Induced Silence, chapter 2

When morning broke, the storm had dwindled to a drizzle. Yonaguni had already left the church by the time everyone began to stir. They found her easily. She was doing some form of tai chi in the yard. "I was wondering when you guys would get up", she teased. Natsu stretched deeply, still hazy. "What's the rush?", he yawned. "I think I spotted your friend", replied Yona. "How can you be sure?", inquired Erza. Finished with her routine, Yona turned to face them. "Icebergs aren't a normal thing around here", she said bluntly. "Iceberg?", repeated Lucy in disbelief. The group followed the girl toward the beach nearby. Sure enough, a rather large chunk of ice had washed ashore over night. Yona wiped off the surface and peered hard inside. "He's not alone", she reported. "Juvia?", asked Erza, also trying to peer in. Natsu cracked his knuckles and smirked, "I got this." A flash of fire and the ice started to melt. As it did, a scene became visible. Gray had frozen himself mid-struggle. A small ventilation shaft supplied his air throughout the night. His opponent was dead. When the ice split, the two fell backward from each other. Gray gasped for air and tried to gain his bearings. Yona stepped forward and stared down at the fallen soul stealer. It's misty cloak had fled, leaving a grayish skeletal looking creature. "Gnarly", she said, crouching close.

Erza kneeled beside her comrade. "Are you all right?", she asked with concern. After a few coughs, Gray assured, "I'm fine." Getting to his feet, he peered on in interest at the stranger prodding the dead beast with her sandal. "What is that?", asked Lucy with disgust. "Are you sure it's dead?", added Happy nervously. "It better be", said Gray, striding toward the creature. Yona glanced up. "You must be Ice-boy", she ventured with a grin. He offered a hand to help pull her to her feet. "Gray. And you are?" She shook his hand with a pleasant smile. "Yonaguni." Erza stepped up to inspect the carcass. Lucy took the liberty of adding, "We met her yesterday." By this time, Natsu had also crouched near the beast and looked over it curiously. "What are you guys doing out here, anyway?", asked Gray. "We came looking for you", replied Lucy. Erza turned and inquired, "Have you seen Juvia?". Gray tried to hide 'oh crap, she's here, too' look, but failed. Yona stepped close to him sideways and taunted, "Angry girlfriend?". "Hardly", scoffed Gray. He took the chance to get a good look at their new comrade. She was kind of cute, but a little off. He looked over to meet her gaze, but she wasn't there. A sudden noise gave away her location. She and Natsu held each other's wrists, facing one another as if preparing to jump on the carcass. "Knock it off!", yelled Erza. All joking aside, the group studied what Gray had managed to kill.

"I told you", sighed Yona. Whatever this thing was, it had an unnatural anatomy. It was at least seven feet tall and ridiculously thin. It appeared as if the body didn't even have enough sinew to move itself about. "You were lucky", she nodded toward Gray. She knew the attack position of things well enough and he'd manage to freeze it solid just as it tried to take his life. He related the the story of how he ended up like that. He'd managed to gather a few survivors and they were too terrified to travel by foot, so they had gone to the docks to sail to the next village. A stray soul stealer had followed them and Gray defended the villagers as was his duty. He'd been hired to eradicate the creatures, but the contract itself gave little information. He figured it to be an elaborate prank or some kind of cover for a greater scheme. He was wrong. He was unlucky enough to witness an attack the first night he'd been there. now, the village had been wiped off the map. Yona grew quiet as he spoke, seemingly withdrawing from the world. Eventually, Lucy asked, "Are you okay?". That question shifted the focus of the group. "I'm fine", retorted Yona before running off. After a moment of silence, Erza said, "She's grown up around these things, Gray. Don't take it personal." He nodded. Perhaps the details of what had transpired struck a note deep within the girl. "Should we go after her?", asked Happy with concern. "I'll go", volunteered Gray. He walked off in the direction she had run without argument. Natsu stared at the ground in silence. He had an idea of what this was all about.

