I do not own Fairy Tail. If I did, I probably wouldn't be sitting here at my computer writing this, now would I? ;-)


Chapter 2

"First Light"

Natsu awoke as sunlight streamed in through the window of Lucy's apartment. He was forced to squint to be able to see anything through the direct and blinding light. It took him a couple of seconds to notice Happy, curled up against his chest. He had most likely ventured in through the window during the night, Natsu guessed.

Careful not to disturb the sleeping cat, Natsu slowly sat up as drowsiness washed over him. He had not slept soundly. It was a statement, not a question. The images were still livid in his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to forget them.

Natsu stood up and stretched, imagining he could hear the tendons and cracking and groaning in his stiff arms and legs. He looked around the room for some sort of entertainment. The others were still asleep, much to his annoyance. He didn't just want to sit around and wait for somebody else to wake up. Finally his eyes settled on Lucy's desk, upon which a single book sat. Curious, he picked it up.

It was obvious the book was well dated. It was leather bound and the spine was peeling in several places. He was afraid it might fall apart when he touched it, so he handled it with care. He didn't want Lucy yelling at him later. He briefly skimmed over the pages. There were numerous charts of stars and constellations, but even if he wanted to, he couldn't make out what they were. The text was in a different language altogether.

He had a feeling Lucy knew exactly what it meant, being a Celestial wizard and all. After a few minutes of flipping through the book, he came to the conclusion he wasn't going to find any entertainment in it, and set it back on the desk.

Just as he did, Erza entered the room, slamming the door behind her with a greater force than she had intended, causing Lucy and Gray to awake with a start.

"SON OF A—" Gray yelled, toppling out of his chair and onto the floor. He quickly rose to his feet, expecting to face some sort of danger. Then noticing it was only Erza, he lowered his guard.

"Geez, Erza," he scoffed. "What the hell was that?"

Erza stayed in the doorway, looking embarrassed. "Heh, sorry bout' that," she quickly apologized. Then she pointed at Gray. "Gray, are you missing anything perhaps?"

Gray gave a yelp of surprise and quickly threw on a T-shirt. Erza rolled her eyes at him. She was relieved to see that the rest of the team was here. It would save her the trouble of having to gather them all together.

"Erza," Lucy said, wide awake since Erza's entrance. "Any particular reason for you coming here?" she prompted.

"Oh, right," Erza said. "I talked to Master last night and he says we should leave for Kelvin as soon as we're ready." She tossed her own pack onto the floor beside her and then turned to the others.

"I'm ready," she stated. "Now if you don't mind hurrying up, we're running on borrowed time."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, something he seemed to be doing a lot lately. "Borrowed time?" he echoed, and Erza nodded.

"I'm afraid to say that Kelvin has gotten even worse. Even as we speak."


"What d'you mean it's gotten worse?" Gray testified. His voice was still heavy with sleep.

Erza was quick to answer. "The violence is spreading like a plague. Gangs have crossed through the mountains and have raided the ports of Klammel and burned their ships."

Klammel was a small sea port to the south of the western mountains. Its economy was heavily dependent on fishing and provided for a large percentage to the mainland. Burning the port's ships would take a heavy toll on the small town. No doubt it would be weeks before new boats were constructed.

Natsu was outraged. His fist slammed down onto the table in front of him. The sound reverberated around the room and seemed to hang in the air for several seconds.

"Those punks!" Natsu growled. "The only burning there's going to be is me smoking them to pieces!" He whirled around to face Erza.

"We can't just stand here while they attack helpless people! We need to leave as soon as possible!" His voice was urgent. Erza seemed a little taken aback at his reaction, but knew in her mind Natsu was right.

"Exactly." It was Lucy who had spoken this time. She had been quietly standing in the corner of the room, pondering on the situation in front of them. Now she looked up. Her eyes were sharp and deadly looking. "We don't have time to lose."


They were packed and on the road by noon. They planned to follow the road west for around 20 miles, then branch off to the north about 5 miles from the front of the mountain that separated them from the desert region of Kelvin and follow it parallel. Oddly enough, the mountains had never been given a title. They were known simply as "the western mountains". It was rumored the mountains were composed of iron at its core, causing compasses to whirl wildly when they came close enough. Other rumors claimed the mountains were cursed. Neither science nor superstition, they were mountains either way.

