Carrots of Fire
"Ten orders of chicken over here!"
Lina happily shouted over to the waiter. She, along with Gourry,
Amelia, Zelgadis, and Slyphie, was on her way to Sairagg to help
restore the ruined city. They had stopped at an inn that was set up
nearby for travelers on their way to Sairagg that didn't know the city
had been destroyed yet so they could eat, rest, and buy more supplies
before returning home. Lina's job was fairly easy, she was being paid
to clear out bandits that occupied the area. The others were also paid
by the elders to flush out beasts and outlaws.
*****
As soon as the waiter sat their meals on the table Lina and Gourry
immediately grabbed a chicken and started tearing into them.
"You know... I don't think I’ll ever get used to this..." Zelgadis
said while watching the two already finish a chicken each and grab
another without even slowing down. The only pause in their gorging
came when Sylphiel stood up and pushed her chair in.
Lina looked up at her and asked, "Where are you going so soon?"
"I'm just going to step outside for a few minutes, it's been a while
since I’ve been home."
The young priestess also wanted to go outside because Lina and
Gourry's eating habits were causing the rest of the inn's customers to
stare at their table, but decided to leave that out.
As she walked out the door Lina stopped eating and gazed down for a
moment. Gourry saw this and reached for the chicken leg left on her
plate, only to get punched in the nose and fall over in his chair for
his trouble.
*****
Sylphiel was standing about thirty feet from the inn looking over at
the ruins that used to be her hometown before it was destroyed in the
battle against Rezo's copy.
It was starting to get dark out so she decided she would return to her
room soon. Before she could, her thought was interrupted by footsteps
closing in from behind. Sylphiel turned around to see a few shady
looking guys walk up to her.
"All alone, are you? Why don't you come with us, we'll show you a good
time."
Sylphiel could easily tell that the two men in front of her were
bandits. She really didn't want to find out what they had in mind for
her, so she tried to politely refuse.
"I'm sorry, but my friends are waiting for me back at the inn." As she
tried to walk around them, they stepped in front of her.
"I don't think you understand" the other guy said. "In fact, I insist
you come with us." The first bandit reached out and tried to grab her
arm, but Sylphiel managed to jump a few feet out of reach. "I'm
warning you! Don't come near me!" She yelled as she put her arms in
the position to cast a flare arrow.
*****
The first villain just smiled and took a step forward, leaving the
healer with no choice but to attack.
"Flare...!" she called out as fire gathered in the hand she had drawn
back. "Arrow!"
The fire took the shape of a carrot and slowly floated towards the two
bandits, it flickered out inches in front of them.
They just looked at the poor girl in confusion for a few seconds
before responding.
"AAAAHAHAHAHA!! What was that?!"
Another of the bandits managed to choke out a comment around braying
laughs.
"This girl's pretty funny, we have to take her with us!" This time
they get a good grip on her.
"No! Please!" Sylphiel tried to pull away but the guy holding her
outweighed her badly.
Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she was panicking. The man
holding her suddenly loosened his grip and dropped to his knees,
falling to the ground.
The other bandit quickly turned around to see Lina standing there
holding a rock in her hand.
"Oh my god! He's bleeding!! I can't believe you actually...!"
The bandit was cut short by Lina smacking the rock on his forehead,
dropping him like the other.
"They just don't make them like they used to..." Lina said as she
looked down at the twitching duo.
*****
She noticed that tears were running down Sylphiel's face and she was
shaking a little. "It wasn't THAT scary, was it? Come on... I saw your
flare over here and almost fell over."
The two look at each other and giggled as they recalled it.
"Thank you, Lina-san."
"Anytime! Now lets go back inside" Back at their table, Lina was
bragging to the others about how she beat up five bandits and saved
her friend. Sylphiel decided not to argue about the details and just
wondered how she could do something nice to repay Lina.
*****
After a few hours of chatting with their friends they decide to go to
their rooms. Since the place was short on rooms for that night, Lina
and Sylphiel shared a room. Zelgadis and Amelia also shared a room.
As soon as the door was closed behind them, Lina kicked off her boots
and stripped down to her underwear. As she was climbing into the bed,
however, she noticed Sylphiel had only taken her boots off.
"Don't tell me you're going to sleep in that!"
Sylphiel just blushed saying "I'll be fine in this."
"This place is too warm to sleep in your clothes, you'll be up all
night! And since there's only one bed here I don't want to deal with
that."
