Dawn of Adventure {Book One of The Paths We've Traveled}

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Open the Window!

Lucy flinched as another thud echoed through the empty living room. She eyed the fireplace warily, wondering if hail or whatever was making that incessant noise was going to fall down the chimney and make a mess of the place. Natsu and the others were currently at dinner, and she was making good use of her first night off in a while by reading a good book by the roaring fire. A History of the Trade Wars of Ishgar sat in her lap, a thick enough volume that it could potentially be used as a weapon should something come barging into the room. Not that anything would. Damn, she really needed to stop reading thriller novels at night.

The thud came again. She slammed her book closed, glaring at the wall. "Can't there just be some peace and quiet for more than five minutes?!" She pushed the blanket off of her lap and rose to her feet, taking a moment to adjust the wrinkled dress she'd worn for the past two days. She hated it, but after destroying one of only three uniforms, she really had no choice but to reuse the same outfit for several days before switching. Her hair was in no better state than her dress, but she had plans to use Natsu's shower tonight and tame the wild strands.

Ignoring the way her legs went weak at the thought of the hot water, she stalked toward the far wall, listening for the next thud. She didn't have to wait long. Her head whipped to the side, locking on the velvet drapes covering the left window. She crept forward, slowly pulling back the drapes to peek out the window at the still snowy landscape. Although the blizzard had finally died down a few days ago, Mak had assured them that the piles of snow and ice would likely remain for at least another month or two. She shuddered, memories of her wayward adventure worming their way to the forefront of her mind.

As she stared out the window, there was absolutely nothing she could see that might have been responsible for the disturbance. She rolled her eyes and let the drape fall back in place right as another loud thud banged on the opposite window. Someone had to be messing with her. What other possible explanation could there be?

Forcing down the urge to scream, she crossed the hearth, slipping off her left shoe and hoisting it up as a weapon. Before she could lose her nerve, she threw the drape to the side, pointing her shoe at the vast blackness of the night. It made perfect sense that when she caught sight of a shape outside of the third floor window, she actually screamed, stumbling backward and letting the curtain fall back down again.

The thudding persisted, and only now did she recognize the sound for what it was: knocking. It grew faster and stronger for the five seconds she stared at the window, hand pressed against her heart even as the organ leapt wildly in her chest. And then her senses returned.

She pushed the drape to the side, scanning the windowsill for the blue shape she had just seen. It was still there, although this time she realized a second shape stood beside the first, it's white fur blending into the background of snowy fields. Lucy grinned, letting her shoe drop as she reached for the lock keeping the window in place.

After several long minutes of fighting with the frozen tracks, Lucy finally managed to break the seal, hauling the heavy window upwards about one foot. Fierce wind and a few loose snowflakes immediately greeted her, threatening to blow out the sconces along the back wall. She grunted out a "Hurry!" before letting the window slam back into place, narrowly missing the tail of a certain blue Exceed. She flicked the lock and pulled the drapes back into place before turning to greet the two friends she hadn't seen in almost a month.

"Happy! Carla! Oh it's so great to see you again!"

Happy threw himself against Lucy's leg, shivering fiercely and wailing loudly. "Lucy! Why'd you take so long to open the window?! It was so, so, so cold out there!"

"Shut up, cat! You have no idea how terrifying it was to hear a thud against the wall every ten seconds! I thought you were some monsters not just crazy Exceeds who can't seem to wait until it's light outside to scare the shit out of me." Lucy rolled her eyes, picking the Exceed up and cradling him against her chest. She smiled down at Carla, noting the bedraggled state of her fur and clothes. "The fire's been going strong all day. I'll see if someone can bring up some food and hot chocolate, alright?"