For Ever (An Elfgreen Fanfic)

8. Yasmin and the Beasts

The village was small, and there weren't many people at the station when the train came to a halt.

Elfman and Evergreen stepped out of the train and looked around.

"So where exactly are we going to go?" Elfman asked, confused. "The job description doesn't say."

Evergreen shrugged. "I guess we should just ask around," she said, as she started to pick up her luggage.

"I got it," Elfman said, casually. He picked up both of their bags and started walking without even giving Evergreen a chance to respond. Evergreen was unusually touched by this simple gesture of chivalry. It made her feel like he actually cared about her.

Evergreen broke out of her daze of thoughts and caught up with Elfman.

The two of them started walking into the village. Suddenly, one of the villagers came running up to them.

"Are you the Fairy Tail mages?" She asked, out of breath. Her long black hair was all over the place and it was clear that she was very distressed.

"Yeah, that's us," Elfman said.

"Oh thank the gods..." She said, placing her hand over her chest. "You must come with me..." But before she could finish the thought, she collapsed onto her knees.

"Take a deep breath," Evergreen said, helping the young woman up and guiding her to a bench nearby. "Tell us who you are. And tell us what happened."

The girl paused, caught her breath, and then began to speak again. "My name is Yasmin... I'm one of the people who live near the forest. The..." Yasmin faltered and hesitated before she continued. Her eyes filled with tears. "Those horrible beasts keep attacking us. They took... they took my brother."

Yasmin began to sob and Evergreen patted her back. The two Fairy Tail mages exchanged a worried look.

"Take us to the place where they attacked, Yasmin," Evergreen said.

"We promise, we'll protect you and your village," Elfman said.

The teary-eyed woman nodded and whispered, "Thank you..." as she got up and began to lead them to the outskirts of town.

Yasmin led them to a small hut. "This is my house. It's not much, but I hope you'll come inside while I fill you in on the details," she said, humbly.

"Of course. It's not bad at all," Elfman said, walking inside. "It's fitting of a real man!"

The inside was warm and cozy, and Yasmin gave them some tea. Then, the three of them sat down as she explained the circumstances.

"A few months ago, there were rumors of strange beasts eating the farmers' livestock. It became a big problem, and we were running out of meat to eat. So, naturally, the village men decided to check it out. A large group of them went out to search for these beasts. But..." Yasmin sighed as she recounted the unpleasant memories. "Not a single one of them came back."

Elfman and Evergreen looked at each other uneasily.

"Then," Yasmin continued, "Another group of men went to search for the original group. My... my brother went with them. They searched all day long and they didn't even find any bodies. We didn't know what to make of it. Then they decided to keep looking the next day..." Yasmin began to sniffle. Her big eyes began to fill with tears again. "And they, too, went missing... My brother..."

Yasmin wiped her tears on the sleeves of her dress and kept going.

"After the men disappeared, the beasts came back and kept eating our livestock. Now we have no animals left, and we're scared... We're scared that the beasts will start to eat us humans next!" Yasmin said, looking terrified.

"Hey, it's okay. We're mages, remember? We won't let that happen," Evergreen said.

"Yeah. You can count on us," Elfman said.

"Thank you," Yasmin said, a small smile appearing on her face, despite the sadness. "I'll show you two where you can stay for the night. It'll be close by so if we are attacked, you two will easily be able to defend us."

Yasmin led them outside, into the dark night. The sky was almost pitch black, without even the light of the stars or the moon to brighten it up.

"You know all hope is gone when even the stars and moon abandon you..." Yasmin said, sadly.

"Don't say that!" Elfman said, loudly, startling the young woman. "Be a real man and face the darkness. And keep your hopes with us, because we will defend your village with all our power."

Evergreen nodded, impressed by Elfman's impromptu pep talk.

"Thank you, again..." Yasmin said, smiling. She knew that with these two, she could rest assured that her village would be safe. There was something about the tall, muscular, silver-haired man that made her feel very comforted.

Am I starting to grow feelings for him? Yasmin thought to herself. But she knocked the thought out of her head quickly, blushing and looking away. I can't... And besides, the woman that he's with is very beautiful... I wouldn't stand a chance.

Would she?

________________________________________________________

It's an extra long chapter! I'll try to make chapters longer from now on because I won't be able to post as often. (School, bleh)

Anyways, thanks for reading!