The Affinities

" I wonder if it would be different.. If my siblings or my friend, Allen had lived, Ya'Know?" she said sighing. "So what about your family?" She turned to Jo and said "Ummm... Hablar English?"

 

"You would be happier and unhurt, I suppose," he guessed, his tone sympathetic. Before he could reply to Ariana's question, however, Ulrich leaped from his spot and turned to Jo. "Ack! Don't scare me like that!" He said, wide-eyed and genuinely frightened. "And what the Hell are you singing anyway? What are you even saying?!" Ulrich asked, trying to fold into himself.

 

Haley nodded looking down for a moment, "Okay, well it's all we've got for now, I just we hope we can get through that long without killing eachother." She paused before looking up and grinning, "We're stronger than we look, we'll be fine. And it's fine, don't worry about it. We all lose it time to time, just try to keep on top of it in future." She laughed and looked over at the others, jumping in on their conversation. "Yeah, we all just be one big, slightly crazy, dysfunctional family with superpowers! At eachother's necks most of the time but as soon as on of out own is threatened, we're there for eachother. Right?" She shook her head, smiling, the near future would definatly be interesting. That she was certain.

 

Caeli looked up at the much taller Jellal. "Thanks."

 

Jo swtiched to english and grinned, "Sorry. I tend to speak Latin...at times. My Master Igneel taught me. It's a song the villagers of my home used to sing...but they were refering to the wall they built...to keep Dragons out." She shrugged at Ariana's question, "My parents died in a fire...my Master....perished some time after that." she frowned and lowered her red eyes.

 

Jellal gave a confident smile. "Anytime." He then remembered his chest was still broken "Could you uh..do that on my ribs too. The rest is minor and will heal on its own."

 

Ulrich snapped to, from being cowardly to sympathetic. Haley jumped in on their conversation, and he nodded. "No matter what," he said to no one in particular. "We'll be there for each other." Ulrich yawned and walked a few paces, then turned. His smile returned. "So... what's the plan, then?" Ulrich asked Haley.

 

"I'm sorry," Ariana said, bowing her head. "I lived in a village with only witches and wizards. Soldiers came and started shooting people. My brother, Ben, sister, Kelly, me and my best friend Allen escaped to the woods... We lasted for about a week until they found his. I hid away as they killed my siblings and... I ran before I saw them kill Allen... I just couldn't bare it..."

 

Jo bit her lip nervously for a moment and awkwardly hugged Ariana. "No one can bare seeing their family and friends die. I couldn't even bare to see my Master burn before me..." Releasing her, Jo ruffled her hair and grinned again.

 

Ariana hugged her 'partner in crime' back and smirked as she got her hair ruffled. "Thanks, mia sorella" She said, smiling.

 

"Of course!" Caeli face beamed with a huge smile while he repeated the procedure with the sphere of wind. But this time he wrapped it around his chest. "Better?"

 

Jellal sighed in relief "Ah..thank you. Remind me to give you a raise when you guys start getting paid." He said half serious with a chuckle

 

"Yes! A raise already." laughed, Caeli while sitting down because using the wind-cure exhausts him, for he is only 15.

 

"Odds are we've all lost someone dear to us." Keel said as he walked past Jo and Ariana

 