Lina walked over to her and started to pull her shirt off. "Eek!
Lina-san... I..."
Before Sylphiel could explain her embarrassment, Zelgadis entered to
add to it. "Could you two keep it down? Peo...ple... are..."
*****
The room was silent for a moment while Zelgadis stood there in shock
and the two girls stood there with Lina holding some of her friend's
clothes.
"Zel!" Anger filled Lina's voice as she dropped the clothes and held
her hands a foot apart, drawing them back. "Dragon...!"
This broke the tension as Zelgadis and Sylphiel both realized what was
about to happen.
"No! Nnnooooo!!" was all Zelgadis cared to add.
Sylphiel grabbed Lina's wrists saying, "Don't do it! You'll blow this
whole place up!"
The power gathered in her hands faded as Lina decided not to blast all
her friends into orbit.
Realizing that this was his chance to leave Zelgadis promptly said
"Pardon my intrusion." and left, closing the door behind him. Sylphiel
thought it would be best to dress down like Lina and get to sleep
quickly to avoid any more trouble. The rest of the night passed by
without problems.
*****
The next morning Lina slowly opened her eyes. She was about to get out
of bed when she noticed Sylphiel was cuddled up next to her with her
arms wrapped around the other girl.
"Awww... that's so cute!" Lina thought to herself. She spent the next
few minutes thinking about how she was always so nice to her. "Because
of last night Zelgadis probably got the wrong idea... he must think
we're having a relationship..."
The thought of that didn't bother her like she thought it would, Lina
was never interested girls before, but she didn't dislike the idea of
her and Sylphiel being a couple. Lina looked at her sleeping friend
and thought of how she would feel about it.
The smile on Lina's face quickly turned to a look of annoyance when
she heard Sylphiel moan out "Mmmm... Gourry" "Of course..." thought
Lina. "She still likes that baka..."
Sylphiel giggled saying "Oh no... not there... Gourry-sama..." Lina
had a funny idea, she sat up and rolled Sylphiel on her back. Then she
pinned her down by the shoulders while preparing to speak.
*****
"Do you love me darling?" Lina asked in a deepened voice, trying to
match Gourrys.
"Yes... I love you" Sylphiel mumbled as her eyes started to open. "I
truly love you, I..."
Sylphiel was now awake to see Lina smiling down at her. "...love...
you..." Sylphiel's face turned a bright shade of red as she realized
what she was doing. "Um... hello?" was all she could say.
"Haha, that'll teach you to watch what you dream around me!" "Oh, I’m
so sorry Lina-san! I just... I..."
Lina stopped her from continuing, wondering if what she was about to
ask was wise.
"Why Gourry? How do you feel about me?" Sylphiel looked at Lina in
surprise.
"Lina..." The two talked for a while before going to the bathing area.
Sylphiel didn't have anything against Lina, but was still wondering if
they really should become lovers.
*****
After talking for a while, conversation drifted to the events of last
night.
"Lina? When you saved me last night, why were you outside? I thought
it would be a while before you finished dinner."
Lina just laughed and said,
"I knew someone like you would get attacked. I guess I was worried
about you."
Sylphiel looked at Lina for a minute, then walks up embracing her.
"Lina, I think I do want to be with you." Lina leans forward and
kisses Sylphiel gently, the two remain there for a few seconds when
Amelia walks in, notices, and dropped the bucket and cloth she was
carrying.
The two break their kiss and look over to the young princess, Lina
thinking "What ever happened to knocking?" while Sylphiel fainted into
the water.
*****
Later, after waking Sylphiel, the group was sitting at their table. It
was a quiet breakfast, as everyone was wondering how to tell Gourry
about this without hurting him.
"Gourry... I need to tell you..." Lina wasn't looking forward to this.
"Oh?" replied Gourry
"Me and Sylphiel... are in love, so..."
Gourry smiles saying "Hey, that's great news! Congratulations."
"What?!" started Lina "This doesn't bother you?!"
Looking confused, Gourry said "Why would it, I'll still be your
bodyguard forever."
Lina face vaulted right to the floor at that comment, while the others
looked slightly amused. "You too Sylphiel!" Gourry added.
"He doesn't really get it..." Zelgadis said while sipping his drink.
Lina stood up and walked up to Gourry, patting him on the back.
"You're a great guy, don't ever change, okay?"
With that said, Lina looked forward to the rest of the day.
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