess up. It was in the darkness he felt how far he’d fallen. He got used to light, as was his nature.

It turned out that this woman was going to camp there until otherwise noted. He supposed that was fine with him. He knew there was a difference between calm and boring, and crazy and exciting. He’d spent a lot of time being around crazy, and it wasn’t exciting, or interesting. It was more often boring than actually interesting. He tried to avoid those things, really.

Kade chuckled when the woman said her good Samaritan benefits could be better. She amused him. “Not going to complain to them perhaps,” he teased lightly. She sounded borderline complaining, but more just joking around than an actual complaint. Thus he teased. She went on to expressed her own well roundedness and he smirked, “Well that’s good. And its nice to meet you Hannah. I’m Kade. I was just doing some guild jobs. I got a bit sloppy I suppose,” he explained his injury. Sloppy wasn’t the word. Reckless. His fighting had been just fine, it was his mind that was a blur.

[Hannah Jaymes]

Hannah tried to avoid stress and things like that. She didn’t need any gray hairs at a young age from worry. No one needed that. So she took it cool. Luckily no one was counting on her and she could just do her own thing. No one had ever really counted on her, like depended on her. She wouldn’t know what to do if that happened.

Yeah, she was just going to camp there. She could use a break and a chat. He was nice and good looking, so what could a chat hurt right? Nah, it wouldn’t hurt. She looked up at the sky, and listened to the wind blow through the trees. It reminded her of when she left town with Roejaster.

She chuckled a bit at his teasing. ”No, I’m not complaining too much now am I?” She knew she was complaining a little bit. She perked up when he said he was doing some guild jobs. She liked talking to wizards, and she always loved a chance to learn something new about magic. ”Oh? So you must be a wizard then.” She looked him over for a guild tattoo to see who he was with. She should have seen it before. ”Oh, Lamia Scale… I see.” Hannah pulled her tank top back a bit so he could see her tattoo.

[Kade Lazarus]

Kade didn’t think he’d look good with gray hairs. Maybe if his hair color calmed down for a while it would be different. It was too vibrant to be mixed in with grays for now. A simple fact of life. Of course he was far too young to be getting gray hairs. He was twenty-two years old, and wouldn’t be twenty-three for another several months. When things got cold and most of the country covered itself in snow. That was when Kade had his birthday. He wasn’t really fond of the cold. Not because he couldn’t handle it, but because he was a creature of sunlight, and sunlight usually meant warmth.

It seemed like Hannah was happy to just hang around with Kade for the moment. He didn’t mind that at all. “Nope, not too much,” he said with a bit more teasing. It was more like joking around than really complaining. He couldn’t relate to her life, but he didn’t know that. Most people couldn’t relate to his life. He did try to understand theirs though.

She noticed his tattoo and commented on Lamia Scale. Yes, Lamia Scale in Fairy Tail territory. Probably not what people instantly expected. She pulled at her tank top and he noticed the Fairy Tail symbol there. He frowned immediately, looking serious. Fairy Tail. His experience was a ditzy but pleasant young woman… and that one kid. “… Oh… I don’t have the best track record with your guild.” He didn’t want to judge her without knowing her. She’d seemed nice a second ago, ornery but nice. Now she was part of that group. The strongest, loudest member he had met being… yes. So he was visibly on edge around her now.

[Hannah Jaymes]

For now Hannah was happy to just hang around and chill. She was a chill person most of the time, and she wasn’t complaining. It was mostly joking, but truth was parts of it were true. She wouldn’t complain about that to a stranger though. Never open up to strangers, it was weird and not a good idea. That’s why Hannah was very picky about who she talked to about really important things.

She didn’t even think about the territory thing. Why couldn’t wizards from other guilds come to where Fairy Tale was? And why couldn’t people from Fairy Tale go to other places? Hannah thought they could. To her the guilds weren’t opposed or anything. It wasn’t what she instantly expected no, but it wasn’t a good thing. Apparently he didn’t have the best track record with Fairy Tale though. ”Wait…. What do you mean? Met someone you didn’t get along with?” She wasn’t sure what he meant by it, but he had peaked her curiosity. Maybe he didn’t get along with someone, maybe he had a rival or something. Whatever it was had to be interesting, and Hannah loved to know things. So she wanted to know. She leaned back against the tree and got comfortable.

[Kade Lazarus]

Apparently Kade’s discomfort was Hannah’s curiosity. He understood about not opening up to strangers. There were some things you just didn’t share. Such as being a dragon slayer. Unless you were a moron and being watched by all the guild at once. Then they not just shout it from the tallest mountain? Yeah, so Kade looked uncomfortable, and Hannah just looked curious. As far as Kade had been concerned, guilds were in an area, and people sought the nearest help. He had no issue going near Blue Pegasus. The Magic Council was not a guild, they were a force of tyranny. Fairy Tail… Kade didn’t think of them as territories a while ago… but now… he just didn’t want to be in that general stomping ground.

