Native

by YukiEternity

The old Elemental Clans of the world are slowly dwindling and dying each living in their own 'parks' based on their magic. But one woman has decided to leave her home and try to find a better life somewhere else, hopefully where no one will try to force her into a loveless marriage...though Lucy isn't opposed to one with a hot blooded fire dancer like Natsu. [rated M for later]

A/N: this idea is originally by the wonderful and amazing CrimsonGuiltyPleasures who also has a roleplay blog on Natsu, this is one of his verses, but I'll be expanding on the idea, please please PLEASE go and check out her writing she's amazing. Without further ado, welcome to the world of Native magic.

Disclaimer: I do not make money or own the characters or idea used for this work of fiction, all characters used belong to Hiiro Mashima and the idea belongs to CrimsonGuiltyPleasures please support them both.

The sun was so hot, with little to no cover for the girl to find she couldn't do anything but endure it as she continued her long trek. Her legs ached, her feet were past sore and were now just numb, her arms stung and she was certain every inch of her exposed skin was red from the sun's rays. Lucy had left her tribe weeks ago, running away had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now she wasn't so sure. Her clothes felt heavy on her skin, saturated with her sweat, dried, then resaturated the following day, her bandana was pretty much useless at this point in time, but she kept it on anyway hoping that it would keep her scalp from becoming sunburned.

Seeing an outcropping of rocks she stopped and moved under them, thankful for the shade they provided as she leaned back against its jagged edges, her vision was a bit fuzzy but a few blinks allowed her to see the green prickled plant a few feet from her sitting place, and the relief she felt was intense as she went towards it. Picking up a rock that she thought looked like it would do the job, she stood in front of the cactus, and found the perfect place before her hand whipped out, the rock striking the plant and breaking off one of the arms. A soft sob of absolute relief left her as she saw the wetness inside it, her hand reaching in to bring it to her chapped lips and drip it down her parched throat.

The relief was small but immediate as she continued this motion until she couldn't reach anymore, then she moved to the other arm, cutting it off like the other, and repeating the drinking process once more. Once both arms were done she knelt in the hot sand and sawed off the arm from the main body of the cactus, water leaking out and allowing her to run her arms and legs under it. A hiss left her as the cool liquid stung the sunburn, but she didn't stop, she didn't dare until the water stopped coming out. Chopping at the cactus arms now she got to the cool damp insides and placed them on her head and shoulders before going to the rock again and sitting in its shade.

She had no idea where she was, no clue whether there was even another camp nearby or not, but she would keep going, she had no choice. She couldn't go back, nor would she want to really, her life there was over. A sigh left Lucy's lips as she closed her eyes, trying to think of where to go now or even if she should move from where she was. After a while though she removed the cactus pieces from her body, teeth scrapping along the soft flesh inside of it, swallowing it even though it was bitter as hell. Continuing until all the pieces were done she tossed them aside and returned to her position against the cool rockface, letting it soothe her skin while she continued to think of where to go now. Once the sun reached a certain point she stood though, knowing that the late night was best for her journey and for there to be less chance of deeper sunburns. She continued north now, hoping against hope that when the sun rose again the next day it would be over a camp, or even a taller rockface that would provide shade and shelter all throughout the daytime so she could sleep.

The sun was gone by the time she realized something was wrong. Stopping, Lucy kept completely still as she strained to listen for any sounds that were not normal for the desert night. It took the numbness in her feet to spread up her legs for Lucy to realize the feeling of wrongness was not outside her but the fact she couldn't feel her lips and fingertips. A slurred curse left her as her vision tunneled…but not before a light shone against her face, and a male voice shouted though it sounded so far away by the time her body collapsed to the ground, unconscious.