Down the beach, Gray glanced around for traces of Yona. Passing a tidal pool, he was surprised to see her at the bottom of it, staring up at the sky. Note knowing who exactly she was, he reached in to 'save' her, but instead got a huge column of sea water in his face that ended up knocking him to the ground. When he'd cleared the seaweed from his eyes, Yona stood before him, staring solemnly. "What he hell was that for?!", he coughed. Surprisingly, a friendly hand awaited him. When she helped him to his feet, she took a moment to stare into his eyes. Gray stared back, unsure of her next move. "Now we're even", she said, releasing his hand. He looked at her questioningly, but she simply walked passed him back toward the group. She sat silently as everyone looked to her for answers. Natsu tried hide his sniggering at the sight of his drenched companion. "BAM! Rogue wave!", echoed in his mind. He begrudgingly took his place in silence as well after glaring at his rival. Erza let a few minutes of quiet pass before clearing her throat. "So, Yona here is the sea dragon slayer and our only local link", she began. Gray gave her a look that said, "No kidding?". Yonaguni cut in with a heavy sigh. "Yes, I have a history with these things. You don't have to ask", she muttered. Natsu offered a kind grin her way, trying to reduce the pressure. "What happened?", asked Lucy. "I saw a raid a lot like this when I was a kid. A dragon doesn't raise a kid that has healthy parents around, you know", she replied. Natsu's instinct was right on the money. "I thought you said an attack of this magnitude was unusual", offered Erza. "It is, but not unheard of. They're just becoming more common now...", trailed Yona. "What can you tell us?", inquired Gray. "Well", she sighed. Before she could continue, a shout caught everyone's attention. "Gray-sama!" He hung his head in defeat. Juvia soon came into view, running happily toward her lost 'lover'. "Gray-sama! Juvia's so happy you're safe!", she cried, tears of relief flowing freely. Yona smirked at the scene. It was clearly a one-sided love affair.

Juvia hugged Gray tightly despite the 'go way' look on his face. "Juvia was so worried!", she said as she squeezed him hard. Having had enough, he pushed her affections to the side. "Enough already! I'm fine!". It seemed that Juvia had just now realized that they were not alone. Erza had a 'how dare you run off' glare awaiting her. "Juvia, where have you been?", asked Lucy. Happy sat with Yona and watched it all unfold as if they were merely waiting on popcorn. Fiddling nervously with her fingers, she replied, "Juvia wanted to go ahead. Gray-sama could have been hurt." "You got lost, didn't you?", taunted Natsu. "No one was here, so Juvia scouted ahead", she said lamely. "Don't run off on your again", said Erza firmly. Juvia nodded. Catching a brief glimpse of what was now under a sheet, she took a step back. "Don't worry, your popsicle killed it", said Yona. Juvia turned to glare. A female voice was talking about Gray. "Popsicle?", snorted Natsu, trying not to laugh. "Well sure", shrugged Yona. "He uses ice magic, he's cold to the girl that likes him and she's only interested in his sti-". "That's enough!", interrupted Erza. Both Juvia and Gray turned red. It was clear this girl was not afraid to speak her mind. "I like spicy stuff myself", she added, winking at Natsu. Going rigidly matter-of-fact, Lucy said, "So what are we going to do about these creatures?". "Llyr always said there was a stone that held the local myths somewhere off the coast. He never said if it was under water or where it was though. I looked, but never found it", supplied Yona. "Llyr?", echoed Gray. "The sea dragon", stated Erza. Juvia took another look at the girl. If she was a water mage, too, maybe she wasn't so bad. "I can always take you guys to the temple", said Yona, pointing up a steep cliff path. "That sounds like a good place to start", said Lucy. "We'll get a good view of the land from up there, too", added Erza. "And maybe we'll spot your friends!", chimed Happy. "Maybe", muttered Yona, a small grin appearing. She did want find the exceeds desperately. They were her only family. "Then it's settled", stated Erza, "Let's move out while it's relatively dry." The group picked up what little they had brought and burned the body of the so called soul stealer before moving on. Hopefully, the temple would yield something useful.

To be continued...