Chapter two is finally here! Sorry it took longer than expected.
Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail. If I did Natsu and Gray would get the spotlight 24/7!
"GRAY!"
It was too late. Gray had been flung off his feat and down the mountain. Natsu ran towards the cliff side. He heard a bang. His mouth dropped open, wishing with all his might that Gray would be ok. Of course he'd be ok, this is Gray we're talking about he thought. He was about to begin searching when he remembered that damn Wyvern was still in the skies. He anger erupted into a blood-red flame as he faced the foe before him.
"You damn bastard!" He screamed.
Karyû no Hōkō
The blazing flame instantly assaulted the Wyvern, taking the top of the mountain along with it. People from local villages also saw the phenomenon, most of which ignored it knowing it was Fairy Tail at their usual fanatics. The three girls could see Natsu's immense power even through the raging blizzard. Lucy and Wendy seamed to brush it by, but Erza and Happy knew too well that Natsu doesn't pull of a stunt like that just for show.
Something was wrong.
Happy ushered the girls, and Carla, to follow him to the source of the flame while Erza defeated the rest of the Vulcans around her with her many swords, then dashing off to find her friend.
When Erza came across the Salamander, he was stood gazing into the blizzard, hoping that with his enhanced senses, he might be able to pick up the sent of the ice wizard.
"Natsu, what happened?" Erza asked, a look of worry took over her face.
Natsu didn't bother to turn around. He didn't need to. Erza had already guessed what what's troubling the fire wizard and she was not happy about it, not at all. Happy and co soon reached the two members of their team and all realised that something wasn't right.
"Natsu!" Happy cried. Worry, confusion and slight tears were spotted on the Exceeds face.
"Natsu, Erza, is everything alright?" Lucy asked, and then she realised. "Where's Gray?"
Natsu finally managed to speak up. "He was attacked by a Wyvern. He's down there... somewhere."
The team shared a worried glance.
"Gray-san," Wendy muttered. It wasn't like Gray to be this reckless.
Natsu hadn't moved from his original position. He was worried. Really worried. And Erza knew this.
"Don't worry, we'll find him," Erza reassured, quiet enough that only the fire wizard next to her could hear. She then raised her voice. "Natsu, Happy, Wendy and Carla search the skies. Me and Lucy will look on foot. If you notice ANYTHING call for us."
The group nodded and immediately began the search.
Natsu pointed the girls in the right direction before being grabbed by Happy as he and Carla flew the two dragon slayers down the side of the mountain. The two girls ran as fast as their legs could carry them. The cold no longer in effect. Neither girl dared disrupt the heartfelt silence until Lucy decided to break the ice.
"Gray's gonna be ok, won't he, Erza?" Lucy asked, her voice shaking.
"I'm sure he's fine." Erza replied. "His durability is almost second to none." She was trying to be optimistic, but even she knew that no one could survive that fall unscathed.
"Natsu seams to be really worried."
"Aren't we all."
"Yeah, but... well... I didn't think those two got along that well."
"Despite what they say to each other, they love one another like brothers. They just have a... unique way of showing it. Those fools."
Up in the skies, the dragons, with their Exceed sidekicks, searched frantically for the missing ice wizard.
"I can barely see a thing through all this snow," Carla complained.
"Do you best, Carla," Wendy encouraged. "We have to find Gray-san."
The group kept searching, using any senses available. Unfortunately, the Exceeds struggled to fly in the sheer force of the blizzard.
"Natsu, it's too hard to fly all the way up here," Happy yelled, not that he needed to with Natsu's enhanced hearing.
"Alright, we'll search a little closer to the mountain."
The Exceeds began their decent as the search continued. Neither group had found Gray and their concerns for him kept rising. The blizzard was messing with the dragons' senses, blowing unfamiliar sents through the air mixing with the sent of their friends, making it even harder to find the raven haired wizard.
"Happy wait a sec," Natsu cried. His nose had picked up something. His friend was close. "Put me down Happy and go find the girls, I think I've found him."
"Aye Sir!" and with that. Happy set Natsu down back on the mountain side. Carla did the same for Wendy and they both sped off at light speed to the girls.
"Gray-san is close by," Wendy proclaimed, only just managing to pick up his sent.
"Stay close to me Wendy," Natsu instructed. "We don't want to lose anyone else out here."
They both begin running, following Natsu's nose. He'd now caught another sent mixing with Gray's. It was blood. Gray's blood. And by what he could tell, there was a lot of it.
Wendy picked up the smell soon after and covered her nose in disgust. "That smell, is it blood?"
"We're close," was all Natsu could say.
The sent got stronger and stronger until Natsu was able to make out a shock of black messy hair buried in the snow.
"Wendy, I found him!" Natsu ran towards his rival, dusted away the snow, and there lay the now unconscious Gray.
