Tripping Traps

Kade wasn’t going to get a job describing books, so that was fine. It was a long time ago. He hadn’t even seen the man who told him the story in nine year. Man, dragon… same thing really. He didn’t think she needed such a huge description of it in any case. “I believe so,” he said when she said it had interesting themes.

“I suppose it is because books are formulaic. You see what works, and you do that. The names, the characters, the setting, that can all change, but it doesn’t mean you are being original. People don’t even realize it. They think ‘this is how these stories progress’ and so they do that. Readers are the same way… you want comfort, you want to know where things are going, and we might say we want different, but if its too different people complain. Or different for difference sake… but then again, I’m not an author, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.” He probably said far more than enough anyway.

Kade laughed when she said he must be old, “I’m twenty-two. Sometimes I feel pretty old in the right company… but I’m pretty sure I’m not that old,” he explained lightly. He was old enough that he had good examples of life out of a guild, and in a guild. Mostly his examples were on an island with a dragon, but that was good enough for him, by far. “Ah… well to each their own,” he said, regarding her preferring Fairy Tail.

Now they got to the topic of their magics. “Yes, I can change the color if I want. I generally just keep it to white light, but… I guess it could come up,” he shrugged. As far as her themed magic, is sounded quite interesting. “It sounds like you could do some very interesting things with that. And all things come with time, you’re pretty young still,” he told her with a smirk. She’d basically called him old, so he figured he could call her young.

She asked about the food and he examined it. His finger turned to light and he cut the meat in half, separating the stick as well. Sure, he was now getting far less food than he’d expected, but it was fine. He preferred company. He handed Vera her end, saying, “You can use your judgment on it. I’d wait, but its all up to you now.” His hands were back to normal as he waited for the food to cool a bit more, poking it with his finger to check.

Verity supposed he had a point in saying that people just copied what other people did because they thought that was how it was meant to be like plus there was an added fact they liked familiarity. However, just because she saw his point didn’t actually mean she agreed with it. Difference was better than repetitiveness. It got old fast. Too much difference wasn’t altogether that good either so she guessed moderation was what was needed in a way. But then again, she didn’t plan on becoming an author or someone who wrote books; that’d be a bit of a pain. She already had problems reading on some days due to her dyslexia so writing 24/7 was a bit of a farfetched dream. She preferred being a guild mage though. Beating up baddies always trumped trying to write.

“I guess so, although I don’t necessarily need to like it,” she said, her face squishing up in slight disgust before it relaxed into its normal position again.

The young mage tilted her head when Kade laughed and said that he was 22 and not really that old although sometimes he did. Technically, she hadn’t meant it that way but it was a bit funny that he thought differently from her intention.

“Well I didn’t mean old as in old old, which would be 72 years old. You don’t look old. But if you feel pretty old sometimes then well I don’t really know. Maybe your soul is old like 2000 years old or you’re some really old person in some younger person’s body that you abducted.” she said frankly with a wide smile on her face.
He didn’t seem thrilled that she said she preferred Fairy Tail but who would be. It’s not like she expected someone to bounce up and down on the spot just because she said do.

Verity eyes sparkled when he said he could change the colour of his magic. “Ooh! So can you do like purple light? Or black light perhaps? Or even a rainbow light!” she said. Magic was awesome so obviously she was enthusiastic about it. It was something mysterious since it was different for each person. She loved demonstrations of magic. She’d probably just sit there examining their every move. Kind of like a stalker. Stress on the kind of part. Not really.

“I can except it’s sometimes a pain to figure out how to cast spells. Like one spell, to cast it well, I need to sound like a lunatic. And I’m not that young, I’m 17 which is only 5 years younger than you. It’s not like I’m 12 or something!” she said with a slight huff.

She watched him as he cut the meat and noticed his finger turning to light. Well that was new. She’d never heard of a light mage who could turn into literal light. For a second, she forgot her hunger and refocused on her former conspiracy theory ideas. But then, her moment of squinting eyes and spy glass disappeared as her thoughts were consumed by food. Victory was in her hands…literally. She decided she would call the dead rabbit she had never known ‘Victory’ just for the purpose of internally saying that.
“Yay food! I think I’m just going to eat. I haven’t eaten since….lunch today so I’m hungry,” she responded to him before biting the piece of meat and chewing on it. Many people assumed from her eating habits that she devoured the whole entire thing but really, she didn’t. Enjoying the separate flavours of food was what she liked best. As she chewed, she remembered seeing his finger turning to light.
“Is it normal for light mages to be able to turn into light?” she asked after she swallowed before eating again.

Whatever Kade thought was better or more appealing hadn’t quite made it into his comment about why people stuck with familiarity. What should be and what was rarely matched. “We never have to like our situations,” Kade said. He knew the issue of repetition or newness in writing wasn’t her personal problem, but the statement applied to many things. Still he wasn’t trying to get deep with it.

Kade’s laughter remained as chuckling when Verity explained he might have an old soul. “Perhaps that’s it. It wouldn’t really surprise me.” he’d been raised by something quite old after all. Plus he found himself surrounded by delightful and high energy mages. It made sense to feel old around them, but then again, he did act more subdued in general. “Not so much the abduction thing. That sounds tedious.” And also insane, but that went without saying, right?

“All the colors of the spectrum. Light is, after all, giving us all colors. Its just about what sticks and what doesn’t,” he mused. He might have looked at his hand, but he didn’t. his hands turned into light. They didn’t just generate it, they became it. Part of being a dragon slayer. It was the only part of his spells that he couldn’t disguise, but he didn’t think anyone either knew or paid enough attention. “Or a laser pointer for cats, that works quite well,” he said with a smile.

“Well any magic is difficult to master. We just have to stick with it and keep growing. Never master anything, because there is always more to learn… that’s what keeps it interesting,” he said with a relaxed smile. “Seventeen is a good age,” he told her casually. Honestly it was a pretty good place to be. You could play to becoming an adult, but still being a child. Plus things were new. Then again, when he had been seventeen he’d been a bit different.

