{Enjoy Chapter 2! Please vote and leave a comment if you like it! }

-Levy-

Around three hours into Levy's journey, the seemingly innocent light gray clouds had gotten darker. Thunder rolled in, sending a brief shiver of fear throughout the girl's body. She wasn't exactly scared of thunderstorms, but being caught out in the open with lightning didn't sound very enjoyable.

She only had another hour walk before she would reach the base of the mountain, and dispite already exhausted, Levy knew that she needed to go on ahead and climb the mountain before nightfall. Since she was so confident that the cave held nothing more than a few mere mice and spiderwebs, she could easily shelter from the rain there.

"I hope the rain is on my side today, " the blunette thought aloud, walking toward the edge of the forest in case she needed a quick shelter from the soon-to-come rain.

She sighed as she thought back to the conversations that she had before embarking on this journey. Everyone in that darn village was so fixated on the story about the dragon hybrid. Why would anyone believe in such a tall tale? They had no proof what-so-ever that this legend was true. But perhaps it is a tradition or custom in the village to believe in the story.

Sudden guilt spiraled throughout little Levy.

Would I ruin one of the most oldest traditions of Magnolia?

She suddenly shook her head in defiance towards herself.

Don't be silly, Levy. They won't be bothered if we prove their story a fib. In fact, they may even consider you somewhat of a hero after this trip!

With that new thought in mind, Levy smiled and giggled to herself, skipping along the edge of the forest.

"This looks like a good spot to take a lunch break, " she informed herself, sliding her heavy pack off of her shoulders.

Levy rolled her shoulders and stretched for a moment, relieved of the new light-weight feeling. She definitely needed a break from carrying such a heavy pack around for three and a half hours.

Well...it is kind of my fault for bringing so many books along with me.

Kneeling down, she grabbed a small dagger from the side of her pack. She wasn't one to kill innocent animals, but she knew good and well that this forest also contained rather menacing creatures such as bears or wolves.

Wrapping the leather holder for the dagger around her right leg, she quickly slipped the dagger in it's holder before treading off into the depths of the forest. She was hoping to find a berry bush nearby, as berries were her favorite traveling treat.

Hmm...perhaps I'll need to walk further into the forest.

Not paying attention as to where she was going, she walked further in, ignoring the sudden silence that had fallen onto the wooded area. The birds had stopped chirping, the squirrels and chipmunks stopped chattering in search of acorns and other various nuts, and the crickets and frogs instantly ceased their mating songs. However, Levy and her now growling stomach were too focused on finding berries to notice any unusual changes around her.

Ahah! I found them!

Before the kind and intelligent bookworm was a medium-sized bush full of edible red berries. Smiling brightly, Levy instantly began to strip the bush of it's edible fruit. Every now and then, when she had a nice pile in her hand, she would discard it into her mouth, humming in satisfaction at the berries's taste.

These taste so wonderful! I wonder what kind of berries they are? I can tell that they are edible from the texture and color, but I can't quite figure out its species.

She ignored her thoughts for awhile as she devoured nearly every berry from the bush. Her lips were stained red, as well as the corner of her lips. Levy even had a small red stain on top of her nose, though she knew nothing about it.

Suddenly, a large twig was heard snapping in half, causing Levy to instantly perk her head up. She scanned her surroundings, not seeing anything at first. She assumed it was more than likely a rabbit or squirrel. Chuckling to herself, she wiped her mouth clean with her sleeve and stood up from her kneeling position. But before she could begin to make her way back, another twig snapped. This time, however, the sound was much closer. A small fear began to form in the pit of Levy's stuffed belly. Then, a low growl was heard, and instantly Levy knew what animal this was.

A bear! Oh, what am I going to do?!

Backing away slowly, Levy suddenly screamed to the top of her lungs as a large, brown bear charged out of the dense forest and towards her. It managed to swipe at the side of her face before she rolled under the bear and ran for her life.

Crap! I don't even know where I'm at! Good going, Levy! You really screwed up this time!

