|| A Home Worth While. ||

• || Chapter Two.

||Two • Uncharted Territory

You let out a small huff as you walked along the edge of town. Nature always calmed you down, and right now you were extremely annoyed. Apartment hunting was the absolute worst. All the places you found were either too expensive, shady and sketchy as all hell, far from repairable, or was some scam. And it was sucked, as well as make you extremely exhausted. You wanted to find a place before you took a job cause if needed to pay rent, you wanted to know the range so you could take the right jobs and such. But this was just crazy. At this rate, you'd be stuck with Juvia. She wasn't bad, you just didn't want to be a burden to her.

Your hands ran through your hair, stopping a little short while your thumbs massaged your temples. You just wanted some peace, something to give you a small slice of hope. And for a moment, you believed you found it.

Your (E/C) eyes caught sight of scattered stone, which was a little weird considering the area you were in. The closer you gotten, the more the stones began to close in together, which turned into a mossy path of cobblestone that ran deeper into the woods. Skeptical at first, you tapped your foot against the first few stones near you. But once you realized that it was safe, you started walking down the pathway. The soft clicks that filled your ears was comforting, soothing in a weird way as you stepped over a small little bridge over a stream.

You walked down the path for a few more minutes, silently enjoying the scenery until you were met with an opening. The first thing you noticed was the small sparkling lake that might be connected to that stream you passed. A little waterfall flowed off from a cliffside that framed this little opening, and what stood by the lake... was a cottage.

It wasn't in the best shape, and looked to be very worn down. Flowers and vines had grown and crawled up the brick that made up the walls. And the roof looked like it could fall in something pressed against it. Some of the windows looked damaged or smudged, but you were sure those could be replaced and cleaned easily. There looked to be a chimney too, vines and flora looked to have claimed that too. The wooden door that looked to be the front entrance was slightly ajar, the window that was built into it was broken.

You hesitantly stepped forward, keeping alert as you had no clue if someone was trying to murder you the moment you step in. But hey, you couldn't hear anyone inside, so that was a plus.

Immediately when you went through the door and into the house, the smell of dust and mildew filled your nose and you had to cover your airways with your hand. Yeah... you'd have to do something about that the next time you come. The cobwebs you noticed didn't help either... so those would have to be taken down too.

The more you explored, the more you realized that while this cottage was worn down and needing repairs, it was in pretty good shape. The floorboards didn't sink in, the stairs while a little unsteady needed little work, and by what you could see, there was no animals or insect nests that could or would cause damage to the home. All hope you had previously lost was starting to fill your chest with warmth, and you gotten really giddy. You couldn't wait to show Juvia what you found, and almost ran outside right away once you checked the whole house.

And that's what you did. And that's what led you to now. After discovering the cottage, and looking up prices for a crew to fix up the place for you, you took your first job. Even though Gray wasn't able to join you, Juvia was, and she brought along another bluenette. You learned her name to be Levy, and my god did you want to hug the hell out of her. She was (about the same height/smaller than you), with shoulder length hair that was about the same shade of blue as Juvia's. She had a yellow bandana tied around her head, and a matching yellow dress with detachable sleeves and white trimming around the neckline. And to top it all off was a cute pair of red sandals. You noticed that her Fairy Tail insignia was on her left shoulder blade in a very light orange, visible for the world to see. She wore it proudly, as well as the other members, and you admired that. And you hoped to be able to do the same.