Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail, not me!

I am back with the second chapter of Separate Worlds! I think you'll all figure out where I'm going with this, but just in case it's . . .

It's cold.

That was the first thing Natsu thought when he woke up in the morning. Er . . . late afternoon? Or was it just the middle of the night?

Sometimes it was hard to tell with this weather. Some days it was freeze-your-balls-off cold, and other days it was just cold. And yet, he and his people continued to move forward. They couldn't go backward, that was for sure. They'd already eaten all the planty stuff that could feed them there. Forward, after the game, was the only way to go.

He sat up and curled his arms around his legs, looking out of the small cave. Every morning, when he woke up, there was a longing. A longing that he could never bring himself to understand. It had been getting stronger, and it was beginning to get on his nerves.

Natsu sighed loudly and threw a stick in the general area of the only other boy his age. There were muffled sounds and he frowned, unnerved by the longing, and wait for his friend to (probably) tackle him to the ground for interrupting his sleep.

He was tackled, and the boys rolled out of the cave into the snow, growling at each other, both trying to land a punch. Every morning one would wake the other up in a similar fashion. Either way, it helped Natsu get out of his morning mood and jump-start his day. Not that he would ever tell Gray that.

There was a shout from inside the cave. They both froze, mammoth hide clothing protecting them from the chill, and waited for their leader to speak.

"Go. Just go." They heard him mumble something after his words, but it was indistinguishable. The boys looked at each other and grinned.

Guess they would be hunting after all.

They raced to grab their spears and said goodbye to their leader. He just waved his hands around, gesturing for them to "get the hell out."

The two boys raced off. Well, raced as fast as they could go when there were snow banks in the way.

When they reached the edge of their current territory, the boys stopped. Passing beyond here was an act to take seriously. When you leave the area, you are prey to the beasts and the weather. There was only danger out there.

Natsu looked over at Gray, and the two nodded. They brought their spears up and held them at the ready. Eyes swept the landscape for sign of life, but found nothing.

Their first task; find a stream. This area was completely new to them, so no one in the group knew where there was a running water source. Icicles or snow could be used, but water was easier to drink and bathe in.

Their second task; find enough food to supply the tribe with a small meal for the morning. The men would hunt with them later on that day when the sun came up. Maybe then they could have larger game.

Walking together, side by side, the boys descended a small snowy slope. The wind wasn't as brutal as it could be, but it still whipped snow in every direction. Natsu was in charge of surveying the left, and Gray the right.

The walking and searching was the most boring (and dangerous) part of their mission. Hours could easily be spent just wandering the area, looking for food, water, and possible shelter sites. Their group was small, and the women were normally too preoccupied with taking care of the others to go out searching. It was too dangerous for them anyway.

Natsu shuffled his way through the snow, steadily growing annoyed as he went. The feeling from earlier that morning was coming back. Not knowing what the longing was for frustrated him. He'd tried eating, social interaction, hunting, fighting with Gray, going off for some time away from everyone else, warming himself by the fire, nearly killing himself in the cold, everything! And nothing had gotten rid of the ache he felt every morning.

Natsu ground his teeth and gestured towards a sort of pathway through the snow. Gray nodded in agreement, and the two boys walked through the winding path. Towards the middle of it, banks began to form, caging the pathway in. They soon grew to be over the boy's heads and they continued on warily.

Finally turning a corner, the pathway opened up into a circular sort of campground. There were high walls of ice that blocked the wind from coming in and a little over half of the "room" had a rooftop from an overhanging glacier.

The most startling thing, however, was that there were people inside. At the same time the boys jumped backwards, pressing themselves to the sides of the path. No one inside could see them from where they were, but they could see in.

Natsu poked his head around the corner and stared at the tribe. They were also cloaked in mammoth hide and other furs with spears and clubs all around them. Judging by the bloody carcass towards the wall of the area, they had recently killed something. Most of the people were hunched around it, using makeshift knives to pry the meat away for cooking.

One person stood to the side, watching the others. Another pulled some hide away from the animal and handed it back to her. She took it and dragged it into the snow and out of the way, most likely to clean it.

Gray started poking Natsu, trying to get his attention. His hand wrapped around his bicep and pulled.

"We have to get out of here!" He hissed and Natsu clamped a hand over his mouth, shushing him.

"One minute, give me one minute!" He hissed back. Natsu turned his attention back to the girl and waited. She had a hood over her head, but he could see golden strands falling into her face. Natsu squinted to see her better. He felt as though he had to see her face, no matter what.

Gray did not share that view, and kept trying to pull his friend away. Natsu ignored him.

Finally, the girl stopped dragging the hide, dropped it into a bank of snow and placed her hands on her hips. She pulled a knife out of her pocket with one hand in preparation for cleaning the hide, and pulled her hood down with the other.

Gray froze where he was (which was both arms wrapped around Natsu's biceps and one foot pressed on the wall beside them) and craned his neck to get a better look at the girl with the blonde hair.

Natsu too wanted a better look and he leaned down, trying to see through her curtain of hair to get a better look at her face.

The girl's hands hovered over the hide for a moment. Then she looked up.

Straight.

At.

Them.

Both boys' mouths dropped open as she stared at them. Her brown eyes were alive and warm despite the cold of their environment. Her face was pale with rosy cheeks and her lips red and full. She stood slowly, hands clasping in front of her.

Natsu continued to stare. He had no idea who she was, but she was so beautiful that he couldn't help himself. He didn't even notice when Gray began to drag him away from her he was so captivated.

She didn't move or look away until they were out of sight. And it wasn't until she was out of sight that Natsu finally blinked and looked back at Gray. He opened and closed his mouth before finalizing what he wanted to say.

"We should get back to hunting."

"Yeah." Gray responded. Natsu turned away from the campground, not looking back. He didn't catch the troubled glance Gray shot back in the other direction.

When they returned to their present home, everyone was delighted to see that they had caught a horse. It was quickly cleaned and placed over the fire to cook. It would serve as a fantastic lunch and maybe even dinner.

Natsu and Gray lay down in the back of the cave to rest. Gray drifted off in a matter of minutes, but Natsu lay awake, thinking about the girl they'd seen. He couldn't help but feel some sort of pull towards her, like she was important somehow.

He glanced over at Gray, and then rolled onto his side. Right before he fell asleep, Natsu noticed something he hadn't earlier.

The longing had vanished when he first saw her.

. . . reincarnation. That's all I have to say. :) Any questions/comments, feel free to write in a review!

See you all in the next chapter!