𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 // 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙖𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝

"Hey! How about we go on a job?" Kuschel exclaimed to me, waving her arms. She was still in human form, which was a strange thought.

"That's a great idea. I'm low on money, anyway, and my rent ain't gonna pay itself!" I grinned, looping my arm around her neck.

"Can Rogue come too? Because you looooove him!" she chortled.
"Sure! I'll go- hey... hey!" I barked. "don't keep sayin' that, Kusch!"

"No promises." she giggled. I turned to Rogue, who had been standing a few feet behind me.

"Rogue, you wanna come with us?" I asked. "we're gonna take a job."
"Sure." he agreed.

"Oi, oi, oi! You lovebirds thought you could sneak away without Master Sting comin' along, didn't you?" Sting sidled over to our group of three.

"It's purely a lot quieter without you around, Sting." Rogue sighed.
"He hasn't been too bad during the times I've been on jobs with him." I said, glancing at the blond.
"That's because you haven't known him since you were twelve. He knows exactly what he can do to push my buttons." the Shadow Dragon Slayer's glare would've pierced holes through Sting's forehead. "there's no escape."

"You're right, there isn't." Sting said. "I'm coming with you, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"In that case, it's just a matter of which job we take up." I commented. "something that pays well, because I need to pay my rent."

"You can have this job, if you want." Orga spoke up, holding out a flier. I cautiously took it from him and read it over.

"It doesn't sound too bad." I shrugged, impressed at Orga's choice. "you sure you wanna give it up?"

"Yeah. You deserve it." he replied, giving me a pair of finger guns. I jumped back at the slight zap. He shook his hands and we both apologised to each other. Sting and Rogue were reading over the job paper.

"This'll do." Sting shrugged.

// Time Skip //
// 3rd P.O.V //

The three Dragon Slayers were dragged from the train by their Exceeds, Rogue almost getting carried away to the next station if Kuschel, in her human form - hadn't intervened to help Frosch.

"That was... absolute hell..." [Y/N] groaned, rubbing her head. "it's goddamn freezing here..."

"I heard that it's going to rain tonight." Rogue said. "if that's worth mentioning."
"That's just great." the Sound Dragon Slayer huffed sarcastically.

They had arrived in the town of Girasole, ironically named after the sunflower. The whole place seemed abandoned aside from a few people walking the streets, all of whom were wearing winter gear. The sky was a deep grey that made everyone feel uneasy.

"The mayor's address is on the job flier." Sting said as the group of Dragon Slayers and their Exceeds wandered the dirty streets of Girasole.

The White Dragon Slayer led the way, eventually guiding his guild-mates to a rickety, old house. The exterior walls were a dull, brown wood, and the roof was an even darker shade of dull. Three of four visible windows were boarded up with crooked pieces of wood, all of which were gathering dust.

A path led up to this house, bushes well overgrown and making it a trouble to get to the front door. [Y/N] pushed open the rusted, dark grey gate and stepped onto the path, pushing through the dense foliage.

She turned back to confirm that her team was still following her - Sting gave a thumbs-up and Rogue nodded his head. She turned and outwardly sighed before knocking on the door. After mere seconds, the door opened a crack and [Y/N] saw a pair of eyes peek through.