Kade felt oddly scrutinized as he cut the meat. Maybe he just shouldn’t use his magic around her. At least if she was going to stare. It made him anxious, and he was rarely truly anxious. When he handed her food she was immediately entirely interested in that. He smiled, “I’m glad I could make you happy.” With that he took a bite. It was a good thing he was so composed, because when she asked about mages turning into light his mind filled with dread. No, its fine Kade. Don’t even worry… just chill out. He wasn’t a liar, necessarily, but he never claimed he manipulated people…. And he did when necessary, so maybe he was closer than he thought. “I’ve never met another light mage, actually,” he told her with a shrug, “I figure everyone uses their magic differently though.”

Verity nodded her head when Kade said it sounded tedious to abduct someone and then steal their soul etc.

"Yeah, if you had to abduct someone, you'd probably have to find someone you liked first before doing the whole process of exchanging bodies!" she said enthusiastically, a grin on a face.

It was reasonable enough to her that Kade said he could do all the colours in the rainbow since it was light that made colour. But then, if the light was darker, was the spell less intense? About a million questions began to spring up in her mind but this time she decided to keep her mouth shut instead of ask another question. She'd find that out by herself later. There was, after all, no real purpose why she couldn't find out about it later.

"That's handy if you have a cat; or any other creature really," she said, smiling as well.

What he said about sticking to a magic and never really perfecting it did make sense to her as well. She in fact agreed with that statement wholeheartedly. There was always something more to discover, something more to find out, so as such, there was more you could learn about something even if everyone else thought you had it perfected. And she definitely agreed that 17 was a good age. She felt anything was able to be done when someone was at that age. 26+ to her was just way too old and then anything younger than 15 was too young. But that was just her opinion.

"I agree," she said with conviction

As she sat down with her food, eating, she couldn't help but feel as if something was a bit off with Kade's mood after she asked him about finger-turning-to-light thingy. He looked composed but all her instincts were telling her else wise and she usually listened to what she felt more than what she thought. Thinking was sometimes too complicated.

She knew that if she wanted to find something out, it probably wouldn't be wise to stare intently at the object in question. So, in part of keeping with what she thought was good, she didn't stare at him profusely, merely observing him from the corner of her eye discreetly. However, subtlety wasn't ever her strong point, so to over emphasise her not looking at Kade, she lifted her food and ate facing the sky. Very subtle (not).

It struck her as weird that he had never seen another light mage. They were pretty common in her opinion. She turned to face him from her facing-the-sky position.

"Really? Never? I thought they were pretty common!" she said. It was true though that everyone used their magic differently but she did know that each magic did have their set of rules and limitations and although she wasn't a light magic user, she had read in a book about it that all of the elemental magic users, while they produced their element, couldn't become their particular element. But then again, it had been fairly outdated so what did she know? Still mysterious though and if there was something she loved besides food, it was a mystery. Especially since his statement didn't seem to match his character that she had been given the impression of.

"So what do Lamia Scale mages do?" she asked to change the topic slightly

Verity was an amusing girl. They were casually discussing how to properly abduct someone, and he certainly hadn’t expected that. He wasn’t complaining, it was fairly amusing, but it was still on the odd end of things. Kade really didn’t mind odd. As far as the inner workings of Kade’s magic, he didn’t generally get into them. It wasn’t that he personally didn’t enjoy exploring them. He did prefer exploring them, but not telling people about it. Since he had to be secretive with his magic, he was limited in a way.

“I’ve never actually kept a pet, but I have a friend who has a bunch of rabbits…” he said, glancing at the meat he was cooking, “I don’t think I’ll ever keep a pet.” This was exactly the reason. He hunted animals, and his relationship with them was a bit odd. Beyond that he travelled enough, and he preferred the company of people to that of animals. Oh well, maybe he could get a lizard, they could lay in the sun together. It would be fun. Still unlikely.

Verity agreed, with conviction even. Kade probably didn’t see eye to eye with her on the majority of things, but they found a few where they could agree, and that was nice. He enjoyed agreeing, but he sometimes learned more from disagreements. Still, he certainly wasn’t complaining.

The girl decided to… stare at the sky while eating? He wasn’t sure why she was doing that. It was after she asked him things she really shouldn’t, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that. Dwelling was bad, and it could get people in trouble. She emphatically told him that light mages were pretty common, but he shrugged, “I’ll take your word for it.” He hadn’t been lying. He saw more fire, lightning, ice, martial arts styled, shadow, manipulation, illusion. Whatever it was he saw, he somehow didn’t run into light magic users… except himself. He knew that only dragon slayers turned into their element when casting, but he didn’t know anything more specific regarding another light caster.

Now the question was easier. What did Lamia Scale mages do. Well… “Oh, some of anything. I mean, we’re just mages who are affiliated with that particular guild… so I don’t think its much different from elsewhere… except we are overall more laid back. I know a lot of us travel quite frequently, or love taking on jobs. Back a few months ago in a big rain, we all had a mud fight. Or I guess almost all of us, some people weren’t involved,” he said with a smirk. He’d enjoyed it… some other people avoided it because they didn’t like mud, or people.

Verity was puzzled as to why he glanced at the rabbit meat before saying he'd probably never keep a pet. Pets were awesome. Not that she ever had a pet. Although she did want one. It'd be something cute and nice company. Despite the fact she didn't really mind her life, she would admit she was a little lonely. She momentarily grew quiet, completely stopping her chewing of food. Even before she came to Magnolia, the only real person she had been friends with was her sister. Her parents were nearly always fussing over their business and when they moved to live with their family friend, he had been obsessed with the war and wanting to join it, in the end never really having time to properly look after her and Kuroha before finally leaving to actually do something. She knew he had promised to come back after he had done his bit but he never did. It was kind of hard to do so if he were dead. Vera shook her head out of her thoughts. There was no point being sad about it. Now she had a guild and they were plenty company.