The short and petite girl simply ran in one direction, hoping that she was going in the right direction. She could hear the bear's paws slam against the ground with each gallop, and she could almost feel the hot breath of the deadly animal being breathed down her neck.

This isn't how I wanted to die! I wanted to die old, with a husband, children, and grandchildren! Now I'll die without my first kiss, or even boyfriend for that matter!

But then, when all hope seemed lost for poor Levy, another growl emerged from within the dense forest. This time, the growl sounded deadlier, more powerful, and even more dangerous. And yet..there was something else coating into my growl.

It sounded almost...

Human...

Levy refused to turn around. The last thing she wanted to see before she died was a wide gaping mouth full of razor sharp teeth. She would rather stare into the beauty of the forest as the bear closed in on her.

Suddenly, the most agonizing sound was heard. It sounded a mix between a gurgling sound and a loud whimper. The sound of galloping paws stopped, and so did Levy. She turned around, gasping at the sight before her.

The bear was dead. Dead and badly mauled for that matter. It had a deep gash wound that started at its shoulder blades, going all the way down to the animal's abdomen. Large amounts of blood gushed out of the horrific wound, creating a pool of blood around the deceased mammal.

What could have done that?!

She was very tempted to go back and look around in hopes of catching the creature that did this, but she knew that that would be a very foolish idea.

You will end up like the bear, Levy. You know better

Sighing, the girl kept walking ahead. She still had no clue as to where she was going, and she soon became completely lost.

I'm going to die out here at this rate!

But then, Levy saw something that intrigued her. In front of her, on the surface of the tall woodland tree, was a single claw mark. What fascinated her the most was how clean the mark was. It wasn't like the rugged markes a bear would make when he would sharpen his claws. No, it was as if someone had carefully drawn a line onto the bark with a sharp knife.

Perhaps this belongs to a hunter! Maybe he or she can help me...

Levy decided that she would look around for more clues. She spotted another clean claw mark not long after that. She spotted another, and another! Soon, she realized with great joy that this was a path made by someone, so she quickly followed it.

Yes! The life of Levy McGarden has been spared!

Quickly following the path, she spotted a clearing soon after. Rushing through the forest, she smiled and relaxed once she broke through the clearing, but her sense of peace was soon broken. Her face paled instantly when she realized where she was.

This...this is where I left my pack! But I didn't leave those...so who...?

More frightened now than ever, Levy quickly grabbed her pack, slung it around her shoulders, and ran away quickly without looking back.

~~~

She was already somewhat of a good distance away when a tall and winged creature emerged from the forest, his smirk revealing a set of ferocious fangs. He watched in amusement as Levy ran away before taking to the skies and flying back to his home.

~~~

The rain began to pour down heavily as Levy finally reached the base of the mountains. She was relieved to see that the cave was quite easy to get to, as the mountain wasn't very steep there at all. Quickly climbing up, she easily made it into the cave.

"Hello? " she called out, but she was met by utter silence.

A smirk slowly formed on her face.

See Luce? I'm going to be home tomorrow screaming to the top of my lungs "I told you s-

A sudden growl rumbled the cave, it's sound echoing off of the walls. Levy gasped at that sound, as she recalled hearing it just a half hour ago. It was the same creature that had killed the bear.

Turning around, Levy began to run, but two bulky, silver scaled arms with clawed fingernails wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her against a hard and toned body. She knew that this...this creature wasn't human, or fully human anyways.

"And where do you think you're going?" a low, gruff voice asked her.

Levy whimpered, struggling against the creatures hold. "Please! Please, I'm sorry for trespassing! I'll leave and never return, I promise!"

The reptile-like creature chuckled softly before nuzzling his head into the crook of Levy's neck. Surprisingly, she didn't feel revolted or disgusting with his embrace.

"Why would I let you go back to that revolting, despicable village and allow you to run your mouth about my existence. True they believe I exist, but they have no solid proof yet, and they never will. No...I will keep you here with me, for the rest of your pathetic mortal life."

Tears streamed down Levy's face, her body shaking in fear.

You are such an idiot. Levy McGarden, you are a total IDIOT!