"If we had to sleep in the forest anyway then why did we bother to take the train," Sting complained.
"Because," Kira snapped back, "we needed to get to the closest town in order to get the details of the request. The actual job is in the forest."
"Why couldn't we have just stayed in an inn in town and started in the forest in the morning? There was a great bar in town that I wanted to try."
"Yame, all you think about is booze. Hey newbie, you're the only one not complaining. How come?"
Emi was walking behind them all, reading a book. They all looked back at her and sweatdropped. Kira drew her attention by clapping her hands.
"Sorry. I was just reading about earth magic. I'm not complaining because I'm used to traveling a lot and sleeping outdoors. Plus I have this book."
"Aren't you leaving yourself open for a surprise attack? You're not even paying attention."
As if on cue, a group of bandits jumped out of the trees. They grabbed Lector and told them that they would kill the exceed if they didn't hand over all their money.
"Lector!" Sting shouted. "Don't worry buddy, I'll get you back. Give back Lector."
Emi had harshly shut her book, making an echoing sound through the forest. With one quick motion, all the bandits were laying on the ground. Everyone looked towards Emi's feet to see that the ground had formed a snake trail underground that threw the bandits off balance.
"Did you like that?" Emi questioned the bandits. "It's a spell called Earthworm. It's a type of earth magic that I've been reading about in this book. Would you like to see another one?"
Lector flew behind Sting and hid. Emi slowly walked closer to the bandits as she smirked.
"Fissure!"
Just like in her battle with Lust, the ground broke apart, causing the bandits to fall into the large crack that had formed.
"Holy shit!" Kira and Ayame yelled.
Sting smiled wide as he watched the cloaked wizard, completely mesmerized. Emi slowly walked over to a cowerding Lector and leaned down to his level.
"You okay?"
Lector looked up at her before the tears left his eyes and he put on a confident and brave facade.
"Of course I am! I wasn't afraid at all!"
Lector flew to Sting, who was still looking at the crack. He landed on his head, making Sting jolt and turn up to his friend. He said that he was glad that the exceed was safe before looking back down at the fissure.
"Hey dragon boy, your mental boner is showing."
"Huh?"
Sting looked back to see the three girls staring at him, Kira with a smug smile on her face. The dragon slayer blushed a little before giving a snide comment to the wizard with purple hair. Ayame decided to question Emi about how she was able to use such a powerful spell. Emi shrugged and said that she had read it in a book a while back.
"So," Sting wondered as he finally was able to pay attention again, "you just read about it and decided to do it?"
"I study all types of magic. My creation magic enables me to form what spells I read about. I just have to practice them or else they won't work or won't hold for very long. So for instance," Emi walked over to an empty section of the forest and conjured her Asteroid spell.
The ground started to shake as boulders began to form in the sky. However, the boulders were small in size and softly fell to the ground before turning to dust.
"I just read about this spell. It's a pretty difficult spell and I haven't practiced it yet at all, so the chances that I would've actually have been able to do it were very slim."
"Emiko," Kira started, "you are officially the coolest wizard I've ever met."
"You really think so?"
"Emiko, how come you're nicer to her than us?" Sting questioned while crossing his arms.
"Because you two are annoying and very rude at times," Kira snapped. "How did you even meet? Don't tell me you idiots didn't just go up to her because she was in a cloak."
Sting huffed before letting out a small "not exactly" before Emi spoke up.
"They would sit in a small bakeshop at a table and watch me while I would sit at a corner table. For days."
Kira smacked Sting on the back of the head while telling him that he was an idiot. Sting rubbed his head before turning back to the clearing and starting to set up the camp. Kira had assigned the jobs: Sting and Lector were tasked with gathering wood for the fires, Ayame and Kira were gathering food, and Emi was watching the campsite for danger.
"Are you sure we should leave her alone?" Sting whispered to Kira as they started to go in opposite directions.
"You can't seriously be worried about her after you just saw what she can do. The worst she can do is leave, and I have a feeling that she won't."
Emi sat in the middle of the camp and opened her book, quickly marking any important information that she could find. She heard a 'thump' and looked up to see that Sting and Lector had returned with a big pile of firewood. Emi looked back to her book and continued to read.
"So how many spells do you know?" Sting asked as he tried to make conversation.
"A lot."
Lector went to check on Ayame and Kira, leaving Sting and Emi alone. They sat in silence, Sting glancing over at the cloaked girl every so often.
"So..."
"You don't have to try to make conversation," Emi spoke up.
Silence washed over them again. Emi was reading her book as Sting watched. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell that she was happy and relaxed by the way that she was sitting.
"Didn't know you could be quiet for so long."
Sting looked at Rogue's smirk and stuck his tongue out at him.
Emi spoke up from her book, noticing that Sting was looking at her, "You and Lector seem close."
Sting smiled before telling her how he and Lector had met when they were young. Emi smiled softly before it turned into a small frown as she remembered her time spent with Cain.
