The Knight and The Strawberry

chapter 16

Erza grimaced as she shifted awake. She was unbelievably hot and drenched in sweat. Waves of heat were radiating from Ichigo and with the hot morning weather of the island, it was too much.

Groaning she shoved Ichigo's arm off of her as she sat up stretching her arms over her head. Taking a quick glance around the room, she could see that their prisoner was still where they had tied her up. However, to her immediate annoyance, she noted that Lucy was no longer in the tent. "Oh she is going to regret this...." She growled to herself.

"Ichigo wake up." She said roughly and nudged the man with her elbow. He slowly stirred and she got up and requiped into her armor. "Lucy is gone. She must have snuck off in the middle of the night." She was very. VERY. Angry

"What?" Ichigo asked in confusion, still not quite awake. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"What do you think I mean?! Come on! We have to find her." She snapped and stormed out of the tent.

It was late into the morning and the sun was already starting to rise high in the sky. Many of the villagers were milling about, having returned to their mostly human forms. Erza quickly realized that she and Ichigo must have slept in much later than she would have liked. At least she could blame that on them skipping the previous night's sleep, but this left her even more agitated as she tried to think of where Lucy could have run off to.

She doubted that the girl would be able to leave the island. 'Perhaps she went to try and meet up with Natsu? If so she wouldn't really have any more luck than Ichigo and I would. Maybe when Ichigo wakes up he'll be able to try sensing for them again.' She folded her arms over her chest and watched the villagers go about their day.

There was a somber mood in the air. It was clear that they were upset over the events of the previous night. She couldn't blame them. Most of their homes had been destroyed in the attack. And they had had to rely on outsiders to defend them. Most of them were looking down at their feet as they went about their business. A few would glance up at her only to avert their eyes at the sight of her stern expression. That is until a young woman with a blue insect like leg approached her.

"Umm excuse me. Are you Erza Scarlet?" She asked in a voice of quiet nervousness.

Erza did her best to relax and calm down before addressing the girl. "Yes that's me. How can I help you?"

The girl bowed her head slightly and looked up at Erza. "Well first I wanted to thank you for what you've done for us. Were it not for you and your guild mates, we would have likely all died at the hands of those wizards last night."

Erza felt her lips curl up just a tad at the heartfelt thanks. "There's no need to thank us. Our guild will always be there to defend those who need it."

"Well thank you all the same. Now Ms. Lucy had also asked me to let you know that she is with Mr. Gray in that tent over there." She said as she pointed to a small tent just down the row from where they currently stood. "She said something about how you would be angry if you thought she tried to escape?" The girl said questioningly

Erza rolled her eyes and reigned in her annoyance. "Yes. She, Gray and Natsu were not cleared for this quest and took it without permission. That's why Ichigo and I are here." She explained

"Oh. Well then we are lucky that the two of you are here then. Well I won't keep you any longer." And with that she walked away, leaving Erza with an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach.

'They all still believe that Ichigo and I are here to help....' She thought to herself guiltily. She was so lost in thought that she almost didn't notice that Ichigo had exited the tent and was now standing behind her.