Bound By Hate (Gale) {Book 1 of the "Bound" Series}

6: Bonded

~Gajeel~

"Ouch!" Levy groaned, face-planting the mat below our feet. We had been training for over three hours, and she was starting to wear out.

"Let's take a break," I said. Ignoring her protests, I sat against the wall and took a large gulp from my water bottle. As I watched her drink her own water and catch her breath, I frowned. What the hell am I doing? The ribbon she used as a headband was still tied around my arm, and caused her scent to drift into my nose every time I moved. Since we had been training, that had been a lot.

I had no idea what I had been thinking when I told her to train with me. Seeing her working so hard when I had arrived made me want to help her, though I wasn't sure why. It also made me angry that she felt she needed to train so hard. What am I thinking? She's a hunter, so of course she needs to train hard! It bugged me, thinking about her going on assignments with the two weaklings she called teammates. They couldn't protect her, even if they wanted to.

"Hey," she said, standing and stretching, "let's get back to it. If you're going to train me, you aren't going to slack-off. I'd like to get my headband back by the end of the day, so hurry up."

I grinned, watching her walk back to the training mat. She was anything but weak, I'd giver her that. She never quit. "Come on," she told me.

I realized I had been staring, and cleared my throat. "Don't get bent out of shape, short stuff. I'm comin'." As I faced her on the mat, I still couldn't believe we were the same age. I was a good foot taller than her, and about three times as big around.

She came at me again, punching hard. Had I been anything but a dragon slayer, it probably would have hurt a lot. But I am a dragon slayer, I reminded myself. For the first time in my life, that fact kind of bugged me. Sure, being a dragon slayer was great, and I was nearly indestructible, but that also put me in my own world--away from anyone who wasn't also a dragon slayer. Watching Levy fight so hard, I resented how different we were.

"-jeel. Gajeel!" Levy's stern voice brought me out of my own thoughts.

"What?" I growled.

"You were staring off into space. If you aren't going to take this seriously--"

"Calm down, Shrimp," I told her, "I'm taking this seriously enough."

"It didn't look like it," she grumbled under her breath.

"Attack me again. Then you'll see I'm being serious."

She didn't have to be told twice. Her right foot shot out, aimed at my stomach, and found its target before I could dodge it.

"Would you stop with the low blows?" I breathed, bending over slightly. Damn, she's got one hell of a kick.

"A hunter should always use an opponent's weakness against them in combat. You don't shield abdomen attacks as fast as you do other attacks, so aiming for your stomach would be the quickest way to incapacitate you."

As she swung her leg to kick me again, I hooked my foot around her left ankle and pulled her off balance. She tumbled to the floor with a curse. "And you always kick with your right leg, using the left one to balance," I smirked.

"So you do pay attention during a fight," she said, standing. "I'm impressed. I thought you were all fists and no brains."

"The hell are you tryin' to say?" I frowned.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Nothing."

I stared at her a moment as she laughed. Her hazel eyes seemed to glow as the warm smile lit up her face. Just like the first time I had seen it, I was shocked at how genuine her smile was. It was as though all of her joy was being displayed on her face for everyone to see.