A new face in Fairy Tail?

[Sakura Ai]

A girl stumbled into magnolia town. She was a young girl, by the age of 11. With a ragged appearance, she was bruised, cut and she was slightly limping. But this was no accident, she held a dark secret. Or maybe it wasn't such a dark secret after all? Obviously she was not coming back from a failed mission, she was too young for that. But simply the look in her eyes was enough to set her away from the crowd.

She slowly walked onward, with no particular destination. Only when she was in it's giant shadow that she notice that a big building was beside her. Looking a little surprised, she knocked on the door and suddenly collapsed.

[shadeimpulse]

How long had is been since he'd been out for a walk, and not inside Fairy Tail? Too long for Manuel's taste, and it was time to head out. Putting out his last cigarette, Manuel walked to the door of Fairy Tail and took a deep breath before pushing it open. It took awhile for Manuel to realize that he was looking at a young girl laying there, unconscious. Looking like she was beaten up pretty good. It was a surprise that she had managed to make it here.

With a sigh and a stretch Manuel picked the girl up. "Looks like my walk will have to wait...where is that bed we have laying around?" It was a comfy bed, usually meant for people who passed out after missions or something. the only problem now was how to take care of the wounds. Manuel called for some help and sat down next to the bed, waiting for the girl to wake.

[Sakura Ai]

Everything was very... fuzzy for Sakura. She felt the cold ground, a lifting feeling and some sort of soft thing. 'I really have made a mess of things, haven't I?' She thought. Perhaps it was one of those angel things that she had read about in the big book a while ago that took her to heaven. 'At least I won't have to deal with.... wait a minuet. If I'm in heaven then why does it still hurt?' She wondered. Slowly opening her eyes. She saw a man, older than her. She though he looked pretty rugged.

"Are you an angel?" She said, still half-believing she was in heaven. 'Man, it would be really embarrassing if he wasn't...' She thought, studying his features. She was not so surprised when he answered her. She knew that it was more likely that he was an angel than she a fish, but who cares? When your little you get away with stuff. She sat up, putting her hand behind her to support her weight. She used the other hand to put to her forehead, "Oww..." She muttered, 'That's right, just play innocent. Hey! It's not like I'm guilty. Yes you are No I'm not! Yes you are and you know it. Just shut up.' This was Sakura's subconscious, she called the other one yang and herself yin. Not exactly good and evil, but you get the point. Anyhow, Yin and Yang are both Sakura's thoughts, or, at least she thinks they are anyways.

[shadeimpulse]

An...angel? Not a world used often to describe Manuel. In fact, it was never used. Either this girl was seriously confused or just trying to flatter him, but he was leaning towards her being confused. "Nope. Not an angel, just another mage of Fairy Tail." Such a young girl like this, beaten for seemingly no reason? Something seemed strange about this, but these days, it wasn't anything new.

"Try not to sit up too fast, you'll-" The girl sat up, with a pained expression, "Just hurt yourself. How about you take your time to tell me your name, or what happened to you out there. It's not everyday a little girl gets beaten up you know." Manuel reached for a cigarette, but stopped, deciding the girl probably wouldn't enjoy that, and simply tapped on the chair and forced a smile.

[Sakura Ai]

((OOC: I just copied and pasted from my bio. Please don't make as long as a post! =^.^= ))

Sakura let her hand drop from her forehead like nothing had happened, although it actually did hurt. "Sorry about that... She muttered about the angel stuff, her cheeking getting a little red. They quickly faded when he mentioned she was a little girl. Sakura didn't like that, but it was true. She was a little girl, "My name is Sakura..." She said, "What's your name?" She said, deliberately avoiding the part about how she actually got banged up.

You see, it's a very complicated story, but I'll explain it to you. Sakura was living with this guy she liked, but then her drunken... no that's not where I should start. Perhaps at the beginning than? Very well...

Sakura came from a small town in the smack middle of nowhere. Her father and mother were very kind to her and loved her with all their hearts. In school, however she was shunned and no one was her friend. Sometime in the second grade, a new kid joined the school. His name was Jack. Jack accepted her for who she was and became her friend. They did everything together, drawing, playing, reading, and even helping each other out. Sakura lived another two years in happiness: she had a loving family and a friend, which was all she thought she needed.

