Hello Everyone!
I thought you guys would like a little special one-shot of these guys for the time being. I'm working on the next chapter now but I thought this would be a little something for you all to read in the meantime. It has nothing to do with the main story but just something cute and just a little thank you from me as well, for all of your support with my stories so please enjoy!
~wolvesfinalden
Fairy Tail: By Your Side (Special One-Shot)
Duke and Happy's Mission Impossible
Things seemed calm in the guild for once. Most of the guild members were lounging around the guild enjoying themselves for once. Gray and Natsu were bored so the two mages got into another fight. Erza was enjoying some of her strawberry cake. Lucy sat by Levy talking about a new book that was due to come out at the end of week. Mira was serving the guild members. Everything seemed peaceful for the time being.
Duke and Happy sat towards the back and watched in amazement. Usually something would always come up for them but not today. It was rather boring in Duke's opinion. He didn't mind lounging around for a little bit but this was too much for him. After all this all was going on for about a week now. Their team had voted on not taking on missions until next week. Leaving them all to rest for the entire week.
During that time the canine and feline hung out more without their other partners hoping the two would finally spend some time together. The two animals had noticed their mages acting strange around each other but of course nothing would ever happen. Either Natsu would do something stupid to piss Lucy off or Lucy would go home and work on her novel some more.
"Say Duke why don't we go on a mission of our own?" Happy said with a devilish smile.
Duke looked at his companion in confusion. Why go on a mission themselves? The wolf hated leaving his partner behind and wasn't thinking about doing that anytime soon.
"Come on Duke it will be fun. Just a small mission that could take nothing more than a day right? Nothing wrong with that?" Happy insisted.
The white wolf put his head down in defeat. The blue cat was right, nothing was going on here anyway and Lucy should be fine here with the guild, not to mention he didn't think Natsu would leave her alone long enough to let her get into trouble. The wolf then nodded in agreement to the cat, which made him excited.
"Yes alright then come on Duke!"
The cat flew to the request board and found a rather odd mission. When he brought it back over to Duke the wolf took a good look at it. It said that thieves were after a special item, considered magical. However that was all the information they would give.
"What do you think Duke? Whatever it is you can find it right?"
Duke nodded, his sense of smell was more accurate than Natsu's but the dragon-slayer did give him a run for it.
"Alright Duke come on let's go!" Happy said without telling anyone else.
Duke hurried after him not thinking about letting anyone know where they went. This trip would prove to be a very interesting one.
Happy flew while Duke followed close behind. They made it to the job requester's house. At first the young man was surprised to find that a cat and wolf took the job. However Happy was able to convince him that they were more than qualified to take this mission on their own.
The man had told them that strange things have been happening around the town. Thieves were terrorizing the people, looking for these magic items.
"I'm not sure why they want them. The only reason I can think they would want them is to gain a big profit from them in the market. The items are two necklaces, said to bring two lovers together. They have special properties that allow the other to know if the other is in danger by giving off a small amount of heat or simply lighting up. They are intriguing items but no one has a real use for them. If you can find the item before the thieves and take them down, I'll give you the reward and of course the two necklaces." The man said to them.
"Sure no problem. With Duke's keen nose we'll find it no problem. Does it have a certain scent or anything?" Happy asked without realizing he can't sense things like Natsu and Duke.
"I'm afraid I can't exactly scent things like your friend here. However they do give off a certain magical energy. I've been told if you get close it's almost a calming and firey feeling."
"Well I guess that helps." Happy said.
The two then left on in search of the items. Duke was trying to use his other senses to focus on the magical energy of the items. However he wasn't having much luck.
"Don't worry Duke we'll find it." Happy said trying to cheer his friend up.
Duke nodded and kept going while Happy searched upahead in the air. The wolf was about to give up, until he noticed a warm and calming feeling. He stopped and howled up to Happy so he would come back down to him.
"Did you find it Duke?" he asked him.
The white wolf nodded and took the lead. Happy caught up and climbed up on Duke as he ran the rest of the way. They had come to a small cave, it wasn't much but a small light was coming from the back. Duke then walked in without hesitating and Happy jumped down and looked around himself. When they reached the back of the cave Duke found a locket. It was the shape of an old antique key but it was giving off a small gold light. Duke picked up the locket and put it in his collar.
Happy had also found one. The one he found looked almost like a dragon's tooth and it gave off a small redish tint and felt warm to the touch.
"Well Duke looks like we found what we were looking for. Now how about those bandits?"
