brains and brawn | sting eucliffe

The orange-haired girl was unconscious through the rest of the day's events- under constant supervision by Wendy and Porlyusica for the first hour- before being confirmed stable.

It turned out that she was a lot better off than they had expected. Besides the broken ribs from flying into the concrete walls, she didn't have any major injuries. The burn marks that they thought would cover her entire body seemed nonexistent- almost as if he'd missed every time that he shot at her.

That thought was dismissed, however, because they saw with their own eyes that the blast hit the girl head on. It was just a miracle - and they weren't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The competitors that fell asleep woke up around twenty minutes after the fight. Originally some had been annoyed by her tactics, until they learned of the beat-down that occurred only minutes afterwards. When Amaya- the last one to wake up- heard her friend was still in danger of retaining long-term injuries, no one could stop her from running towards the infirmary.

And so, the girl was unconscious for seven hours. Wendy and Shelia took turns watching over her while they got to know each other better- the two becoming fast friends.

Gears finally woke up after Natsu & Gajeel's- well, wherever he went- fight against Sting & Rogue. She was already coming to when the pink-haired idiot burst into the room, announcing very proudly:

"We've avenged you!"

Needless to say, she was very confused.

After they'd explained to her everything that had happened- including the team being combined into a super powerful quintet. Which included Erza, Gray, Natsu, Amaya & Laxus.

Now, walking down the cobblestone streets of the city, she sighed. The medical team [which consisted of Porlyusica, Weny, & Sheila] told her to rest her magic for the next week or so. Her body had been fixed to the best of their ability, and she was able to get up and take a walk by herself for some fresh air.

Blue eyes haunted her when she closed her eyes. Not the eyes of her friend, but the eyes of someone else. She was sure that it wasn't purposeful, he'd not have dragged it on for so long if he'd been in another guild.

Speaking of guilds.. she worried about what would happen to both of the slayers from Sabertooth. She knew what had happened to Yukino after losing her fight.. and she was scared for both of them. What would happen if they were kicked out?

It was driving her crazy.

The cold night air blew past her face as she hugged her puffy green jacket closer, eyes reflecting the clear sky's constellations. Faintly, she remembered her grandmother talking about the stars, and how they were used to guide sailors before they knew how to use things like lacrimas or compasses.

Her grandmother was a kind soul, a lady who taught her everything she knew about what she does now. From reading with wind reader glasses to learning how to decipher texts using archive..

Actually, her father knew archive. He learned it from her grandmother. So she guessed it was a magic passed down for generations. She faintly remembered her parents.. teaching her things like reading and writing.. how to fly a kite.

And her brother would throw her up into the sky- she would smile and laugh, tell him to throw her again and again, until he told her his arms were too tired and the two would play tag for the rest of the time. Sometimes, he would go hang out with his friends at the park while she cheered him on in whatever game they decided to play.

It usually ended with the girl cheering so loud that the group of teens told her that she won the round for being the best crowd member.

"But I'm the only one in the crowd." She would laugh, pointing to the empty bench where she sat.