Kade didn't really seem like he enjoyed discussing his magic so she decided to drop it for now. He didn't seem like a crazy ax-murderer anyways. It was a bit curious and Vera did love a good mystery but it didn't help to make someone who let someone else eat with them for free be uncomfortable. Maybe if they continued to talk, she'd find out more.

She switched her attention back to Kade when he answered her question on Lamia Scale. It didn't take long for her to float away from the conversation though. She murmured in agreement slightly when he said it wasn't that different from anywhere else. From his description of the guild, he seemed to like it a lot. It definitely seemed like Fairy Tail mages were more high-strung though. They were raucous and generally considered as trouble-makers. To some people, that was a turn-off, however for her, she liked noise and mischief.

Her focus did snap back though once he mentioned them having a mud fight. Her face immediately lit up.
"A mud fight! How did that turn out like? I love mud fights. I wonder why people wouldn't want to join in something like that!" she enthused.

As soon as the last word left her mouth, a faint drizzle began to start dripping from the sky, causing the mage to look up (yet again, although this time not eating). Verity didn't know whether she liked rain or not.

"Don't you think when it drizzles, the sky looks as if it's weeping?" she said in a far off voice before snapping herself back to reality and looking back down at her now getting wet food before back at Kade. "Well, I guess if your meat's still hot, it can be drenched and cooled by water for real," she said jokingly before frowning up at the rain again.

"Do you think this will get worse?"

She hoped not. Although she liked getting wet (her excuse for not having a shower), she also didn't like getting completely drenched nor did she want to return just yet. Mild showers were definitely okay though.

Verity seemed like a nice girl. Even though she definitely threw Kade off in their interactions. He wasn’t used to that degree of questioning about his magic. He’d have to be more careful. Even expressing more curiosity about her could be a bad idea. Then what would he do if she asked about his life? His parents were dead. He was raised by an adoptive father. Sure, that was fine, right? Well, unless she asked more about it. She seemed to pick up on the slightest avoidance of a topic, and he didn’t want to risk it.

He laughed at her immediate interest in the mud fight. “Well, we really tore up the grounds, but it was worth it. I think one of them was because she’s afraid of people… some other people just didn’t want to get dirty. There’s a girl there who is from a really wealthy family, and always in big puffy dresses and things. She’d look out of place in the mud… but then, you have to relax and just have fun, right? And you look like someone who can appreciate that sentiment.”

It started to rain slightly and Kade sighed. He was going to get soaked if it got worse. Why? Because he was living outside on his trip. That could be problematic. “Weeping, hm?” he asked, looking up at the sky, which was fairly concealed by the trees. “I suppose in a way. I like rain, but it makes me feel like relaxing… or playing in the mud I suppose,” he smirked. “I hope it doesn’t get worse… sleeping outside kind of hampers on part of the fun of a downpour. And I don’t want my bag getting wet,” he shrugged.

He took a bit of his meat. At least it tasted good, and it would stay warm, even with the drizzle. “When did you plan to head home? I’d hate for you to catch a cold if it starts raining too much.”

Verity smiled when Kade laughed at her obvious interest. She didn't understand it sometimes when people wondered how she still could be entertained by kiddy seeming things and voiced it in a rude way. Lamia Scale and Fairy Tail didn't seem so different to one another as a whole. They both destroyed their guild sometimes, they both had a variety of people and even so, they still managed to get along like one big happy family. She wasn't so sure about Blue Pegasus but she would bet that they were the same way too. She stared wistfully at the ground whilst Kade was saying she was someone who could enjoy that sentiment. She definitely could. It was just that she never had much fun before. The only time she had ever been happy was for that time period where nobody teased and even then she didn't really have fun because everyone was scared of her or just didn't like her. Now, it was kind of like probation period in her guild. She didn't know anyone yet but she was determined to make sure she did soon.

"Mmhmm," she murmured in agreement before looking back up at Kade. "It doesn't really matter if you look out of place right? Just so long as you do it cause eventually then, you'd become a part of it. I hope that girl in the puffy dress has done something fun like that. Either wise she definitely would be missing out. And that other girl who's scared of people, gets over that fear or has already. People need people."

She continued to stare up at the sky as the rain drops fell gently to the ground, listening to Kade at the same time. "I do like rain too although not in the way you like it. I used to play in the rain with my sister...but not anymore." She looked back down when he commented on not wanting his bag getting wet. She smirked. "I would have thought getting wet in your sleeping bag constituted as fun. Cause then, you can sleep in the canopy of trees while letting the fall of rain drive you to sleep! Who knows, maybe you might start having a mud fight with yourself during your sleep." She got back to being serious. "If it does get worse though, maybe you should come into the city instead of sleeping outside. It should be drier. Walls and all." She suggested. She knew he wasn't an idiot so he probably might have thought of that already but she also guessed no harm came in still saying so.

She mused about his next question. While the rain wasn't pouring too hard, she was content on staying. "Probably when I feel like I'm getting close to tired if the rain continues like this or soon if it gets all thunder-stormy like. Getting wet is one of my favourite past times and I don't get sick that often too. What are you going to do if it gets worse?"

She noticed that the slight drizzle had begun to strengthen. It wasn't quite full on rain but it wasn't as nice as a gentle drizzle anymore.

Interest was interest, and who wouldn’t be interested in a mud fight? Really? Exactly. Kade would have agreed with her thoughts on the guild. They were families. Even if one group actually called it that, and the others were simply close. People worked together as siblings, or cousins, or whatever else they all preferred. There was no reason to nitpick and cause problems for each other, but that didn’t mean they always saw eye to eye. Whatever attracted someone to their specific guild, there wasn’t actually anything wrong with the others. At least, Kade hoped so. Except dark guilds, there was definitely something wrong with the dark guilds.