"Are you two...friends?"
Sting looked at Emi in surprise by her sudden question before telling her that he and Lector were best friends and that they would do anything for each other. Emi looked at Sting with an unknown look in her eyes as she repeated the words that Cain had once said to her.
"Friends only weigh you down. Once you have someone you feel you need to protect, it's all over."
Sting looked at her.
"What are you talking about? Friends make you want to improve yourself. Once you vow yourself to a life of solitude, you are stuck in place with how you are at that moment. There's no one to push you to become a better person. You'll just be...alone."
"I had a friend once," Emi commented.
Sting looked to her as he waited for her to continue, but he was met with complete silence. He was about to say something, but Kira and Ayame had returned. They all helped to set up the campsite with the fire and started cooking some fish that the two girls had collected. Emi had gone back to her book and Lector had fallen asleep near the fire. Once it was time to sleep, Ayame and Kira slept in one area and Sting and Lector sat in another.
"Emiko, how come you didn't set up a space for you?" Ayame questioned.
Emi looked up from her book, simply saying that she was volunteering to overwatch the campsite for possible danger. Everyone looked at her before slowly agreeing and crawling into their sleeping bags. Emi stood up and crawled into a tree near the campsite and continued to read.
"Hey," Sting said, catching Emi's attention.
Emi stood on the branch before crouching back down.
"What?"
"Need some company?"
"No."
Sting laughed before jumping next to her on the branch. He sat cross-legged and looked down at the campsite.
"Why are you up here?"
"I'm helping!"
Emi looked at him with a bored expression as she turned to look into the woods. Sting looked at her before poking her in the shoulder. She looked over her shoulder and asked him what he wanted.
"Why don't you go get some sleep and I'll watch for the rest of the night? You've been looking out for three hours now."
"I'm fine. I have my book."
"Your body needs at least one hour, especially after you used so much magic in a short time."
"I don't have a place to sleep."
Sting told her that she could use his, as he would be standing watch. She quickly gave another excuse, saying that she wouldn't be comfortable. Sting could sense her discomfort, which made him curious.
"Why are you afraid of falling asleep?"
"I'm not!" Emi said a little too quickly.
Sting looked over his shoulder and gave her a grin.
"I'll protect you, so you don't have to worry."
"I don't need any protection. I can handle myself."
Sting shifted so that they were both facing the same way. He gently touched her hand, making her flinch away.
"You know, I used to be afraid of letting people in, too. My dragon died and left me alone. It wasn't until I met Lector that I started to feel comfortable again. Then I joined the guild and we met a lot of other people. You can do the same if you try."
"No."
Sting looked at her in disbelief, shocked that she had brushed him off so quickly.
"You're harsh. You just completely shut down my heartfelt speech."
She didn't respond, so he looked over to her to find that she had fallen asleep as she leaned on the trunk of the tree.
"Jeez. A high branch is the worst possible place to doze off."
Sting looked off into the forest to continue watching for danger as she slept.
"How come you don't like sleeping, Emi? That's the best thing except for eating!"
Everyone looked over at Natsu before Lucy smacked him and told him to just pay attention. Suddenly everyone could hear a scream, and they all quickly turned to the memory.
Emi started screaming and jolting as she leaned on the trunk of the tree. Sting looked completely panicked as he tried to stop her screaming.
"Hey! Hey, Emiko! Come on, wake up."
The girl kept screaming until she started crying. Sting looked down to the camp and saw that nobody made a move to indicate that they had heard her screams.
"Are you kidding me? How can they not hear her?"
He quickly turned back to the screaming girl and held her shoulders.
"Wake up!"
Emi jolted awake and continued to cry as she looked around frantically. She still had her hood on, so she didn't have a complete peripheral vision. Sting quickly put his hands on either side of her head and held her head so she was staring right at him. Emi's eyes widened as she continued writhing in his grasp. Sting repeated a "shh" sound until her squirming died down.
"Where...am I?"
"You're safe."
Emi quickly scanned the area before she shook his hold off her head and stood up. She turned away from him and looked out into the woods.
"A friend of mine used to say that forests are the safest place for someone who is hiding, but I don't find truth in that."
Sting pulled himself up and stood next to her, asking what she meant by the seemingly random statement. Emi shook her head.
"I guess it doesn't matter anymore now, does it? I've run out of places to hide."
"Uh, what are you hiding from?"
Emi thought for a minute, wondering if she should tell him. She settled with something vague but true.
"Pure evil."
"Are you, like, okay?"
"We all need to keep moving, no matter what happens. No matter who falls. The strong must survive to purge the darkness."
Sting stood there utterly confused. He kept looking to Emi for clarification, but nothing came. She stayed completely silent. He wanted to ask her what she meant, but she stood at the end of the branch and mumbled a quick "thank you" before jumping off the tree and sitting by the unlit fire.
Emi looked at the memory with cold eyes, scaring everyone. Sting gently held her hand and whispered something.