The Dance of the Blades and the Leaves

Prologue

"Lorraine?"

I responded, "Yes, that's me. What do you need?"

"You seem bored. Are you?"

I nodded in agreement, "Yes, I'm very bored. I'll find something to do though."

For once in my life since joining Fairy Tail, I had nothing to do. Perhaps it was the rain, perhaps it was the recent activity, or the recent deaths of other guilds. Maybe the recent Grand Magic Games had worn everyone out, but nonetheless, I was just bored. It wasn't that my friends were gone, they weren't. Levy was there and so was Gajeel, Erza was there as well. Natsu may have been gone, but I didn't ever much care for him. It wasn't that I was lonely at all, but for some reason, I have nothing to do and nothing interesting to watch. This was odd indeed.

The guild was never, never, quiet. Even now in it's state of boredom, there was still noise all over the place. The constant river of sound was no longer a source of calm, the more I gave it attention, the more it annoyed me. I didn't want to just stay here and listen to this chaos, I'd rather go and train, fight, or something of the like.

I only pondered this for a few moments, standing to go and search for something to do. It was then I decided exactly what had to be done. The job board had to have something worth my time, something to get me out of this chaotic mess. After orienting myself, I stood and walked over to it, looking for something that caught my eye. I spotted it, finally, a job to hunt a "Plant Demon". That sounded interesting indeed. Now this I could do, this would be fun. I had to do this. I grabbed the job with excitement, and tried not to jump with glee at the escape of the monumental boredom.

Now I turned from the job board, and walked towards the exit of the guild, forgetting to say goodbye. Really, a plant demon couldn't be that difficult to find and slay, I really didn't need to say goodbye. This job would be over and done with, the only reason it was a 10 Years Job was because no one had given it any attention before. It wasn't some fearsome creature, probably some basic mage scaring a tow, this stuff was common in Fiore after all. As one of the best Requip mages of Fairy Tail, I had little to fear. This job would simply be a simple mission.

I walked across the bridge, the water running down rapidly and the sky sparkling with rain drops. A heavy grey sky suffocated the city into their houses, the streets quiet and wet. A heavy wind roared through the city, and the trees shook. The bridge itself was soaked and glistened with water. The normally busy city of Magnolia was gone, as people hid from the wall of rain. Marching through the rain, I went towards the forest uncaringly. There was no bolt of lightning, and thus nothing to fear under the shield of leaves. Ironically, the plants would be my shield while I hunt the supposed "Plant Demon." Not something I feared, but something something I hoped to find and to fight.