That all changed when her mom died, giving birth to a stillborn. The whole family was in chaos for a while until things settled down, and even then things were hard for her. Her dad became a drunken man because he was so depressed. He often came home and beat her for no reason at all. Her dad locked her away in her room for long periods of time, and she only survived through the food Jack brought her when she let him in the window. Sorrow for her drove Jack to call the small squad of police men to the house. Sakura didn’t want it, of course, but Jack did it in secret. The police arrested her father for child abuse and Sakura was sent to the orphanage, where she was soon after adopted by Jack’s parents.

Sakura had everything she could need again, happy she was alive. They grew, and eventually, in the fifth grade Jack got a bow and arrow from his parents. She would watch him for hours upon hours, shooting the bow to the target. She loved how the bow was sleek and shiny, with perfect arrows with points like silver. One day she sneaked into the shed and took out the bow and arrows while Jack was away for a few hours at a soccer game. She started shooting the arrows at the target, missing at first, but quickly became good at it. She hit the tree beside the target, then the outside circle, the next circle, the next, until she was making a bull’s-eye every time. While she was shooting she remembered how her father was let out of jail just a few days ago. A shiver ran down her spine. What if he came after her?

When she was finally out of breath, she set the bow down and started walking to the house to get a drink of water but when she stepped forward she heard a sickening snap. She had broken the bow! What would happen now? Jack would be home soon. Sakura heard the car drive in the driveway. She picked the bow up and quickly stashed it in a hollow tree that was in the forest behind the house. She quickly ran back into the shed to hide, wanting a big black hole to swallow her up. She could already hear Jack’s footsteps slowly getting louder as they neared the shed. Sakura grimaced. What a terrible place to hide! Jack always checked on his beloved bow and arrows every time he came home! She closed her eyes and waited for him to confront her- but he didn’t. He just nodded to her knowingly, and Sakura hugged him, begging for forgiveness. But something was wrong. Why did she feel all… tingly?
She walked outside, looking at her hands. Little beads of ice were running down them. But why? That was a sign she was exhausted… or something. She shook her head. It just must have been her imagination. She started walking back towards the house, but before she entered, the ice stopped. A natural occurrence? No. No it wasn’t. Sakura stared at her hands one last time before closing the door.

The year past, and eventually they were in sixth grade. Jack and Sakura were closer than ever and wanted to run away from the small town. They knew they were young, but they would probably manage, and so they did, just downright disappeared from the small little town. They went to a nice little forest and lived in a cave. Sakura made the suitable for living every day and Jack brought home the hard to come by food three times a day. They survived for about a week before they began to starve. Jack couldn’t find any more berries and fruits and Sakura couldn’t do much work without food in her. So they went out together one day to find food. There was a bunch of little squirrels and mice scuttling around, and they wished they could eat some, but they had no weapons- or did they?

They were dying. It’s as simple as that. Jack couldn’t get any food, and Sakura couldn’t do anything at all. So they resided in the cave, waiting for the end to come, too weak to walk back to the village. Oh, why had they run away in the first place? Sakura saw a squirrel outside the cave. It was a fat one, too. She watched it dig and such, but it didn’t find any food. She reached out to it- if only she could eat….. it froze to solid ice. She crawled over to it, amazed. How could such a thing occur? She slowly built a fire and roasted it. The mouth-watering smell woke Jack, and they ate the squirrel together. They had found a way to survive. They went one like this for about a month. But when nothing is happening, something is bound to happen.

They decided to go back to the little village they had come from. When they got there, they settled in a small house on the edge. Jack's parents weren't happy about them leaving, of course, but when they saw how well they were, living on their own, his parents let them be. Sakura's father, however, was a different situation. Only a few days after they settled he appeared at their house around midnight, drunk again. He shot the doorknob with the gun he was carrying, waking Sakura. She shifted the curtains aside and looked out. She gasped at the sight of her dad, entering the house. She sprinted to Jack's room and shook him awake, "Jack, JACK! Wake up!" Unfortunately Jack was a slow waker, "Waa-?" He said, quickly falling back to sleep. Sakura was alarmed to see the bottle of pills next to his bed. They were sleeping pills. Jack took sleeping pills? What a wonderful time to find out.