“Yes, I met someone I didn’t get along with…” Kade said without much explanation. Hannah was getting comfortable. So like him she liked a good story, hm? Alright, if she was so interested in him regaling his tail of murder and stupidity… he could give her some highlights. “I got sent a request to come help with a job, from Fairy Tail. Another guildmate and I came here to help… and we ended up working with… apparently your resident dragon slayer. Or so the Tournament tells me,” he said with a shrug. He had no way of knowing that Hannah was one too. He didn’t let on how much Tatsu being a dragon slayer irked him. “In any case, we worked with him, and we did not get along. He’s quite the spokesperson for your guild, I will say that much…”

[Hannah Jaymes]

Someone he didn’t get along with. Hannah didn’t socialize a lot with the people of her guild, she had always been a bit of a loner, but she couldn’t think of anyone too terrible there. She listened to him tell his short story then it made sense. Yeah… she could see people not getting along with the open dragon slayer in the guild. She didn’t like him, not after the staring and then hearing about him doing some actual feeling of people. That just wasn’t right. And now guys were not getting along with him? Did he stare and grab this guy?

Hannah sighed. ”Was his name Tatsu? That man is a bit of a pig… what did he do? And he is not my guild’s spokesman…” She seemed annoyed that people were forming ideas of the guild from him. She wasn’t annoyed at Kade, she was annoyed that Tatsu was being so loud that people were forming general assumptions for the rest of the guild from him. And the fact that he was a dragon slayer and was annoying people was not good. Not that Hannah was open about the dragon slayer thing, but she was still one. ”You sure you don’t need help with anything?” She didn’t really want to keep standing there while this guy might need help. He was wounded after all.

[Kade Lazarus]

Was it really even a guess when it came to Tatsu? The most vocal and horrible member of Fairy Tail. At least Kade hoped he was the most horrible, he didn’t have personal experiences with all of them, so he couldn’t really say that for sure. He assumed as much though. Hannah asked about his name, and Kade simply nodded, “Yeah.” That man is a bit of a pig, hm? Well, Kade didn’t yet have any experience with Kade’s perversion. He was too busy murdering people to be inappropriate with Astra. Kade was liable to punch him if they met again, and if he so much as looked at one of Kade’s friends wrong… it wouldn’t be wise.

He crossed his arms when she said he wasn’t the spokesman, “Well, he certainly acts like it. And I know he isn’t really… but he is out there representing Fairy Tail, and as the only one I’ve spent that much time with… he did a real bang up job,” he told Hannah sarcastically. “In any case, he insisted on killing some dark guild member we were trying to subdue. How killing him would teach a lesson… playing god. I told him to stand down, but he was liable to just do it anyway, had my friend not talked him down… of course, I found out when I was cleaning up his mess that he had already been killing people in the fight… no, I don’t need any help.” He trailed off between the thoughts. Tatsu made him angry. Really, really angry, but he wouldn’t lose his cool today. Kade sighed, “But thanks for the offer.”

[Hannah Jaymes]

Hannah’s annoyance soon turned to shock. Wow killing people, that was serious. Hannah didn’t like killing. Her goal was always to defeat the enemy, but not to outright kill them. She understood sometimes you had to do what you had to do. Self preservation and survival were important, but killing targets you’re supposed to subdue, that’s just not right. She definitely looked shocked now, and not sure what to say. Annoyance that a pervert was representing her guild went out the window when she heard he was representing the guild by killing people. That went from annoying to messed up.

Her works came out far less fluid than before. ”Really? Wow… I knew he was perverted and that was annoying, but… wow… didn’t think he would go all murder. Dude that’s messed up…” She stood and shifted on her feet a bit. She felt far less comfortable in the guild now. ”I should tell someone in charge that he was doing that…” She knew the people in charge would not be happy at wanton killing like that. What sane person would be? No Hannah. She was not a peaceful person, but she wasn’t a killer. That was a completely different thing entirely.

[Kade Lazarus]

It seemed Kade had startled Hannah with his news of Tatsu’s behavior. He felt a little bad. He had reacted poorly to her just for being in that guild, but it was clear she didn’t know anything about Tatsu’s worst traits. Apparently Tatsu had a way with women, based on the “perverted” comment, but he didn’t have much time to think about that. He should fix his comments a bit, or at least apologize. “I’m sorry. Mostly for being standoffish just because you are in Fairy Tail. He made it quite clear that I had no say in what he did because Magnolia was Fairy Tail’s town… I never really thought of the guilds as being that separate until he said that. I did consider talking to your guild master to make sure he knew a person like that was representing his guild… but it no doubt be better if you did it.”

He would like to think this interaction was going better than intended. Sure he was injured but he would heal. At least he had found another member of Fairy Tail who he didn’t have a grudge against. Kade was a man who liked inter-guild relations. He did not want to be so rude. It was lucky for him she was understanding, even if it took such a negative memory to reach this point.

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