“I like being a part of things,” Kade said in respond to Verity’s comment. “I’ve spent a lot of my time being secluded, and although I have spent a long time with my guild, I haven’t lost my appreciation for it. And as far as the girl, Ava…. I don’t know exactly. She’s a very… classy young woman. The other girl… yeah, I don’t think so,” he said seriously, shaking his head. It was sad, truly. He wanted to help her, but it just didn’t seem to be happening.

Kade listened to her comment about getting wet. “I don’t think so….” he said with a smirk, “Being wet is great… but not in survival mode. With the comfort of a dry room later, it is great… but when you are stuck with that gear, no so much. Besides, why would I have a mud fight with myself? Having company is at least half the fun,” he said with a grin now. She suggested he go to town if the rain got worse, “No, I’ll find a way to survive. I haven’t had to do so on my own in quite some time… but I want to. At least for now.”

“Fair enough,” Kade said. He liked that getting wet was a favorite pastime of hers. It amuses him slightly. “If this gets worse…. Oh… just make a shelter out here I imagine,” he admitted. He chewed his meat, noticing the worsening of the rain. … Great.

People wanted what they had never got and so it made sense to her that he hadn't lost appreciation for his guild. It was a nice thought. His connection to his guild was something she wanted to feel with hers. Although Verity wondered why Kade had spent a lot of time secluded by himself. To her, he didn't seem like the unsocial type. Maybe he was isolated when he was younger. She didn't know. She guessed people change and most likely Kade changed. Much like everyone else really. No one was ever the same as they where when they were a two year old. It made her curious to find out why but Verity wasn't that hyped up anymore. She'd find out eventually and she knew people liked their privacy. It didn't hurt to make people her enemy by asking them probing questions but it hurt less when they gave it up on their own free will. She didn't think Kade would start pouring his life story out to her by the time she went back to Magnolia but she didn't need to put him off either.

"It's great that you feel that way for your guild. I think it's admirable to have a connection like that," she said, a small smile on her face as she looked back down from the sky. "And you'd think classy people who joined guilds would be able to let go a little, have fun maybe. I guess though that this Ava girl might have a different idea of fun instead of a mud fight. Or maybe she just liked watching it. Some people are like that. For that other girl, maybe she just needs a little push? I don't believe in giving up on people,"

Vera returned to gaze up at the sky when Kade was talking but looked back at him by the time he got up to asking why would he have a mud fight by himself. He seems to know a lot about wilderness survival she mused. It was expected though seeing as he said he traveled a lot. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Only at least half the fun? Well I guess maybe if you had a mud fight with yourself, any passerbyers may think you've gone a bit crazy," she said with a smile. She nodded in understanding when he said he wanted to survive out in the wilderness as he hadn't done so in a while. She got that. Wanting to do something he had done before. "Nostalgia?" she asked before finishing her piece of meat. "That was good, thanks by the way,"

She laughed slightly at his expression when he appeared to notice the rain falling harder than before. "Would you like help to make that shelter?" She asked him before standing up "Because I can. And I want to. Sounds interesting. Repayment for free food perhaps?"

Verity was a strange little creature. Most people were… most? Okay, all people were strange in their own way. He just felt like she was a bit more obvious about her oddities. Not that she did that on purpose necessarily, but some quirks were subtle, and hers probably not so much. She was not a subtle young lady. That wasn’t a bad thing, as it seemed to work for her, but some things about Kade needed to be subtle. Such as his shifts away from discussing his magic. People may remain curious, but if he were to suddenly say he didn’t want to discuss it, that would make people more curious. He did not need that. He was happy to discuss his guild instead. “I think it only makes sense to grow fond of the people you’re around for that long. You work together, eat together,” he shrugged.

When it came to Ava and Ren though, he had stronger opinions about them both. “Yes, she has her own version of fun. Mostly reading, or collecting keys. And as far as the second girl…. I talk to her. I’ve even asked if she wanted to play, but she doesn’t. She might actually, but she won’t,” he explained in short. She also took to hiding from him when she suspected such questions. Or did she just hide from him in general? Either way, he did find her often enough.

“I’m sure I can come up with other reasons for people to think I’ve gone crazy,” he suggested. As far as him camping for Nostalgia, “Yeah, that sounds about right. Connecting with my childhood and all that stuff. You’re welcome,” he told her when she thanked him. He worked on finishing his before she offered to help with the shelter. “Oh… hm… alright sure. I need to collect a lot of sticks, and bigger leaves if we find them. I can built it between these two trees,” he added, pointing to two nearby that were close enough for what he wanted. He had some rope and a surface that was water resistant enough, if he absolutely needed to use that, but he liked building a base regardless.

The Ava girl seemed to have an alright sense of what was fun and not. Reading she could understand. Reading was the best. However...collecting keys??? Vera wasn't as certain. For the Ren girl, she still wasn't that convinced. Although she did sound like she had a pretty severe case. As for her suggestion about making passer byers think Kade was a little crazy, he said he was sure he could think of better ways. Well duh, anybody could. One way was to talk to yourself. Another way was to dance like a monkey. Of course there was always the option of singing in public places at the top of your voice. Personally, Vera had never tried any of these things but she was sure some people would probably think you were crazy but the end of your act.

She was glad Kade accepted her offer of help. She would have helped anyways whether he wanted it or not. She paid close attention to what he was saying. Sticks and big leaves. Sounded easy enough. She came to the forest a lot so she was fairly confident in her abilities to find those two things without difficulty. She then looked at the two trees to gain a rough idea of how big those leaves would have to be before nodding. "Okay, I can do that. I'll be back soon," she said before walking away to find sticks and leaves.

