Authors Note: Hello there, kind stranger! If you're reading this, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to give it a chance. This is my first ever published fanfic, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I own nothing, which is a good thing. Trust me.
Natsu was dying. The world was a disorienting swirl of color around him, and his thoughts were muddled and slow. He was wracked with pain, like something had ripped through his intestines and left him hollow and empty. He couldn't quite remember where he was or what he had been doing, but he knew that he didn't have long. With that thought finding its way through his thick-as-molasses psyche, he groaned the only word he could force through his mouth.
"Luuuce..." he mumbled.
"Oh, be quiet you," she grumbled. "We've only been on the train for two hours, and in that time you've complained about your stomach more than Happy complains about my lack of fresh fish for him in my pantry. You'll just have to tough it out for the next four hours too." Lucy's tone was an interesting mixture of amused and exasperated, betraying just how many times she'd heard this particular spiel, and how endearing it had become to see her fierce partner, the mighty Salamander, done in by a vehicle.
"Hey, there's no way I'm as big of a crybaby as Natsu! And seriously, who doesn't keep fish in their kitchen? Tell her, Natsu!" The blue Exceed was perched on the top of Natsu's seat, indignantly stuffing his cheeks with a fish the attendant had retrieved for the, as she put it, "pwetty wittle talking kitty!"
"Four hours…hurrgh,…I'm not gonna make it…."groaned the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, as his stomach made a particularly vehement request to eject itself and all its contents onto the cabin's well-maintained carpet. "Where's Wendy with Troia when you need her?" Gradually, though, his vision cleared enough to look about the cabin. He was, indeed, on the train they had boarded earlier that morning, which explained why his stomach was currently rearranging his other organs in a desperate scramble to leave his body. At least I'm not dead, he thought wryly.
He saw that Gray was staring out the window at the rolling countryside, lost in thought, while Erza intently studied a piece of paper and the small package included with it. Lucy had been reading a book, but paused to look at her poor teammate. Her words had been scathing, but her eyes betrayed good-natured forbearance. Natsu had always enjoyed looking into Lucy's eyes. They held all the warmth of melted chocolate, but there was a certain strength to them as well. They could burn with anger or bore into you with curiosity, but they never held anything back. Lucy could say whatever she liked, but her eyes always told the true story. Natsu valued that in her. It meant she was an honest person, whose soul shone through her every action. Natsu had always disliked people who could lie with their eyes.
Natsu felt extremely queasy, but with no apparent relief in sight, he decided to at least look for a better place to rest his head. Lying down sometimes helped take some of the edge off of his grievous motion sickness. In the small train cabin, however, the only place in comfortable range was occupied by one Lucy Heartfilia. Deciding that not puking his guts up was worth risking his partner's wrath, Natsu quickly rested his head on her lap. She was wearing a short skirt, so he felt her warm skin against his cheek as he faced outward at the other booth, letting out a small sigh at the comforting sensation. Lucy let out a sound somewhere between a squawk and a squeal, a vibrant blush blossoming on her cheeks.
"Natsu! What are you doing? Get off!"
Her embarrassment only deepened when Happy chimed in with his customary, "He liiiikes you!" and Gray looked over at the situation and snickered. Lucy could practically smell the snide comment coming.
Natsu groaned, "Aww, c'mon Luce, I feel really sick. Can I please just lay here so I don't puke?" He twisted his head around to shoot her a pleading look out of his eye, the motion making Lucy squirm in her seat.
She seemed to struggle with her answer for a bit, before grudgingly stating, "Fine. But you're out of here on your butt as soon as this train stops." Natsu mumbled his thanks and promptly closed his eyes, trying to focus on Lucy's soothing warmth and not on the roiling cauldron that was his stomach. He began to actually feel a little better as he did so, but opened his eyes again when he heard Gray speak up.
"You've been looking at that job sheet nonstop ever since we got on the train, Erza. What's up? I know it's a weird one, but why do you keep going over it like you're expecting to find something you missed?'
The armor-clad redhead looked up at Gray's question, a deep furrow in her brow. "I just find the whole thing rather odd. Mardell takes the job, arrives to claim it, and then vanishes. No one heard or saw anything, which is wildly inconsistent with his aim of taking down a whole nest of Vulcans. The ruckus would have been heard for miles around."