Duke walked out of the cave with Happy right beside him. Then the two made their way down to the town. They could see the look of fear on all the people there. However what caught Duke's attention was the small child in the corner of the street. She looked no older than the age of five and looked just terrified.
When Duke got closer he noticed how dirty she was and how ragged her clothes were. Clearly the girl was living on the streets. The little girl didn't move closer to the wolf but tried to back away as far as possible from him.
Knowing how scary he might look to a stranger, he began to wag his tail and laid down in front of her. Duke proceeded to put his head down on his own paws and waited for the girl to make her first move.
Happy watched as the little girl became more curious about Duke. She inched closer and closer until she was only a few inches from his face. Then she slowly moved her hand to Duke's head and finally set it down there.
The feline smiled at Duke's kindness. He had become more friendly and accepting since he and Lucy joined the guild. He remembered when he refused almost everyone's touch until the four of them all became so close.
Duke licked the little girl's hand and then sat up slowly so he wouldn't scare the poor girl. She reminded him of Lucy when they lived at the mansion. That was the main reason why he was so drawn to her.
"Are you okay? Why are you out here?" Happy asked her with concern.
"I don't have a family. Those bandits that come here killed my parents looking for some stupid artifact." She said sadly.
"Oh I'm sorry. Well, maybe you can hang around with us till we find you somewhere to call home." Happy told her.
The girl then smiled and hugged Duke.
"I would like that, thank you." She said with a tear in her eye.
"Alright but what's your name? Mine is Happy and this here is my friend Duke."
"My name is Alari."
"Okay come on Alari. Let's get you to a home."
Duke then allowed the girl to ride on his back while Happy lead the way through the streets.
Back at the guild all was well until Lucy decided to head home for the day. She was about to call Duke but noticed that her companion was nowhere to be seen. She looked over to Natsu who was also looking around the guild and walked over to him.
"Hey Natsu, have you seen Duke anywhere?"
"No in fact I haven't seen Happy in a while either. I was looking around for him and noticed Duke wasn't here either."
"That's strange, they never go off without telling us anything."
"Come on maybe they went back to your apartment." Natsu said.
The two then left the guild and headed back to her home. When they got there, there was no sign of the two animals. Natsu had checked around the living room and Lucy was inspecting her room, nothing.
"You don't think something happened to them do you?" she asked him.
"I'm not sure. Though they can take care of themselves but it's just strange for them to go off on their own like this." Natsu said.
"Let's go back to the guild maybe someone saw or was told where they were going." Lucy said.
She hurried out the door leaving Natsu behind. The fire mage locked his partner's door and looked up to the sky for a moment before following Lucy.
'This just isn't like them to disappear. Duke, Happy where did you go?' Natsu thought as he raced after his blonde friend.
Duke and Happy hadn't had any luck finding a home for Alari. The small blonde head girl had fallen asleep on Duke, leaving the two to look around themselves. They still had to find the bandits before they did any more damage.
"Do you think we'll find a home for her Duke?" Happy asked him.
The wolf nodded. Of course they would. Someone has to take her in and if they couldn't find a home for her, then they'll just have to take them home to Fairy Tail.
All was quiet until the two heard screaming in the next alley, which of course woke poor Alari up. She was no freaking out and saying for her mom to run and that she wanted her father. Sadly though reality sunk and she realized that they were no more.
"Duke, Happy what was that?" She asked in fear.
Happy sighed and Duke put his ears back and growled softly, so he wouldn't scare the little girl.
"That might be the bandits. Duke come on, we should find a place for Alari to hide until we get rid of them."
Duke agreed and led the way down the opposite alley. They managed to find an abandon home that wasn't being used at the moment. Duke set her down in the small room. It was well enough away from the view of the windows and she was close enough to a door, so she could escape if anyone came.
"You can stay here for the time being. We'll be right back so don't go too far. If someone comes just hide or try to escape but use good judgment." Happy told her.
"Alright. But how will you find me if I have to escape?" she asked.
"Well Duke has a strong sense of smell but I guess you can hold onto one of these." Happy said holding the necklace he found.
Duke walked over to Alari and slipped the locket he found around her neck. She smiled at him and Duke looked at her with bright eyes.
"Okay, what will this do?"
"If you're in trouble it should give off some kind of magic that we can track. I believe the necklaces are connected so if you're in danger we should now and get to you quickly."
"Alright. Thank you guys."
Duke licked her face and then raced off with Happy close behind him. Things were just about to get interesting, that's for sure.
When Natsu and Lucy made it back to the guild, they had asked Gray and Erza if they had seen the two but they hadn't.