She ran down the stairs to come face-to-face with her dad, "Daddy..." She said, trying to guide him out the door. He, instead pushed past her mumbling something that was indistinguishable. He climbed the stairs, sauntering a little. Sakura tried to block his way over and over again, but he just pushed her to the ground repeatedly. He finally got to Jack's room and opened the door to find a sleeping Jack. He looked so peaceful, sleeping there. Sakura almost forgot the threat until her dad drew the gun he had, pointing it at Jack. Sakura tackled him unsuccessfully, just being flicked away because he was so big and her so small. She recoiled to jump to the gun, to save her friend. It all happened in slow motion: Sakura almost to the gun, in midair, the trigger being pulled just before she got there and just missing her hand. And finally the bullet. That fateful metal bullet. It hit Jack in the heart, but unfortunately not killing him- quickly anyways. Sakura landed on the ground again in horror, staring at the wound, just beginning to fill with blood.

Sakura screamed, but it was quickly cut off, due to her going slightly crazy. She smiled, but it was off, it was one that is described as blood thirsty. She took his head and led him down stairs, knowing he wouldn't hurt her, well kill her at least. She stopped and let him sit in a chair, where he blacked out because of the alcohol. "Excellent" She hissed into his ear. She quickly rushed outside and into the forest. She quickly picked the red berries growing on the nearest bush. She hurried back to her dad, shoving them in his mouth while stroking his throat to make him swallow it. These were what Sakura called Death Berries, for she had seen the little squirrels who tried to eat them die off quickly.

Making sure he was still knocked out, she raced upstairs to find Jack was awake now, but still laying down. She kneeled by Jack and held his hand, “Jack! Jack! Please… stay with me” She stared into his dying eyes, watched the light slowly fade out of them. Sakura was in turmoil, running away, crying, and never stopping. Right out the front door and to the other side of the village, the way she had never been outside of the village.

She had right past everything, not giving anything another thought. But, since nothing can move forever, she finally ran out of gas and collapsed into the street of another town. This town was Magnolia.

[shadeimpulse]

((OOC: I don't think I could make that long if I tried ))

"My name? It's Manuel...so you're Sakura, eh?" It was a nice name, didn't know many Sakura's around Fairy Tail. In fact, there were none as far as Manuel knew. "Well, since you don't want to tell me why you're beaten up like that it must be personal. Don't worry I won't pry." At least she was a quiet kid, not like the others Manuel had been around. Manuel figured it was best not to press the issue of the injuries, especially when she was still hurting. Better not risk getter her all upset.

"Alright, well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Take your time to recover and stuff. Need anything, just holler. Somebody will come I'm sure." Stretching a little, Manuel leaned back in his chair.

[Sakura Ai]

Already, sakura's smallest cuts were not bleeding anymore. "Oh, thanks." she said, unsure what to do now. She looked around the room, wondering where she actually was, she was going to say something, but was too embarrassed to. It was bad enough she didn't even know which town she was in. She was beginning to rethink running blindly into things. "uhh..." Well, it took her about a minuet to work up the courage to ask, "Where exactly is 'here'?" but she just told herself again and again that she didn't care what people thought of her- but she actually did, she that only got her to the question asking part.

Just then she felt the reality of her injuries. They weren't deep, but they were many and they hurt a whole lot than she expected them to. She looked at the longest one, down her arm. She had scraped it on a sharp tree. Not exactly a heroic tale, but it was a cut nonetheless. She hovered her other hand over it, making ice appear on her skin. There wasn't anything particularly special about it, healing wise, except it made it feel better and help with swelling.

[shadeimpulse]

"Here? It's Fairy Tail, one of the top guilds in the land. You came here and didn't even know where here was?" Manuel gave a little chuckle, but Sakura was probably too disoriented at the time to figure out where she was going, especially since she could only make it to the door before passing out. Anywhere will do when you're desperate. Now time for a question from Manuel.

"First of all, sorry I couldn't do more for those wounds...not really a medical type. Anyways, you don't want to say how you got those injuries, but why were you headed this way? Meeting up with someone?" Boredom in this place was getting to him, and it would be a lot more interesting if he got to go somewhere with a stranger than sitting around this place and listening to all the loud, drunk, members chatting it up.

[Sakura Ai]

She laughed nervously, "Yea, sorry about that." she said, putting her hand on her head and giving him a smile. She guessed it wasn't so bad to ask questions, even embarrassing ones. She absentmindedly looked around the guild, seeing some other people drinking some alcohol, and it was so strong she could smell it a little from here.

