~ Shooting Stars Across Fiore ~
NaLu Week 2017
Naughty
"Wait up guys!" Lucy ran after a cackling group of boys as quickly as her short eight-year-old legs could take her.
"Hurry up, slowpoke!" a raven-haired boy of the same age called back to her. None of them slowed down to wait but they all turned to stare at her.
"You are going too fast!" she shouted before stubbing her toe on a hidden root.
Lucy did not get along well with the other girls her age and spent much of her young life alone or trying to keep up with the boys and their games. Today they had dared her to check out the old abandoned lumber mill with them out in the East forest. She had protested vehemently, stating that they would only get in trouble and the adults said it was too dangerous.
At risk of being left behind and alone, Lucy changed her mind and followed them as soon as the bell rang to end class for the day.
"You said you weren't gonna come!" a boy with pink hair teased. Natsu got on Lucy's nerves the most, especially when he teased her about being a girl.
"You are the one who dared me to!"
The raven-haired boy, Gray, started mocking her, "I thought 'Daddy would get sooo mad'."
"Your parents will too if they find out!"
"You called us bad," the largest boy of the group, Elfman, grumbled. "We're men."
"I called you naughty. You are all a bunch of troublemakers!" Lucy huffed as the group laughed at her.
The eldest, Gajeel, leered at her and barked, "I think yer just chicken."
"I am not." Lucy had finally caught up to them, only to be surrounded by the five boys in a closed circle.
"Bok! Bok!" the fifth boy, Gray's brother Lyon, began to chant. The others followed suit quickly.
"Stop it!" Lucy yelled at them, her small hands clenched into fists at her waist. She stomped her foot and scowled at each boy in turn. "I'm tough enough… you'll see."
She pushed through the circle of boys, tears pricking the edges of her eyes, muttering to herself about how immature the boys her age were. Behind her, Natsu shoved Gray into a tree but she could not bring herself to care.
They reached their destination not long after the chicken sounds had stopped but fell silent before the second round of 'crybaby' could begin. The old lumber mill stood alone in the middle of a wide clearing. A rusty tractor lay on its side next to the rotting wood of the front porch. As they got closer, Lucy could see the boarded up windows and rusty hinges that barely kept the place together.
They crept up the wooden steps that led into the loading docks. Gajeel shushed them when their voices rose even though there were no adults around for miles. Lucy grinned at him over this and he scowled back.
They stood at the opening in the loading doors for a good while. No one wanted to go in first which had Lucy quivering in her shoes.
Oblivious to her fear, Natsu pushed Lucy forward. "We dared you, so you go first."
"What? Nu-uh." Lucy tried to get behind the other boys but was pushed forward again.
Lucy looked back at the dark hole leading into the unknown and gulped.
"I wonder if she's going to run away before or after she goes in," she heard Gray mutter to his brother who chuckled in response.
"Fine. If you are all done being wimps, I'll see you inside." Her back rigid with conviction, Lucy steeled herself and pushed back the fear that threatened to overwhelm her. Lucy shot each of them a parting glance and crawled through the hole in the door.
Lucy stepped lightly as she entered the mill. She remembered her father's warnings that old things were not always stable and one needed to tread carefully over risk or restructure the system. She did not know he was trying to teach her about business at the time but she thought the lesson applied here all the same.
As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting that peeked through slats in the roof, Lucy saw what remained of the old mill. A forklift sat in the corner coated by an unreasonable amount of dust near three giant sawblades one was suspended from the ceiling, another jutted from its casing attached to the nearby wall, and the third was lodged in the floor.
She heard movement behind her as the other boys clambered through the hole. She smirked when the aged floorboards creaked beneath their feet.
Clearly, they did not have parents as smart as hers, she thought with pride.
Gajeel was immediately drawn to the giant sawblades. He pulled Elfman with him and dared the larger boy to try touching the sharp edges.
"It'll be manly to try this," Elfman exclaimed, accepting the challenge. Lucy thought he was an idiot.
Gray wandered over to the big forklift where Lyon boasted that he could operate it better than his brother.
"You've never driven one of these things," Gray protested. "I watch the construction yard guys do it all the time so I know how. I'm better at it than you!"
"I watch the same yard! I'm better at watching so I'm better at using it!" Lyon spouted back.
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
Lucy rolled her eyes and continued to explore. She passed dusty tables and large lumpy masses covered in cloth that she did not want to look under. She stopped at the bottom of a dark staircase and squealed when someone spoke right behind her.
"Bet you won't go up," Natsu challenged as he darted around her onto the stairs. "I'm braver than you."
Lucy huffed. "I came in first."
"Only 'cuz we dared you to. I woulda been first if we didn't wantcha to prove yourself."
Lucy glared at Natsu's grinning face. She thought about making fun of his pink hair like some of the other boys do but, if she had to admit it, she thought it was pretty. So instead she tapped her foot lightly on the bottom block to test it and started to follow him up the rickety staircase.
Natsu frowned at her stubbornness which made Lucy feel better about pretending she wasn't scared. She watched as he darted up the rest of the stairs without her and look around for something else to prove himself with.
Lucy didn't see Natsu when she reached the top so she walked over to the railing to look at the room below. Heavy chains hung from the ceiling and blocked her view but she saw Gray and Lyon sitting in the forklift trying to turn it on.
"Idiots," she muttered.
"Hey Lucy!" she heard Natsu call from further down the railing. As she heard the rumble of the forklift engine kick to life, she spotted Natsu prancing near a support beam.
"I bet I can cross this before you can!"
Lucy walked over as he started to step out onto the beam. It crossed the air directly over the floor bound sawblade.
"Natsu do NOT cross that! You're going to fall and hurt yourself!" Lucy shouted at him.
Natsu laughed and took another step out, his hands held out for balance. "Don't be silly, Lucy. I do stuff like this all the time. I never fall. You'd fall, but I won't."
Shouting echoed out from below and Lucy saw the head of the forklift slam into something on the wall. A huge mass was dislodged from the wall and started to swing on one of the heavy chains towards the beam Natsu was trying to cross. Natsu saw it too but froze in place.
In a split second, Lucy reached out to grab one of Natsu's outstretched hands and yanked him back onto the floor as the swinging lump crashed into the beam.
"You stupid, STUPID boy!" she shrieked, pounding on his shoulder. "This is why boys need to listen to girls. We clearly know what we are saying more than you."
She looked down at her companion when he did not respond or fight back. He was shaking hard, his face pressed into the wood beneath them.
"Natsu?" Lucy called softly, reaching for his shoulder. She pulled back when he jerked away and let out a muffled sob.
He was scared too, she realized.
"It's ok, Natsu." Lucy reached out again and took up his hand despite his protests. She pulled him into a tight hug and gave soft reassuring pats up and down his back.
"I'm a chicken too," he whimpered.
"No you are not," she countered. "You are very brave, Natsu. Brave, but naughty. Naughty Natsu."
They laughed together despite their mutual fear but the lasting hug solidified their friendship for life.
A/N: Most of these prompts came from a random list of words that I found on the internet that then inspired me to come up with what you see here! I've included the official prompts in some of my one-shots, so you'll see those pop up too!
Let me know what you think! -xoxo