"Wha...What are you talking about, Erza?" Natsu queried from Lucy's lap.
Erza looked at him with stern disapproval. "The train ride seems to have addled your senses even more than usual. The job we're headed to, remember? Lamia Scale wanted our help tracking down a missing guild mate. His name is Logan Mardell. He accepted a job to remove a clan of Vulcans in the forest town of Alia, and then disappeared before ever returning to claim the reward.
"Why does Lamia Scale want with us anyway? I thought their master hated asking other guilds for help," asked Natsu, his queasiness abating enough to allow him full use of speech.
They wanted our help because Alia is on the edge of the Werth Woodsea, and there's no way they'll ever find Logan in there without a Dragon Slayer's nose." She held up the small brown package with a malicious glint in her eye. "Lyon was kind enough to include a pair of his socks, taken from his lodgings."
Gray chuckled at that, joining the conversation with, "You're our own personal bloodhound, Natsu."
"Say that again… ice pick…" Natsu grumbled, but his heart wasn't in the challenge, and neither was his stomach.
"So why did Lamia Scale send us a job to find one of their own by ourselves?" Lucy queried. Seemingly without thinking it, her hand had found its way onto Natsu's head and begun to stroke his pink curls. That gave him a whole new level of comfort. "Seems like they'd at least want to be here, they're pretty proud."
"They're stretched very thin right now," Erza told her. "There are only newer members at the guild hall right now, and this job was a difficult one to begin with. Logan's no pushover, apparently, so his disappearance means we're likely dealing with something they wouldn't be able to handle. Lyon's on his way, but he's returning from another job, and Alia is geographically closer to Magnolia anyway. So they asked us for help."
"It'll be nice to see Lyon again. Haven't seen him since the Games," Gray mused. With the issue resolved, the compartment relapsed into comfortable silence.
The rest of the four hours passed surprisingly quickly to Natsu. He actually managed to drift to sleep for a few minutes on Lucy's lap, until the train lurched when rounding a bend and shattered his fragile equilibrium for a time. Lucy stroked his hair all the way, and even seemed a tad bit disappointed when the train finally ground to a stop in the small logging town of Alia.
Natsu stumbled out onto the platform and collapsed, until he recovered from his final wave of nausea and immediately jumped up, exclaiming, "Finally! I'm all fired up now! Let's find a place to eat around here!"
He took the opportunity to look around at their destination. Alia was a logging town, hence its proximity to the Woodsea. It was a humble and rough-hewn place, its buildings built mostly out of the old oak of its trees or gray stone from the nearby quarry, but it had a certain charm too. It thrummed with people going about their business, and the market square was bustling with tradesman selling their wares. It was what you expected when you heard the term "working man's town". Seems nice enough, Natsu thought. As the other members of Team Natsu disembarked, they looked about with mild interest.
"Aww, I don't smell any fish," bemoaned Happy as he floated out of the train.
"Eating will have to wait," Erza said firmly. "This job is serious. Mardell could be in trouble. We should try to find him first. I suggest we make contact with the person who tendered the original job request to Lamia Scale. They may be able to tell us where he was headed." She looked at the job request sheet, and began walking into town. The others followed suit.
As it turned out, the request had been sent to Lamia Scale by a local logging tycoon, who had had previous dealings with the guild when they chased away a dark guild trying to extort him some years back. When the four Fairy Tail wizards arrived, he gave them every courtesy, inviting them into his spacious house and having snacks brought to his study for them. He sat down at his desk, smoothing down his salt-and-pepper hair.
"I must thank you again for coming," he said once the servant had brought sandwiches on a silver platter. Natsu began wolfing his down with gusto, and began staring hungrily at Gray's when finished. "I would never be as successful as I am today without the help of wizards, especially Lamia Scale. That is why I still send my occasional requests to them, even though Magnolia is technically closer. I hope you don't mind."
"Nah, it's all good. All wizard guilds appreciate loyal clients," Gray replied smoothly.
"Bet we could do a better job than those mermaid guys." Natsu muttered. He made a quiet whimpering sound when Lucy kicked him in the shins.
"But when that good fellow Mr. Mardell never returned to collect the reward, and I called their, ah, rather assertive Guild Master, I knew something was wrong. That's why I'm glad you are here. Though I am told that Lyon Vastia will also be joining you at some point?"