Once she was a few metres from Kade's camp site, she stopped and looked around the trees. She took a deep breath and sighed. When the woods were wet, the smell was always nice. At least in her opinion. After her little break, she went around on the floor searching for sticks and leaves. She found quite a fair bit and decided to store some in the other dimension just cause she could. By the time she took a break again, she had collected quite the stockpile. Roughly 100 sticks, various sizes, 5 massive leaves and quite a few other big leaves. She leaned against the tree to stretch her back and looked up at the sky. Still raining. Getting heavy too.

She closed her eyes only to be awakened by a loud clapping noise a few seconds later. It hadn't started pouring yet but it was a possibility. She had experienced thunder before when it was near dry. It was a strange occurrence but possible that it came without heavy rain. Vera made a split decision. She could stay out a little more to find sticks and leaves; she hadn't been away from Kade's campsite for too long, maybe 10 minutes, 5 the minimum and 15 the max. But she felt it would be better to get what she had just in case it started pouring and so she started walking back from wherever she was.

Kade suspected that said Ava girl had stronger conviction than he did. She didn’t have the experiences to back it up, but she sure was willful. As for her collecting keys, it made sense to him, being that it was for magic. He didn’t think about Verity not realizing that, oh well, a mistake on his part. Kade had little interest in making people think he was crazy. At most he might want that for a job, but otherwise, he’d pass.

Kade would have thought it rude to turn down free help. Besides, what was wrong with a little help? Nothing, as far as he could tell. Unless she messed things up, but he didn’t expect that. Vera agreed to his directions and headed off on her own. Kade looked at his fire. He shouldn’t leave it along, but he really didn’t need it out. It would be colder with the rain, so he left it be. He headed off to find rather large sticks. From that he started cutting them, notching them so that he could make a bar between the two trees, and a frame to hold it up. Why wouldn’t he use his magic for this, after all?

Verity returned while Kade was putting a bit of mud on the edges of his frame. It covered the clean edges of his cutting, but he merely did it to give some added stability. “Hey, got anything?” He didn’t see her carrying anything, so that was strange. He really wasn’t overly familiar with her kind of magic, and didn’t think much of it. The rain was getting heavier, and his fire was starting to appear as if it might go out. He considered shielding it with his magic, but he thought that he should focus on the structure instead. Especially with the lightning he was sure he heard. Water, lightning, fire… these were not his elements.

She nodded her head promptly as soon as she returned to the camp site. "Definitely," she said before summoning all the stuff she collected from the other dimension and dumping it on the ground. Because there were no magical properties to sticks and leaves it didn't take any mana to summon them or store them. It occurred to her then that Requip magic was pretty useful. She stood back a centimetre and took in their surroundings. If she wasn't wrong the weather just magnified in its ferocity. The wind was beginning to howl, the trees were shuddering, the sky was raining, certain flashes among the clouds were there. Brilliant weather if she could say so herself.

She looked back down from the sky and eyed the two trees and dying fire. There didn't seem to be much use in offering to set the fire back on fire. It wouldn't catch if the wood was wet and by the looks of it, it was pretty damp. "So....what do you need me to do now?" she asked, her teeth slightly chattering. She wasn't wearing particularly warm clothing and she hadn't needed to wear warmly because honestly, at this time of the year, it was usually hotter than it was cold. The weather was really unexpected. "Have you ever been in rough weather when camping before?" she asked just to make conversation while she waited for instructions. She was a bit of a catalyst when taking things into her own hands when she knew nothing about the actual thing. She was a natural like that. The thought occurred to her that if the weather got even more worse she'd probably need to trek back through the woods and get soaked. She shuddered slightly. On the positive side, at least she wouldn't need a shower anymore.

Verity was more resourceful than she looked. Kade grinned as she summoned a small mountain of helpful items. Of course they were all natural things found in the area, that he had sent her to collect, but it was still impressive. “You’re good at this,” he told her casually. She asked for instructions, “Yeah, sure. Just help make a frame. It needs to be bigger, and very sturdy. If we can uses the leaves within the sticks to keep out the rain, that would be good. I do have a tarp though, and if I need to, I will throw that over to keep out the storm.”

She thought the weather was brilliant. He thought it was a mess. He’d be soaked to the bone, and that was no fun. He knew how to avoid getting sick, and how to care for himself if it did get that bad, but that didn’t mean he wanted to go to all that trouble. He also didn’t want her to get sick. She might have been back to town if she hadn’t stopped for dinner with him. She asked if he’d been camping in this rough weather before? “Yes. I used to live outside, so I’ve been camping in pretty bad situations. I don’t prefer it though.”

At that point he decided it was getting hard to see. He summoned a light barrier. It was set over the structure they were trying to build, and shone quite bright. Since it was pure light it was also somewhat warming. It kept the rain off for that period of time, but he had no desire to keep sustaining it for a while. He helped Verity set up the frame, then went ahead and got the tarp out, just in case. Then he got inside. He held the flap open for her to join him. “Welcome to the torrential downpour shelter,” he said in amusement.

Verity shrugged the compliment off. "I'm guess I'm not that bad. You're really good at this wilderness survival stuff," she said. She found she was usually better at the practical stuff in life rather than the theoretical. That was because she preferred to be doing something where her attention didn't drift and she considered the theoretical things in life to be boring. From listening to Kade's instructions, she figured that all she really needed to do was make a big, sturdy frame out of sticks and leaves. That sounded reasonably easy. Not. She wasn't particularly sure what kind of frame he wanted. An A-frame? A flat frame? She shook her head. It didn't matter; it was just a frame for a shelter and she was sure Kade would help out so she'd just follow him. It wasn't like she was going to get into serious trouble if she did the wrong thing unless being soaked counted. Once she finished reasoning it out in her head, she started making the actual frame.