The motionless ice wizard was surrounded by crimson snow. He had several slices down his left arm and part of his chest where the Wyvern had struck him earlier. His head was split, crossing through his old scar he received from Lyon a while back and he had blood trailing down his face and mouth. Speaking of his face, it was clenched up. He was clearly in an immense amount of pain. When Natsu saw the state of his friend, he was taken aback. Wendy knelt down by Gray's side and began working her magic.
"I'll do my best to take away the pain, but I won't be able heal many of his wounds. Sorry," Wendy's face dropped.
"Don't let it get to you Wendy, anything you can do will help," Natsu forced a smile onto the surface. It was at this point that Happy and Carla flew back holding Lucy and Erza.
"Gray!" They said in unison running over to their fallen friend.
The girls came and knelt beside Gray, watching him as he barely managed to force a breath out.
"We have to get Gray to the nearest village and to a hospital. He won't manage the journey back to the guild, and if he stays out here any longer, his condition could get even more severe," Erza stated, not taking her eyes of the raven-haired boy in front of her.
"What'll we do about the job request?" Lucy asked. She knew the guild cared deeply for their reputation and never left a job unfinished.
"Forget about the damn job!" Natsu yelled.
"S...sorry," was all she could answer. She'd never seen Natsu act this aggressively to a guild member, especially to her.
Once Wendy did all she could, Natsu cautiously pulled his rival onto his back and they began their journey back to the village. Occasionally, Natsu would hear a quiet, almost silent, groan from Gray. Despite Wendy's efforts, Gray was still in a lot of pain. Erza said he might not last long if they didn't get him aid soon. This made Natsu even more determined to make it to the village as soon as possible.
The trip back to the village had been a lot longer than the team would have hoped. Gray's breathing had slowed even more and sounded like each breath pained him to a great amount. Most of his wounds remained open and small tendrils of blood still seeped through. When they entered the village crowds of people parted to let the team though. Most of the people around began whispering about the group and the strange occurrences they'd seen on the mountain. Most of them knew who the team were and many bowed their heads in sympathy. Erza asked around for the hospital and the people were more than happy to give them directions.
They finally got to the hospital and Gray was being looked at by the doctors. A nurse had given them a communication Lacrima in order to let the guild know of their whereabouts.
"Erza, how did the job go?" the master of the guild, Makarov, asked on the other end of the call.
"We had to retreat," Erza held her head down. "Gray got severely wounded so we took him to the nearest hospital. We'll stay here until he recovers."
At the mention of Gray, Juvia ran towards the master and looked Erza straight in the eye.
"Did Juvia just hear that right?" she asked. "Gray-sama is wounded?"
Erza looked away. What could she say right now? She of all people knew how much Juvia cared for Gray, and the news of his condition would most definitely break her heart. Her vision turned to the rest of her team. Lucy was sat comforting a very tearful Happy. Next to her was Wendy, crying a river whilst Carla was trying to comfort her. Natsu was pacing up and down, occasionally kicking something in rage.
She finally spoke up. "The doctors are doing all they can. Whether he pulls through is up to him."
Master Makarov frowned in concern. It was painful to know that one of his own could possibly be lying on his death bed. "Thank you, Erza. I'll inform the rest of the guild. Please keep us all updated." He hung up.
Erza took a seat next to the two girls. Not speaking a word.
"Natsu, please stop pacing like that," Lucy said, sorrow in her eyes.
"Just please calm down, Natsu-san, I'm sure Gray-san will be fine," Wendy added, her tears beginning to cease.
"Calm down? Calm down?! How the hell do you expect me to calm down at a time like this. Gray is-"
At this outburst, Erza got up from her seat and slapped Natsu across his left cheek. No words were needed for Natsu to understand. They both sat down and waited for the doctor to return.
After two and a half hours of waiting, the doctors finally returned with news on Gray's condition.
"It doesn't look good," this shocked the team. "But he should be able to pull through."
They all sighed in relief at the news. He was ok... sort of.
"We didn't think he would make at at first. He'd lost a lot of blood and his wounds were really deep. He also had three cracked ribs which had also managed to puncture his lungs. Due to the severity of his wounds, he won't regain his conscious for at least a weak, if not longer."
The teams faces dropped again. Damn Gray for being so reckless.
"So, can we see him?" Natsu half asked, half begged.
"Follow me," the doctor instructed.
And chapter two is over! Hope you all enjoyed it. Sorry nothing much happened in this chapter, but the story will pick up in the next one. Thanks so much for the reviews, follows and favourites! XD
For all the people reading the manga, how much do you wanna bet that Gray found Natsu's scarf in the last chapter. I find it funny how I completely brush by the whole Mavis thing and just focus on Gray. I wanna see him use more of his new magic SOOO BAD!