Colors of our Souls

16. A Piece of Childhood

Pandora:

I head to a nearby stream to wash up, and Gray follows me, looking worried.

"Are you okay?" He asks as I kneel beside the water and begin to scrub my arms and face, which are covered in the bandits' blood.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I respond, confused.

Gray moves to sit indian style next to me. "I saw you with that one bandit, the one you maimed and 'played with' until Kari told you to stop."

"He's the one who you should be worried about." I joke. He doesn't see my humor.

"Seriously, that's not normal."

I'm done cleaning myself up, so I move to also sit indian style.

"Alright," I begin, "interrogate Panda time is over. How did you end up in Fairy Tail?"

Gray struggles to come up with an answer that doesn't involve Deliora, he probably doesn't trust me enough to tell me yet, which is fine. Oh, that's what I wanted to tell Kari, I remember now! I'll tell her in the morning.

"I lost my parents when I was young, Then I lost my Master, Ur, who taught me everything I know about ice-make magic. Gramps found me and invited me to join Fairy Tail and I've been there ever since."

Okay, fair enough. I bet his parents and master were killed by Deliora.

"I'm sorry-" Gray cuts me off

"You have nothing to be sorry for, It's not your fault." He looks angry now.

Feeling guilty, I decide to answer his question from earlier. I start playing with my necklace again.

"I have a bloodlust, from my curse. I try to control it but sometimes it's hard."

His expression softens, and he looks somewhat frustrated by me now.

"For the last time, you're not a curse."

"But I am!" I argue "If I go too long without brutally killing someone, watching someone suffer and scream, I lose control. And Kari is the only person who can stop me once I lose control."

Gray looks shocked, I'm surprised he didn't run away. Instead, he stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and let him help me up.

"Well I don't care about that stupid curse. Let's go find Kari, she's probably set up camp by now."

"Ummm, no. Kari's already up a tree and fast asleep. I don't understand it either, but it's what she does. How about we just sleep here? Kari can find us in the morning."

"Okay, sure"

Without another word, Gray strips down to his underwear and falls asleep immediately. I'm a little shocked, I mean, he didn't even think about it, he just stripped! I sit there staring at him for a good five minutes, but he's oblivious to the world. I wrap myself in my wings for protection and drift off.

Ikari:

I'm jerked from my slumber by the sound rustling leaves, someone's climbing my tree. Silently, I sit up and pull out a knife from a sheathe next to my left breast, ready to defend myself.

A bright pink tiger head emerges from the foliage just in front of me. I barely have time to stop my instincts from slitting her throat. Dummy.

Panda looks excessively excited, like she wants to tell me something she thinks will make me happy. Shifting back to her human form and straddles the branch I'm sitting on, barely able to contain her giddiness.