It was a slow going at first but once she got the general gist of what to do, she found it was actually pretty easy to make. She heard Kade give a response to her question while she was intertwining a leaf in between a bunch of sticks. "Who would?" she commented distantly, too focused on her task to make much more of a sentence. The lighting was not that good causing her to need to squint her eyes to be able to see in the dark better. However, her problem was soon solved by Kade casting some form of light barrier. It became much easier to see, not to mention a lot warmer. They finished the structure soon after and Vera stood back to look at their handiwork while Kade got the tarp. She reckoned it looked sturdy and big, the criteria in which it had to fit.

Vera was about to enter after Kade and smirked when he welcomed her into the rightfully named torrential downpour shelter. "Let's hope it doesn't break lest we get stuck under a bunch of twigs and leaves," she said, entering through the flap and looking around the less than impressive inside. In fact, she wasn't sure she could say she was looking; it was pretty dark. "I take back what I said about hoping that we don't get stuck under a bunch of twigs and leaves. I think we should more hope we don't crash into something that then causes it to break and thus causing a landslide over our heads," While waiting for her eyes to adjust in the darkness, she sat down somewhere on the still damp floor. It wasn't very pleasant. The thought occurred to her that she could be sitting on some creepy looking bug. She made a face, although it wasn't visible in the dark before deciding to stand up again. She'd much rather stand than share the floor with the creepy critters.

Kade liked a mixture of the mental and the physical. He could be just as happy hiking as having a conversation, but for wholly different reasons. Kade wasn’t too worried about the frame, it would do what it wanted as they formed it. Besides that, he was planning to help her along. An A-frame would be best, but he figured they couldn’t mess it up too badly either way. He worked with her as she went.

Kade just wanted out of the rain. He was a creature of light, which meant sunshine. That meant staying dry and warm. Sure, he loved a good mud fight, and he enjoyed playing in the water, and even the rain… but he didn’t want to get stuck out in it. The lightning on the other hand, that was a whole separate element. He’d seen a rather irritating young person who focused on lightning magic, but Kade didn’t plan to interact with him ever again if it could be helped. Washing his hands of people was not something Kade was prone to doing, but this was close enough. The lightning was a mild reminder of the blinding anger… yeah, he got under the tarp as soon as he could.

Verity entered into the shelter and had her complaints immediately. Kade knew it was dark, he knew it was damp, he knew it was a bit muddy. Was it better or worse than being outside still getting poured on? He knew it was safer, and with time, it would dry some. Also, it was warmer. He was used to living in poor conditions, even after all this time, so he really didn’t complain. He was weary enough about using his magic around Verity, so he put a hand behind his back. His hand turned to light, then a ball of light rose out of his skin, floating just above his fingers. When his hand was back to normal he pulled it out. It was a slightly heat producing light source. “Is this any better?” he asked as he held the small glowing orb.

While Kade thought being inside was better than being wet, Verity didn't mind either way. Each had their benefits, each had their flaws. Judging from the weather, it was reasonable to assume that despite her personal opinions, being inside was better for health reasons. She nodded a thanks to Kade when he summoned some kind of light orb. "Definitely, at least now I can see what I'm sitting on," she said, smiling weakly, a mild attempt to crack a joke. Now that it was lighter, she could detect a slight change in his behaviour. It wasn't that surprising - anyone's mood would be slightly darker if they were out in such weather - but it didn't mean she had to enjoy the change either.

The blonde moved to sit on the floor again and let a blanket of silence wash over her. She had to admit she was slightly tired. The weather had no signs of relenting soon instead appearing to get worse. The prospect of getting home wasn't too welcoming and she dreaded the need to get wet. She guessed if she had to, she would. She never bothered with getting sick. She shivered slightly and closed her eyes. Despite the warmth radiating from the light orb it was still reasonable cold. "Do you mind if I summon a little fire?" she decided to ask Kade. Honestly she wasn't sure whether that would start a fire within the shelter. She didn't think so but it was sometimes better to play it safe.

Verity was strange, but not unperceptive. Perhaps her oddities were disarming. The strange needn’t be feared, yes? Kade supposed he knew people who used that perception to their advantage. He didn’t see her doing it on purpose, but it did come into play. He was definitely more relaxed out of the rain, the lightning, the reminders. He didn’t want to catch a cold. His camping trip would be so much more enjoyable when he didn’t also have to deal with being sick. He wouldn’t turn tail and go home, not hardly, but it would still suck. “I am easily contented, I would have planned better had I expected company,” he said in a mild apology. He knew she wasn’t thrilled, but then again, she had just shown up.

Verity did seem cold. Kade had his bag, and it had a very things in it, a reasonable blanket. Sure she’d get it dirty, but he could always wash it. “A fire? Go ahead as long as you keep control of it.” He suspected for her to summon a fire she was prepared to handle it. He hoped the smoke inside wouldn’t be bad, but he would wait and see. He got his bag and pulled out the blanket. Generally used for emergencies or sleep. He didn’t always need it to sleep, but it was nice to have available. “Here, you can use this if you like.”

Kade seemed to think it necessary for an apology. Verity wouldn't have bothered. Whether it was a lack of societal niceties or that she didn't feel like she should apologise for a weather condition that was uncontrollable, she didn't know. "It doesn't matter. You can't be expected to plan for surprises," she responded. He could take that sentence in many ways. What she meant was surprise as in weather although she guessed surprise as in her sudden appearance would work as a meaning too.

Once Kade said it was okay to summon fire, she didn't hesitate to use her magic to pull out her broomstick from the pocket dimension. Within 2 seconds, the broom was in her hands and she placed it in front of her. Fiera Ignis wasn't a pretty weapon at first glance. It looked burnt and brittle; definitely not something a person could use to fight without it breaking. However, that wasn't true. Vera thought Fiera could be pretty handy in a fight even if it didn't like her at times. And it did have a concealed beauty behind it's ash covered layers. When Kade thought Vera could control her fire he was right. She wouldn't smother their shelter in smoke and flames. While the girl wasn't afraid of death, she still thought it would be a pretty stupid way to go out. To create her fire she simply set the bristle end of the broomstick on fire and contained it there. It was what she had done to learn her attack 'Flaming End'. It wouldn't burn someone's hand if they stuck their hand through. The only way they could get hurt by doing that would be from the bristles themselves. Because of that, it didn't release any smoke and just provided a source of warmth.