"That's weird that they went off on their own. Don't think I remember them doing that before." Gray said.
"No shit, that's why we're trying to find them." Natsu said in a little anger.
"Natsu calm down. You'll find them soon enough. Maybe Mirajane saw them leave." Erza said walking up to the bar.
The other three follow close behind.
"Mira have you seen Duke around or maybe him and Happy leaving earlier?" Lucy asked her.
Mira took a second to think about what she saw today and remembered something.
"You know I did see the two earlier. Happy was talking to Duke and brought something over to him. I think they might have left after that but I'm not sure where exactly." Mira said.
"What did Happy bring to Duke?" Natsu asked already thinking he might know where his buddy and wolf went.
"I'm not sure, I think it may have been a paper or something." Mira said.
Then it hit Mira. She quickly ran to the book of records, looking up all the missions people had taken. Though she didn't find anything first, so she moved over to the request board, where Natsu was already.
"There's one missing. Do you know which one it was?" Natsu asked her pointing to the empty space on the board.
Lucy looked around the board then remembered seeing that particular request.
"I know where they went." Lucy said.
Natsu turned with the others and waited for the celestial mage to answer them.
"That request said something about thieves attacking a village nearby. They were looking for some magical item but the flyer didn't say what it was or why they wanted it. I think it said that he'd tell you in person if you took the job."
Natsu sighed. Figured that Happy would pull this especially with Duke. They hadn't been doing anything lately so no wonder they went off on their own.
"Come on Luce, let's go get them back." Natsu said walking out of the guild.
"Natsu, wait." Lucy said and paused.
"It's alright Lucy. You and Natsu can handle that yourselves, besides they're your partners. Might as well drag them back yourselves." Erza said as she walked back to her table.
Lucy then followed Natsu out the guild hall doors and the two went off to find their two partners.
Duke and Happy had managed to take out most of the thieves. Happy would assist in helping Duke strike them down as he used his magic. Then would sneak up behind them to catch them off guard so Duke could make an easy quick attack on them. They didn't put up much of fight, now all that was left was the leader, who at the moment was MIA.
"Just one more where could he be?" Happy asked as he scanned the area.
The white wolf tried detecting him but noticed he was no longer in the area. He was about to take himself and Happy back to Alari when Happy squeaked.
"Duke the necklace is burning!" Happy yelled in shock.
Duke stopped and then ran in the direction of the abandoned house they had left Alari. When they reached there she was nowhere to be seen. Duke sniffed around while Happy looked for any clues. Then Happy noticed the door near Alari was no wide open.
"Duke I think she ran out." He said pointing to the door.
Duke ran over and sniffed around and noticed her scent left out the door with another close behind her.
The wolf motioned for them to leave and Happy got on top of Duke as they made their way in the direction Alari had vanished. When he reached the end of the trail he couldn't sense them. He then looked to the cat, who was looking back at the necklace. It was now glowing red.
"You don't think he took her do you?" Happy asked.
Duke wasn't sure but they had to find her and quick. So he raced ahead until he noticed the calming feeling again, the same feeling when had found the necklace. He looked to his right and found Alari passed out on the ground.
Happy jumped off of Duke and shook her, waking the little girl up.
"What happened?" he asked her.
"A big scary man came into the house. He looked like the man that took away my parents so I quickly ran out the door. When I thought he was gone he came up behind me and knocked me out. I don't know where he is now." The girl said in panic.
Duke looked around and found the strange scent again. Without hesitation he ran after it and found the leader hiding nearby. He growled at the man, startling him and he tried to make a run for it again but Duke was too fast for him.
Duke attacked him and knocked him down, leaving him underneath Duke.
"No please don't kill me!" he screamed.
Duke didn't show any sign of mercy and scratched the man's face with his claws. The man screamed in pain and took out the knife he was hiding. He slashed Duke with it hoping it might injure him enough so he wouldn't move. However it just made Duke even angrier.
Duke grabbed the knife as the man scrambled to try and keep a hold of it. He beat Duke's head to the point where the wolf was starting to feel dizzy, though he never loosened his grip. Finally the man used his legs and hit Duke in the stomach, surprising the wolf. Duke loosened his grip as he tried to catch his breath.
The man then slashed Duke's face, leaving a cut along the side of his eye and blood was now seeping down his fur. Duke growled even louder and let out a loud howl, causing the man to bring his hands up to his ears.
Natsu and Lucy reached the village and found the client's house. They asked him if he saw the wolf and cat and he said yes. That they had left a while ago and heard that the thieves were all taken care of. He was just waiting for them to return to give them their reward.