"No doubt about that," murmured Andrew. It appeared that both Jellal and Caeli had both ignored his last remark. He supposed it's probably for the better, since it would've caused another argument. It was hard to believe that this group was a family now, with at least 2 factions within. Yeah, we'll see how that goes. thought Andrew cynically. He pulled out a tattered map from his person and opened it carefully. It had been folded and refolded many many times into a relatively compact form. The map was a map of the country they were in. There was a large dot that he had drawn a while ago, marked "SAFE". Farther down and to the side, there was a large circle with the word "HOME?". The exact location of the orphanage wasn't really that known. Likewise, the exact location of "SAFE" wasn't known either as it was a particularly large dot. Andrew took out a piece of flint from his person and drew a rough line between the two destinations. It was actually a shorter distance than he had originally thought, but it was still a long way to traverse. On top of that, the safe place was near a mountain, if he remembered correctly. Actually, technically speaking, we could probably make our own place anywhere really. Ulrich and I could just make us a place somewhere. Though underground with tunnels would probably be safest, albeit a little claustrophic maybe. Though I guess that girl's probably not going to go for it. Pity. Still, we probably could. But who knows if that guy would help. I saw him giving me the stinkeye earlier, though I guess that was more reasonable of him with what I had done. pondered Andrew. He never voiced this thought aloud, but it was sort of how he lived all this time. Although the safe place that he had in mind was a particularly large winter cabin/house near a mountain that he supposed a rich family had built for winter vacations and ski trips. It had been abandoned and from what he thought of it, it was fairly secluded.

 

Haley looked up at Ulrich, "The plan is to get to somewhere safe, where we can relax and get our heads together." She looked down at the map for a moment, "Andrew knows somewhere that is probably safe to go, if you look at this, but it's a bit of a journey to get there. It's all we've got though." She looked up, "Unless you or Jo know anywhere better" She asked aiming it at the ones who didn't live at the Orphanage. "However, our first priority right now is food and water." She glanced at Maddie and amended, "Well food at least. Any idea where we can get some?" She asked, her tummy now rumbling at the thought of food. She hadn't eated in quite a while.

 

Ulrich smiled as the two girls hugged, taking sympathy in one another's pain. He felt happy they were getting along, somewhat. Haley spoke to Ulrich whilst Andrew, himself, drew out a map. "I see," Ulrich murmured. "Well, I can think of a way for us to get food and shelter, but it's immensely risky. I doubt any of you would want to do it," Ulrich sighed, shaking his head. "But, food won't be hard to find if we remain in the thick of the wilds. Deer, vegetation... an earth-user..." Ulrich went on, glancing at Andrew as he said it. "You just need to know what's right to eat and what's not. Then again, the other way is easier, but not everyone will be willing to do it," He shrugged, yawning.

 

"Are you any good at knowing what's safe to eat or not?" She asked before saying cautiously, "But tell me what the other way is" She had a strong feeling that she was not going to like it. From what he'd already said, she expected it to conflict with her morals. However they did need food and the group was tense enough without everyone being hungry. Maybe desperate times called for desperate measures. She looked down, it depended how bad what he was suggesting was. She also wasn't to keen to force people into something they wouldn't want to.

 

Jo cleared her throat and glanced over Ulrich's shoulder. She touched a tan finger at a halfway mark between the place Andrew was looking at and where they currently were. "That's my village... It's been rebuilt somewhat since I left. No less than a few days' journey to a hot bath and warm beds. They serve mostly meat as food...but...the forest beyond the village has a variety of greens that are edible." She glanced up. A reluctance to visit her home lurked in her eyes and the shadow of grief lurking in the red depths of her red iris's.

 

Ulrich was about to reply to Haley, but Jo interrupted. He looked down. "That's somewhat akin to my plan... my plan suggested we go to a town or city and keep a low profile there, working as normal humans. No magic, no vengeance... just simple survival in a normal society," he said to the both of them. Ulrich popped his knuckles. "But, it's only risky when some of us do not want peace. If even one of us gives a slight hint of our magic, we would be on the run again. Hence, this is a very fragile plan. Jo, Sparky... so on and so forth... they may compromise us if they can't keep their ire in check." Ulrich went on, shaking his head. "We find an abandoned warehouse, do a few oddjobs, pool our money together, then living will be feasible and we would be out of the military's radar. They wouldn't expect us to live among the normal humans in plain sight."

He sighed. "But, if no one is on board with that plan, I suppose I can figure out what's good to eat and what isn't," Ulrich finished, his tone dull and lethargic. It was apparent he didn't want to do that sort of work.