Once her fire was started she felt her muscles relax from their formerly tense positions. It was still cold but not so much she was shaking or anything. She saw Kade go to his bag and watched him with curious eyes. He only pulled out a blanket which she didn't find very interesting. She was about to drift off again when she heard him offer the blanket to her. She was surprised, thinking it was for Kade himself. She guessed it would be nice for the extra warmth but she shook her head anyways. "I'm alright, I've got my fire now, maybe you can use it," she said, politely declining his offer.

The Fairy Tail mage listened to the steady pattern of rain falling outside and began to feel drowsy. Rain had that effect on her. She probably would have dozed off when a sudden sound awoke her. "Did you hear that?" she asked, looking around the shelter. Nothing seemed amiss. She was beginning to think she was imagining things when the strange crashing noise came again. That time she got to her feet. "I'm going to go outside," she told Kade before exiting the shelter.

It really wasn’t an apology. An expression that he would have done better had he planned. More a polite observation than an expression of guilt. She could, however, take it how she pleased. Many social exchanges were open for interpretation and reception. He smirked when she said he couldn’t plan for surprises. “Is that so? I probably should be able to, otherwise I’m bad at surviving in the wilderness.” It wasn’t much of wilderness, since she’d wandered out here from town, but it was close enough. He had planned for rain, but not rain and company. Oh well, he was making due, so he supposed it wasn’t that bad.

Verity seemed pleased to pull out some fire. Kade expected her to handle her own magic just fine, and it seemed she was going to do that. Kade didn’t spend much time with requip wizards. He didn’t know of any in his guild, and since he didn’t go around talking to all the other guilds, that made up most of his socializing. He did talk to people in the nearby town, but those weren’t wizards. Guildless wizards weren’t in the habit of mentioning their plight anymore. Zahn was an exception, but he was hardly requip. The girl made a safe fire and Kade relaxed a bit more. It was nice to have something warmer in the tent. Verity turned down the offer of a blanket, but he simply rolled it back up and put it away. He would soak for a bit, and dry off later. He sat there, listening to the weather outside, when he heard something. His acute dragon slayer senses picked up on it easily, but he stayed still. Verity jumped though, saying she would head outside. He didn’t intend to let her go out alone, “I’ll come.” He followed her outside. He had suspected the fire was safe on its own, in this case.

So Verity misinterpreted Kade’s sentence. She didn’t know that and she most likely wouldn’t care even if she knew. She guessed what he said though, about him not being very good at wilderness survival if he couldn’t plan for surprises, was true enough. She’d take it as being unprepared. Maybe being good at wilderness survival involved being prepared. Probably. She shrugged it off dismissively. If she ever wanted to become good at the art of being a caveman, she’d find out.

The blonde found that it was cold outside. That wasn’t a surprise. Her teeth started to chatter and she jumped up and down to shake off her shiver. She regretted leaving her broom inside. She cast a longing gaze behind to the shelter. She could go inside and grab it now. It was a tempting idea. She hesitated a second. Nah, she didn’t really need it. She’d survive. The girl turned around and began to trudge through the rain. She wasn’t afraid of a fire starting. The fire on the broom wouldn’t last very long at all once she wasn’t consciously keeping it there.

As the pair made their way towards the sound, the girl became aware that her shoes weren’t particularly adept at walking in the slightly muddy environment she was currently making her way through. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling wearing sandals. She resisted the urge to grumble. Not before long, she realised she had no idea where she was going, much less where the sound was coming from. She turned around to face Kade. ‘I’m lost. Do you have any idea where the sound is going?’ she asked. When in doubt, ask questions. Or figure it out. It depended on the situation.

She didn’t seem the sort to get too worked up over a misinterpretation. Actually she seemed like the sort who would wonder why anyone cared, and just keep rolling along. He wasn’t sure if that was true, but it sounded that way. He really wasn’t that way. Being good at wilderness survival meant several things, and being good at handling other people was wholly different. It seemed like the later was what Kade needed right now.

Verity left the tent, probably going to get some pneumonia or something. It seemed fairly likely. She’d rather be in the rain, and didn’t want a blanket, and left the shelter. Those things alone were sort of asking for an illness. He was weary enough for the both of them. Not quite “weary,” but something similar. He was cautious. Sometimes he did things without a plan, without preparation, but he liked to weigh that. Could it be risked, or couldn’t it? That bored some people, but he wasn’t there for their entertainment. He was there for his own survival, and to help others. Right now he figured he ought to keep track of his company if he was going to do any of this.

Kade ran his fingers through his slightly shaggy hair, pushing the blue strands back from his face. Absolutely not idea weather, but nothing to do but walk. Kade was silent, listening only to the dangerous storm, and then to Verity when she spoke up. “Nope. I don’t know what it was, but I thought I should at least stay with the group. Could have been something falling from the storm.”

Kade thought she was going to get sick. She probably was. Hopefully not pneumonia though. She didn't care for being sick. It was kind of sad since being healthy was an important aspect of life but that was just the way it was with her.