Sakura turned back to him when he asked her a question, for a change. She had a quick change of moods at this one: she looked away and blushed. She was a murder, and there was no way she was going to tell him that. Heck, she hardly even knew him. Although, he did more or less save her life, "Well, not really." She said, softly, avoiding his gaze. She was answering his 'meeting up with someone' question, but only that one. "And it's ok about these" She said, gesturing to her injuries, "I think I'll be fine in a few days to a week." She said, suddenly aware that she would probably have to eat within those days, and she had no money. She didn't want to be a burden, either. If only she could maybe find a job....

[shadeimpulse]

A few days to a week? Hopefully she was right, it might start getting difficult for a kid to live here for too long, especially injured. He hated to think of what would happen if someone started a fight and she got caught in the middle. Sakura seemed like a good kid after all. Maybe it was time to stop the talk for awhile though and let her rest.

"Hmm, well, not sure how long it's been since you've been on your own out there, but if you're hungry, just grab something and I can pay for it. Get a lot of money for doing these jobs in Fairy Tail and to be honest. I don't have much to use it for." Manuel couldn't help thinking what a nice guy he must be, taking care of this little girl, all alone and defenseless. Yep, he sure was a good guy. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't ask anymore about what you plan on doing. You seem pretty set on not telling anyways. You don't mind if I smoke do you?"

[Sakura Ai]

Sakura listened carefully to him, "Really? Thanks." she said, smiling a little. She scratched her head and looked down, "Yea... sorry about that" she replied to her being set on not telling him. It was true, anyways. 'Smoke? I have when people smoke. Well, maybe just this one time[/color] She stopped her 'cute' scratching-of-the-head act and shrugged, "Yea, I don't mind"

"So are you a wizard?" She asked, remembering that he said he made lots of money off of missions. So he must be a wizard, right? She had never met anyone that could use magic like she could, so this was her first time encountering someone with powers. Once again, she looked around Fairy Tail, wondering what to say next. She couldn't think of anything, so she just sat there, trying to block out the smoke, which, of course, was a fail, no body cant do that- or, at least. Sakura can't.

[shadeimpulse]

((OOC: Sorry it took me so long ^^))

"Wizard? Yeah, everyone here is. Everyone with different specialties." Manuel noticed the smoke seemed to bother her after all. It wasn't a big deal, he could go without for awhile longer, it's not like he was addicted after all. Taking a second to put out the cigarette, Manuel gave a little shrug and slightly awkward smile. "Well, I hope you at least have some where to go after this. You're a bit to young to be out on your own right now aren't you?"

He wasn't entirely sure how old she was, but if it was any where near what she looked, then he was right. All he could really focus on right now was, when could he smoke again. A quick shake of his head to banish the thought and Manuel went back to focusing on Sakura.

[Sakura Ai]

((OCC: It's ok))

Sakura looked around once again at the people, "Really? That's cool." She said, letting out a silent sigh of relief as he put out his cigarette. Man, she hated those things. She looked back at Manuel as he started to speak again. She decided to take a joking approach to the quesiton. Smiling and scratching her head, she replied, "A bit?" she giggled "I'm only twelve." She said kind of looking away with embarrassment. How odd of a story this would be for later- if there was a later. She hoped to stay with Fairy Tail, and after all, she didn't have anywhere else to go either.

[shadeimpulse]

"You know, you're a cute kid, especially when you giggle." Manuel reached out and ruffled Sakura's hair, messing it up like he knew most kids hated. It was fun to tease kids, and Manuel didn't get many opportunities around here. It was mostly guys with anger issues and the occasional mental case. "You can stay as long as you want like I said. It'll be nice to have someone to pick on a bit around here." Manuel gave a sly, playful smile and a joking evil laugh. Yes. It would be a lot of fun to have Sakura around. He wouldn't pick on her a whole lot...just a little.

[Sakura Ai]

"Hey...." she said, smoothing out her hair again. She giggled again, knowing he was just playing around. She was glad there were good people other than children in the world- it seemed all better that way, noticing that there were probably more adults than children in this generation. Sakura put her hand back down and listened before getting jokingly angry, "Hey!" she said again "Well, only if you promise to buy me everything I want." she said, joking. Of course he wouldn't buy her anything she wanted, heck, her father didn't buy her anything.

She slowly, but steadily got out of the bed and stood there. She wasn't healed yet, actually not even close. But it was better then sitting around. She wasn't the type to just sit around, she wanted to do something, but with these injuries, she couldn't do nada. So where did that leave Sakura? It left her looking like a crippled idiot in front of Manuel. "So, What type of wizard are you?" she asked, sitting on the bed again, giving up.