All business, Erza replied, "Yes, he was the one who initially informed us of this problem. He estimates he will be here in about another day or so. So what can you tell us of the last time you saw Logan Mardell, and of the job you sent him on?"
The old man's brow crinkled, his gray eyes peering out from the crags of his face at some unseen memory. "The young man came to my mansion about 5 days ago, asking for a briefing. I own a logging operation some ways into the forest, where the tallest and healthiest trees are found. Recently, a local clan of Vulcans had become extremely agitated, and were attacking my machinery and harassing my workers. He promised to find their nest and send them packing deeper into the forest. After that, he went to inspect my operation, and then went further into the forest, following their tracks. He has not been seen since. Though, I might add, neither have those Vulcans." Natsu wondered if that meant he had completed the job.
"So do you think they might have captured him, like that one did to Macao on Mt. Hakobe?" Lucy asked, looking at Natsu.
"It's possible, I suppose," the old man interjected, "but he seemed quite confident in his abilities. He gave me the impression this was a small task for him."
"We would like to inspect your facilities in the Werth Woodsea, sir." Erza stood up, her face set in a visage of determination. "We shall track him from there."
"Certainly, I shall contact the foreman." And just like that, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza found themselves regarding the tall oaks of the Werth Woodsea.
"Let's try to find this guy quickly," Gray asked. "I don't exactly have the fondest memories of this place."
"I agree," Erza said airily, "so Natsu, how about you put that nose of yours to good use?" She held up the dirty old sock to his face, and Natsu wrinkled his nose.
"Ugh, no need to bring that thing closer, Erza. I can smell it just fine from over there." The odor was so strong, Natsu suspected it could be used much in the same way one used a chloroform rag. He quickly identified Logan Mardell's scent, several days old, and began to follow his trail into the undergrowth. It led him through a series of rough paths, with the pungent musk of Vulcan scent interspersed through it. He was definitely on the right track, thought Natsu. Their scent's getting stronger, and so is his. Eventually, they reached a large clearing, in the center of which was a sizable cave.
"I smell Vulcan all over this place," Natsu told the others as he inspected the cave, "but it's all days old. Like they left a while ago."
"You think this was their nest, and Mardell actually finished the job?" asked Gray.
"It's possible, but I don't see any signs of a struggle," Erza said in response.
"Yeah," Lucy agreed, "you'd think they'd put up some kind of a fight, right? Or could they still be here?" She looked around at the forest's dark branches with apprehension.
"Hey guys, look what I found!" exclaimed Happy. He was hovering over a pile of ash near the side of the cave, undisturbed because of the lack of wind in the forest.
Running over to inspect them, Natsu inhaled the familiar scent of ash and smoke, but they smelled strange to him. He inched his nose closer, prompting Gray to add, "What's up, Natsu? Don't have enough ash in your brains?"
"Shut it, snowflake. These ashes smell…wrong, somehow." Natsu's brow was furrowed, and he was concentrating deeply. "Like…, they weren't caused by a fire. I can usually catch whiffs of whatever fire made ashes, like an old taste on the air, but these… It's like whatever it was just crumbled away, without fire. And believe me, I know ashes."
The others pondered what exactly Natsu's instinct could mean, when a familiar scent caught his attention, and they heard footsteps at the edge of the clearing. What Natsu saw when he looked over stopped him in his tracks. There was a man, about forty years of age and in wizard robes, standing there. But what terrified Natsu were his eyes. They had black sclera, with baleful amber irises and pupils like black holes. When he looked into them, Natsu felt cold all over, as if he'd suddenly been dropped into an icy lake. That's not right, Natsu thought sluggishly, I never get cold. Suddenly, he keeled over, the hard ground rushing up to meet him. He heard someone's cry of dismay, as if from a thousand miles away, and his last thought before blacking out was, Lucy.
Author's Note: Well, how did you like it? Please leave me a review if you feel so inclined, its how I'll be able to improve this story for later chapters. That's another thing, I welcome everyone's opinion, but please try to he somewhat constructive when leaving a review. I want to be able to get better and provide you guys with high-quality stories! I hope to be writing for this website for a long time. My schedule is pretty fluid, so updates will be sporadic and random, likely. That being said, I'll try get them out as fast as possible. Don't forget to follow and favorite, too!