VERiTY (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

2. Little Differences.

Holding his sword near his chest, Eir gathered up magic inside himself, and breathed in.

The blade glowed, and a rasp of wind resonated from the hilt, sprouting forth in the form of a silver magic circle. His hair and clothes fluttered in the breeze, and the sword swirled with energy.

"Enchant: Wind," he moved, setting the blade at his front, holding it firm with both hands, then raising it to the side-- "Strike of a Hundred Miles!"

He swung out in a horizontal arc.

For a second, nothing happened. Then all at once, the three wooden dolls before him were sliced in half, split in the midsection.

And beyond it-- a tree fell.

"Woooahh!!" a voice behind him clapped loudly, cheering, "that was awesome! You cut the tree!"

Eir turned around, and got an armful of Laxus. After an initially startled moment, Eir's fists tightened.

"What are you doing?!" he raised his voice, "tell me if you're watching! What if I accidentally cut you?!"

"But you didn't!" Laxus returned sharply, "you never let me watch you do your magic!"

"That's because it's dangerous!" Eir scolded sharply, "your thunder is one thing, Laxus. I use a blade. If things go wrong, you could've gotten hurt! Do you never think of the consequences of what you do?"

At that, Laxus looked stricken, and whatever he intended to say next was stuck in his throat.

Eir looked positively furious.

And his face lowered considerably. "I made sure I stood somewhere safe-- you don't have to get that angry..."

"Enough! Go back to the guild."

-

"Oh c'mon, Eir, you didn't have to yell at him," Gildarts sat down beside the boy, who was holding out a fishing pole into the lake. "All's well no one got hurt, right?"

"One time is all it takes, Gildarts," Eir hissed at him. He drew back the fishing rod, set a new bait, and cast it out again.

Gildarts looked at the boy, a meaningful gaze stuck on him. 

Eir had his brows furrowed, and judging from how restlessly his fingers tapped, he was just fishing to let out some of his steam. That was how he calmed down-- by sitting down and pretending to do something that doesn't require him to focus, fingers playing a scale over and over.

Gildarts sighed. He acted so mature, but he was a kid inside, eh?

"My wind magic is sharp," Eir said under his breath, "it's all I can do to condense it into a weapon and control the path. I still can't control its range and strength, and--"

"Y'know Eir-- maybe someone's never told you this before," Gildarts skipped a stone, and leaned in a little closer to the boy, "what you're feeling-- that's called fear."

"I am NOT scared!"

"You are," Gildarts corrected him immediately, "that's why you're angry. Because you didn't want to hurt Laxus."