Ruthless Winds and Raging Seas

Chapter 21

They had recently run out of gun powder so Fairy Tail docked their ship and went to purchase or rather steal some from a barrel that was being loaded on to a merchant ship. Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Juvia went to get the gun powder. Erza and Natsu would swipe it while Gray and Juvia kept a look out for any authority figures.

"What exactly is this stuff your friends want?" Juvia asked Gray.

"It's called gun powder." He answered.

"What's that?"

"It's what allows us to use our guns."

"How does it work?"

"You load some up into a gun and then you add a spark."

"A spark?"

"You know a flame, a fire."

"Oh. I don't really like fire that much."

"I don't like it either. It brings back bad memories."

The two continued to stand quietly and watch for trouble when suddenly a small shriek was heard. Recognizing it, Juvia looked over and saw a group of boys throwing rocks at a dolphin who was cornered between the beach shore and a ship. Horrified, she ran down to the docks as fast as she could.

"Juvia what are you doing?" Gray called.

Instead of answering, she ran into the water and when her tail grew back she swam toward the dolphin. She knew it the risk of doing this but the little mermaid just couldn't help herself.  Dolphins and other gentle sea mammals had been her most loyal and playful companions, and she couldn't bear to see any of them being hurt. She quickly put her arms around the frightened dolphin, protecting it from the rocks that were being thrown.

"What's that over there?" One boy asked.

"Another dolphin?" A second one guessed.

"It has blue hair!" A third said.

"No that's blue seaweed."

"Let's see if we can hit that second one!'

Gray panicked, if those boys figured out what Juvia was Lord knows what kind of trouble it would lead to. Not to mention it was very cruel of them to throw rocks at innocent creatures. One boy picked up a rather big stone and aimed it at Juvia. Before he could throw it, Gray caught his arm and took the stone.

"Hey that's no way to treat living things." He told them. 

"We were just playing with them." The boy said. 

"It didn't look like that to me. You all should be ashamed of yourselves! Treating an animal so cruelly! All of you get out of here before I tell your mothers what you've been up to!"

Once the boys were gone, Gray walked over to where she was. He found her gently stroking the dolphin and calming him down. 

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"I am well but the poor thing is scared to death." She looked at the dolphin. "There, there, it's alright."

"You know what you did was very reckless. What if those boys or anyone else had seen you?"

"I'm sorry but I couldn't just sit back and let them keep hurting him."

"I understand." He told her. "But the next time you see something like this happening, tell me and I'll handle it. Okay?"

"Really? You'd help them?"

"Yes. It's my job to keep you safe and out of trouble so I'll do it. Besides I don't believe in torturing animals."