Lucy didn't like the sounds of this. Duke always returned back to a client's house along with Happy. Something must have happened during their mission. She looked to Natsu who had the same look of concern on his face.
"Come on, they can't be too far from here."
When they left they made it to the next alley over.
"Where could he be?" Lucy asked.
She had been trying to sync their magic to see where he was but nothing was happening. Natsu was sniffing the air trying to find their scents. When he did, he took Lucy's hand and led her down two more alleys before they finally heard a loud howl.
"Duke." Lucy whispered.
They both then dashed off in the direction of the howl.
Duke charged at the man and grabbed the knife away from him and tossed it in the opposite direction of them, leaving the man defenseless. It was sad, that he was the leader but also made sense. His men were much weaker than him but in no means were they strong.
"I give! I give!" he screamed as he tried to run.
Though he was locked under Duke's hold and he wasn't letting him get away. Not when he had hurt so many people and left a child now parentless.
"Duke! Happy!" two voices yelled.
Duke and Happy noticed that it was their mages in the distances. Natsu came charging and used his flames to knock the man out. Lucy ran over to Duke and inspected his injuries but found they were all mostly minor, minus the one next to his eye.
Natsu patted Duke's head and smiled, then walked over to Happy. When he got there he noticed the little girl with him.
"Who's this?' he asked Happy.
"This is Alari. Her parents were killed by these thieves and we were trying to find her a home. Though no one will take her." Happy said sadly.
Natsu smiled and kneeled down next to the little girl.
"My name's Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail. How about we take you back home with us? I'm sure we can find somewhere for you to live there, if you want." He said to her.
"Yes please! Thank you so much." She said to him.
Duke and Lucy then joined them, the little girl then ran over to Duke and hugged his neck.
"Thank you Duke. I'm sorry you got hurt." She said sadly.
Duke simply licked her face once again and looked up to Lucy.
"My name is Lucy Hearfilia. Duke is my partner, I'm glad they found you." She said sweetly.
When they got the reward money they began their way home. It didn't take them long to reach Magnolia and eventually the guild. They entered the guild and found the master. The two explained what happened and the master couldn't help but smile.
"Alright dear. Do you have anywhere you want to go? I know this is hard on you but you can stay as long as you want." He said to her.
The girl paused and looked from Happy and Duke and back to Natsu and Lucy.
"Is it okay if I stay with them?" she asked the master.
"I guess that's up to them, who do you mean dear?"
"Don't they all live together?" she asked the master.
"Not that I'm aware of." The master chuckled.
"Well if Luce doesn't mind you can live with her for a while, I tend to come over with Happy a lot anyway." Natsu told her.
The girl smiled. The group then left to Lucy's apartment. When they got there Alari quickly reached into her pocket and gave Duke his necklace.
"This is yours." She said with a smile.
Duke took it then looked to Lucy and gave it to her.
"These were the artifacts they were after. Duke and I decided to give them to you to." Happy said a little mischievous.
"What are they Happy?" Lucy said realizing his tone of voice.
"You'll see. All I know for now is that they heat up or send a magical energy when the other is in danger."
Natsu took the one from Happy and saw the dragon tooth. He looked at Lucy's locket and saw it was an old key. Thinking about it Natsu then realized what his friend was hinting. Yes he could be dense a lot but it was easy to see what was going on here. Not that he had a problem with it.
Lucy realized it too and blushed, looking over at Natsu.
"Ever get the feeling we've been set up?" Lucy asked him.
"Yeah but it makes things interesting doesn't it?"
She smiled as Natsu hugged her and Alari smiled at the two.
"We can all stay together forever right?" Alari said in a hopeful tone.
Natsu and Lucy smiled eachother. While Happy jumped ontop of Duke who was sitting beside Alari.
"I thought that was the plan from the start." Natsu said, surprising Lucy the most.
He then took her and finally did what he had been dreaming of doing for a while. He gently kissed her lips as she kissed back. When they parted she smiled at him and to the rest.
Twists and turns led them here but she wouldn't have it any other way. This was her family and she wouldn't trade them for the world.
Thank you guys for reading and I hope you enjoyed this! Always nice to do something for you guys and I thought this would be a nice way to thank you guys. Plus I happened to have extra free time and didn't have my story with me to work on, so this came to be! If you liked it please favorite it and write a review telling me what you thought about it. And yes the next chapter of By Your Side will be up soon! Thanks you guys until next time.
~wolvesfinalden