Lucy had estimated that it would take them at least 5 days of constant travel to make the journey. As they walked and the sun bore down on them they could already feel the change in temperature turn to hotter-than-normal.

They had worn apparel appropriate for the job; Erza could simply ex-quip to whatever she needed; Lucy wore her sturdy all-around black jeans and a loose-fitting white T-shirt with worn black and white sneakers; Gray and Natsu were wearing their usual, and Happy flew above them, looking down on them from a bird's-eye view.

Natsu was unaffected by the change in heat. Gray however, was taking the full force of it. His face was glistening with sweat. Dive into a blizzard? Sure. Swim in near-freezing water? Why not. But hike through the freaking desert? No way! Lucy and Erza trudged on in uncomplaining silence.

Gray came to a stop, causing the others to do the same. "I think we should… take a break." He said, breathing heavily. Lucy had been worried about him from the beginning of the job. Ice wizards and deserts didn't mix well. You could easily compare them to oil and water. As Gray dragged himself to sit under a small tree off to the side of the road, a thought suddenly dawned on her.

Erza glanced at her curiously as she fumbled around in her pack. They had been careful to only bring the necessities. Finally finding what she had been looking for, she pulled out a bundle of blue fabric. Lucy held it out to Gray.

"I think this might come in handy," was the only comment she gave as he took it from her wordlessly. He held it out in front of him, and what the object was suddenly dawned on him.

It was an ice-cloak. Made out of thousands of tiny, glittering ice crystals, they never melted and always kept their icy temperature. As soon as he held it in his hands he felt the temperature around him lower drastically. It was like a portable freezer.

He put it on slowly. It came down to about a foot from his feet and the front was open. It had a zipper, but he decided to let it hang open, further showing off his bare upper body. There was a hood, too. He tried it on and it fell over his eyes without cutting off his vision. He gaped at Lucy.

"Man, you're the best, Lucy!" he said, smiling gratefully at her. "Where'd you find this?" he asked delightedly.

She shrugged, but nonetheless flushed slightly at his praise. "Stellar Spirit world, actually." she said. "Loke though it might come in handy.

Loke had been a member of Fairy Tail before Lucy discovered that he was actually Leo the Lion, now one of Lucy's spirits. His key was easily distinguishable from the others on her belt, having an emblazed symbol on a roaring lion at the top of it. Oddly enough, he could appear without Lucy having to summon him. Gray and Loke had always gotten along pretty well.

He felt a surge of affection for his old friend and Lucy. Gray stood rooted to the spot, trying to find the words to express his gratitude.

Natsu looked at Gray with a look of jealousy and then asked Lucy, "So, you got any fire cloaks on you?" He touched his finger to the side of his nose and winked. Lucy however, was no longer paying attention. She and the others were far ahead of him on the trail.

"What the-! Don't try and ditch me, you jerks!" Natsu yelled, chasing to catch up to them.


The small party traveled well into the late hours. The stars shone brightly above them by the time they decided to stop and make camp for the night.

Lucy had been gathering firewood, suddenly stopped and whirled around, glancing up as she did so. The cliffs behind them were visible in the moonlight, the tops towering over them.

Strange. I could've sworn…

"Something the matter?" Erza asked, looking questionly at her.

Lucy now turned her head to the side, to where the cliffs were in her left peripheral vision. There it is again! She could faintly make out a shadowed figure on the tops of the peak of the cliff. But when she turned to look at it directly, her eyes spotted nothing. It was an old trick she had picked up some time ago. The peripheral vision in your eyes could make out some things direct eye contact could not in the dark. With the uncertain light of the full moon shining down on the cliffs, it was possible her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Lucy could feel Erza's unwavering gaze on her, and she replied in a low voice, "I have a feeling we're being watched."


Without further ado, chapter 2! Ha, I just realized that rhymed!

Thanks so much to all who reviewed and motivated me to write this. You guys are awesome! ^.^

As to where I got the idea for Gray's ice cloak, I don't know. I just had the thought one day when daydreaming in class. Ha-ha!

Uh-oh! It looks like trouble is on the rise for Lucy and the gang. More secrets and surprises are awaiting in the next chapter! As well as… wait, a battle scene?

SO BE SURE TO CHECK OUT CHAPTER THREE! As always, I'll have it up A-S-A-P. Darn, why can't I stop talking in rhythms? I seem to do it all the time. Here, there, everywhere… Gah!