Beauty and the Beast (Gajevy Fanfic)

Chapter 6

She buried her nose in a book as she walked through the forest. It was peaceful under the soft emerald light filtering through the trees, and Levy finally began to relax for real, despite the bandages still around her left forearm. A low huffing sound caught her attention, and she froze. She lowered her book slowly, slipping it into her bag, and looked in the direction of the noise. Nothing leapt out at her, so, tentatively, she crept towards it. As she drew nearer, the huffing became more clearly defined panting, and she detected a low animalistic whine of pain.

Levy, half hidden behind a tree, peered into a small clearing, where the beast was sat, struggling to pull a spear out of his shoulder. He was covered in blood, and in several places his scaled had cracked inwards, drawing even more blood from the soft skin beneath. Seeming to lose the last of his patience, the beast gave an angry snarl and ripped the spear from his shoulder. A chunk of flesh came away with it, caught on a nasty barb facing backwards on the spear. Blood gushed from the wound, and the beast let out a pained whine, while Levy stifled a gasp.

The beast whipped his head in her direction, and snarled lowly, shifting into a crouch as his eyes locked onto hers. Levy felt a flicker of fear, but she squashed it and held out her hands, showing she was unarmed. "Easy." She crooned softly. "It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'd like to see you try." The beast snarled angrily.

Levy's jaw slackened in shock then her eyes lit up in wonder. "You can talk!" She breathed. The beast rolled his eyes, then snarled louder than before. Unfortunately, his injured shoulder chose that moment to give way, and his snarl was cut short as he tumbled to the ground and let out a startled yelp of pain. Levy let out a quiet "Oh!" then rushed forwards, gently rolling the beast over and looking at the wound. It was a jagged, gaping hole in his shoulder. She raised her hands to her mouth. "Ah- I need to stop the bleeding!" She reminded herself, searching about her for some fabric to use to block the wound.

The beast watched her with wary, confused eyes as, giving up finding something on the forest floor, Levy tore a good foot off the bottom of her dress and folded that into a makeshift pad, pressing it onto the wound with both hands. "Why- Why're you helping me?" The beast asked, his voice rough and thick with pain.

Levy blinked at him, looking somewhat bewildered. "I don't know." She said eventually. The beast's eyes landed on her bandaged arm, and the fading scars on her cheek. "I suppose... because I saw something human in your eyes. Something kind." She answered with a cute little smile.

The beast raised an eyebrow then snorted. "Kind? You're delusional." He muttered, turning his head away from her. After moment, he spoke again. "Just bandage it up." He grunted. "It'll heal soon enough."

Levy did as she was told, tearing another strip off her dress to bandage the wound. "Doesn't it need stitches or something?" She asked, concern lacing her tone.

"Nah." The beast dismissed as he sat up, trying not to move his shoulder too much. "I heal faster and better than you humans." He told her gruffly, turning his attention to the half a dozen arrows sticking into him. Three were in his back, two in his thigh, and one on the other arm. He began trying to work an arrow out of his leg, but the shaft snapped in his large hand and he cursed.

Levy giggled. "Here. Let me." She said gently, leaning over to carefully wiggle the arrowhead out of his flesh. The beast watched her work with surprise etched clearly into his expression. She removed the two from his leg, and three in his back, but it was once she started working on the one in his arm that she decided to speak. "So, do you have a name?" She asked lightly.

"Gajeel." The beast grunted.

"Gajeel?" Levy echoed. "That's a nice name. I'm Levy McGarden." She introduced herself, finally freeing the last arrow from Gajeel's arm. "Nice to meet you." She added, placing the last arrow with the others.

Word count: 723