Nephele | Fairy Tail

Chapter 10

Rei was incredibly pleased when they made it to Telluride, a relatively large mining town near the base of a mountain. The train ride had been worse than the first one, although Rei didn't know why. But she was revived when they got off the train and made their way through the mining town. Both Rei and Evelyn were amazed at how different the city was compared to Bryxton despite the two being similar in size. Blaise found their amazement assuming and enjoyed bragging about all the places he'd been to while they were eating dinner at the restaurant connected to their hotel.

When they woke up the next day, the group explored the city a little bit before continuing their journey on foot.

"So we're heading here," Sky explained, pointing to a city on the map Rei was holding as she hovered next to her.

"Hey, that's the city Blue Pegasus is in," Blaise chimed in as he looked over Rei's shoulder at the map. Sky had pointed them in the direction of the trail they needed to take and they were walking down a dirt road while wagons passed them.

"Blue Pegasus?" Rei questioned, Evelyn also giving Blaise a questioning look.

"Yeah, you've never heard of it?" Rei and Evelyn both shook their heads and Blaise continued, "Well, it's a famous wizard guild, and one of the strongest. I've passed through the city before and considered joining Blue Pegasus, but it just didn't work out that way."

"Why not?" Evelyn asked.

Blaise shrugged, "I don't know, I just wasn't feeling it. And I also wanted to see what my other options were."

"Well I think that was the right choice," Rei replied with a smile as she folded the map and handed it to Sky so she could put it in Rei's backpack for her. "You're getting to be a founder of a guild that's probably gonna end up being much cooler."

Blaise laughed, "That's true. Good point."

The group spent the next few hours chatting as they walked down the dirt road, then took a right at a fork in the road through a forest. They made it a good distance before having to stop for lunch.

"Hey, I think there's a river over here, maybe we can catch some fish," Rei suggested, hearing the faint sound of a river.

"Why don't we just eat something we have packed?" Evelyn asked as they followed after Rei.

"I think fishing is a great idea," Blaise said, sounding significantly more excited by the idea of fishing than Evelyn. "We should try to conserve the food we have packed for a time when we can't find anything. I'm pretty good at fishing and I've been told I'm a good cook too, so I'll make anything we catch."

"That sounds good to me," Rei replied, as she stopped beside the river and saw the fish swimming against the current. She glanced around the river, noticing that the other side of the river was a large clearing that would make a good campsite if they decided not to keep traveling. 

For the next hour, the group hung around the river while Blaise fished. He had a collapsible fishing rod in his bag and used that to catch four fish. Rei also managed to catch a fish after insisting she give it a try. Blaise had been convinced she wouldn't have the patience for fishing, but that turned out to be wrong. Rei had also fished before, so she knew what she was doing.

Evelyn, on the other hand, wouldn't go anywhere near the fish or the fishing rod. Even as Blaise cooked the food, she stayed away from the fire and asked to spar with Rei instead. Rei agreed on the basis that they don't use magic, as Sky told them they'd end up blowing away the food or summoning a storm. Rei ended up winning.

"Hey guys, the food's done," Blaise called out as Rei helped a defeated Evelyn to her feet.

"Ok, we'll be there in a second," Rei shouted back before looking at Evelyn. "You need to get better at covering your weak spots. You leave too much open when you fight, even with your magic. I've told you this before and if you're able to deal with it and keep your opponent from finding an opening, you'd be a lot stronger."