Gateway (Fairy Tail)

Chapter 1

A girl with mid-back-length, golden hair, tried to run as quickly as possible, glancing back all the time to make sure they weren't following her. But she knew they were, and what frightened her the most was that she couldn't see them.

"Come on out Sun Witch, we just want to play." A thousand voices seemed to say at once, pushing her to continue running.

She shut her eyes and tried to stop the fear from overtaking her mind. She had to stay focused. And no matter what she did or where she ran, they always followed, and despite her power, she couldn't do anything to stop it. Never had she felt so powerless since eight years ago and that kind of helplessness was what truly scared her to no end; anything that reminded her of going back. Spurred with more adrenaline, she shot through the trees, hoping to loose them in the forest even if she knew it was rather futile. They would follow her to no end, and not the good kind either.

Luckily for Amirah, some old lady in the forest had tipped her of a nearby town she could hide in. She had thanked the lady profusely since she had sheltered her for a day before sending her off, putting the woman at great risk. The old lady had tried to offer her some food, but after seeing how little food she had and how frail she looked, Amirah stubbornly resisted, despite the fact that she hadn't eaten in four weeks.

Between running for her life and switching cities, she'd only managed to scarf down some scraps here and there, next to nothing for her ravenous appetite. So as such, her strength was steadily failing her and her state was much more weakened. But it also caused her survival instincts to become much more sharper, although making her very jittery, nervous, and enhancing her already enhanced senses.

She heard the noises of the town before she saw it. Hope soared into her heart as she saw some buildings rising up. An angry, hissing, snarl sounded threateningly close, though she was sure that it was because of her nervous-state and heightened ears, she took no chances and tried to spur on even more speed.

Dirt grassy road gave way to a cobblestone ground. But she knew it would take more than going into a town to shake them off, and her facts proved to be true when she saw a misshapen shadow pass over the side of a couple of buildings. Now scared, she realized she needed to find a crowd and fast. That was what those things hated most since they could not be revealed in public and they wouldn't be able to track her as easily.

But of course, in this town on this day, there were only a couple of people leisurely strolling along the streets. Amirah paid them no mind as she dashed in between them, making them double-back in surprise. More hissing snarls were heard, making it one of the most terrifying things she has ever heard. Using her nose instead, it lead her to the heart of the town were the crowd she was looking for happened to be.

Taking in her surroundings, she could see that the vendors sold all kinds of things: from Knick-Knacks to souvenirs and vases, to vendors full of food like: fish, bread, vegetables, and fruit. The sweet aroma of all the food nearly had her stumbling as she slowed down, the scent of food the only thing flooding her senses.

In her weakened state, her conscience threw all kinds of moral to the wind as the prospect of stealing food to eat became much more important. Glancing warily behind her one last time, she eased herself more into the crowd, attempting to push aside her tiredness so she wouldn't pass out.

Amirah quickly slipped by a vendor selling pies and bread, and roughly bumped her hip against it. As planned, a bread roll easily rolled off and into her hand waiting behind her back. She quickly bowed her head and apologized to the owner. and kept going, making sure he couldn't see what she had hid behind her back. When she deemed that she had gotten far enough, Amirah took a bite into the bread and almost moaned at the bland but heavenly flavor. Within moments the bread was gone, leaving Amirah dissatisfied as it had not filled her at all, only sated her hunger until she could afford to find something better. But she knew she wouldn't, since it had been four weeks and nothing had turned up in her favor so far.