Verity was slow sometimes. She didn't get what Kade meant by staying with the group. "Staying with the group? You're not part of some crazy thunder loving cult are you?" she asked, her tone, blatantly confused. She obviously didn't mean to ask whether he was part of some crazy thunder loving cult but it just...spilled out from her mouth. At least she didn't think he was part of some crazy thun...and so on. But what if he was? She wondered what a crazy etc. cult would do. Probably dance in a circle yelling prayers and chants about how beautiful the sky looked today. There were a few people in her guild who would probably do that. Along with the mental list she was compiling, Rumours circulated around one particular mage who used some kind of lightning. Maybe s/he did that. She had never seen him/her before since she was new and s/he was always out doing some mission. In fact, screw that thought, her guild was pretty crazy. She wouldn't be surprised if they were having some kind of communal campfire in the rain while singing and chanting.

She looked around at her surroundings and decided to give herself a fun fact. The trees were turning blue. Blue with the tears of the skies. She sighed. That would make beautiful poetry. Tear worthy even. She let the droplets fall on her face before turning around to face Kade. She noted his blue hair. It matched the colour of the trees. He'd do well with camouflage. "I think we should go back now," she said cheerfully as if she hadn't spoken her previous thoughts (starting from the trees turning blue) out loud before. As a matter of fact, she had. She didn't realise it but she did. Not very loudly but slightly louder than just under her breath.

She was strange.

Verity asked, teasing he suspected, if Kade was part of some thunder loving cult. He frowned immediately. Thunder, lightning. “Absolutely not,” he said without hesitation. His current thunder influence came from the reason that this storm was irritating him. He normally restrained himself better, but that had stuck such a cord with him than even now it was hard to think of the situation without losing his cool. It was clear Verity meant nothing by it. She was more confused than anything. He sighed, “Sorry, but nope… maybe if I was I would think I could change this awful weather… at least it probably won’t cause a forest fire, with all this rain,” he told her with a shrug. She might find it odd of him to say all of that, but he wanted to take away from his hostility earlier. This was exactly why he needed to go camping, he needed to right himself. His father would have been disappointed.

She was strange… and now they should go back. Alright, that… was fine. He arched an eyebrow at her, before again pushing his hair back. Yes, he was soaked now. He wanted to go back to the tent, sit inside and dry up. Hopefully no one was sneaking around the area. Making a distracting noise in the forest, then coming and stealing their camp would be clever. Devious. Kade didn’t expect it though, he would have heard it, even through the rain, with his acute hearing. “Sure, I’m more than happy to get back into the shelter.”

Verity nodded her head promptly when Kade responded to her question with a firm 'Absolutely not'. "Okay then," she responded. She was going to troop ahead without a moment's consideration longer on the topic of thunder loving cults when he continued. She shook her head vigorously. "No, because if you were in some crazy thunder loving cult, the point being you love thunder, you would not desire any changes in the weather." she said in a matter of fact tone. She cocked her head to one side while facing him. "Although, If you were in some crazy thunder hating cult, then that would make sense," she added with a grin.

The end of their expedition came nigh when they reached to place where the shelter was located and Vera gladly hopped back inside. She shivered and rubbed her arms. She hadn't picked up on Kade thinking she was strange at all. Even if she did, she'd shrug it off. People had different ideas on what was strange. For all he knew some random person out there could find that she was a perfectly normal human being. She leaned back onto the wall of the shelter and sat down sucking her lip. Her quiet time was over and now all she could think of was random facts about the weather that she had read in a book. She decided to share her knowledge. "Did you know that you can predict what the weather's going to be like in the day by looking at the clouds? So maybe if we went outside again, we could see when it's going to stop raining," she said, her words having no underlying meaning, only there for the sake of it.

He was losing his touch lately. First the mission, now snapping at a girl for a simple question. What was wrong with him? “Heh,” he sighed when she explained what him being in a thunder loving cult would mean. Well, if he loved it he might have control over it, that was all he’d meant. However her point made a good deal more sense than his. Then she mentioned a thunder hating cult. He coughed into his hand a bit in embarrassment, “Oh, I wouldn’t say I’m in any cults…” he told her, leaving out the obvious hating on thunder. What could he do? Lie? Nah.

They returned to Kade’s makeshift sanctuary and Verity wasted no time talking to him. He preferred this. It wasn’t wrought with uncomfortable emotions, and he wasn’t feeling an obligation to go walking through the rain. His shirt was absolutely sticking to him now, which he would care about later. Yes, how lovely this weather was. She commented on the clouds, “Well I didn’t think they looked like an oncoming storm earlier today. I guess I was too far in the trees… but I think if I tried to look up right now all I would see was water in my eyes,” he smirked. “I’ll just enjoy the chorus for a bit though.” He still liked the sounds the weather was making against the tent. He was glad she’d helped put it up, and that it wasn’t falling or anything awful.

Verity laughed a bit when Kade said he'd probably only get water in his eyes should he look up at the sky. "Fair point," she said with a smile. "You'd be able to if you had a clear umbrella though," She added. She didn't have everything stored at her convenience in her pocket world. While she had a collection of broken items and some usable ones, clear umbrellas never made the cut. She made it a point to consider adding it to the vast space of emptiness. Who knew when clear umbrella's could come in handy? Vera didn't have anything to say at the moment and so she relaxed in the ground and stared at the roof. She thought of it as a comfortable silence while she listened to the rain continuously pound the tent. She imagined if the roof was made out of tin. Her ears were already ringing in pain by just the thought. After a few minutes went by, the girl heard the rain begin to patter more gently.

She stirred from her position and returned her gaze to eye level. "I think the rain's relenting a bit. I'll probably go before it gets more rainy. Don't want to be stuck out here for the whole night," she said, grinning at him. "Thanks for the food. Imagine if I'd stayed in your trap...I wouldn't be feeling so pleasant right now," She stood up from the ground and dusted any leaves off. She decided to ask if he needed any more help. It was only fair since she had kind of made him go trekking in the muddy forest with her and made him wet. She was wet and dirty herself. "Do you need any other help?" she asked. She'd help if she could. If he didn't need any then she guessed she'd just go back before the rain started to come back. Even she wasn't that suicidal to walk home when the rain was pouring heavily.