AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!

HELLO! Hi, reaallly, HELLO! I have a lot of explaining to do, I know. I actually got a shock when I came on here - I have no documents left on here, which means I haven't updated anything in over 90 days...wow, sorry! Ok, so the summary of all the changes in my life: I have a new nephew, a cat, and a job. I have been to two funerals, one was Friday just past. I have felt better than I do at the current moment, but I felt I needed to update since I finally have a chance! Oh, and I have another niece/nephew on the way - I'm actually updating in a hurry since I need to be at my brother's for 4pm (for some unknown reason :/ ) and it's almost 3pm. Monday is my only day off. I have to make the most of every Monday. A lot of the time, that means I'm not in on a Monday...I can't promise weekly updates, although I've grabbed a couple of hours this morning to write half of a much later chapter (I should have been doing some work that I need to finish by tomorrow evening, but my boss won't fire me for turning up tired tomorrow). Hopefully after this week, I'll be able to work out some sort of schedule (since I'll have finished my extra work that my boss asked me to do) so I can work out when I can update? I'll let you know how that goes! Thank you so much to everyone still waiting for this update, it has been a rough few months for me and your reviews and PMs have managed to keep me going. Thank you to MakeItHale for BETAing this! So sorry to make you worry, my dear!

Please enjoy this update! (Oh, and there should actually be something getting posted alongside the chapter updates, but I'm struggling to find time to update this (and work on later chapters, for that matter), without typing up the additional thing...which will be needed in a couple of chapters. I'll hopefully start finding time in a couple of weeks! Sorry!)

Chapter Three

Levy slipped carefully into the water, slowly lowering herself into the icy cold stream that Gajeel had found her. She tried not to let any sound escape her that could alarm Gajeel. She held her breath and dipped her head under, immediately raising it again, the air escaping her lungs. This was certainly far colder than she was used to. She began to rub her hands over her goose-pimpled, pale skin as she began to shiver uncontrollably. Her teeth began to chatter, causing her to curse under her breath as she realised Gajeel could likely hear them. She pulled herself back out of the water, hoping that the blood had successfully removed itself from her and her clothes. How does Gajeel manage to wash himself in such cold water? Perhaps he did not get in, but ladle it in his hands?

She looked at her hands, the memory of Gajeel holding them flickering through her mind. She scrunched her tiny hands up and tucked them under her arms. Apparently she would seem like a small child with a strange accent to his mother. How could she even argue? She could not rid herself of her Fiorian accent and she could not help being small. She had been a hindrance since they had left Fiore, but now Gajeel was going to have to take care of everything on his own. She had to start pulling her weight, no matter how small it was. His father could no longer use his arm, that much was clear, but could he still lead them back? Gajeel would know the way. He could lead them and she would just have to walk. She could do that much.

She sighed and pushed through the bushes, fighting against the branches, towards where she was sure she had seen Gajeel go. Should the path through the bushes not be easier? Gajeel was so much bigger than her, how could he have walked through these? She crouched down, looking under the offending branches. There were no footprints, but he never seemed to leave any anyway. She squinted as something caught her eye.

She began to creep forward, ducking her head lower to avoid hanging branches. She smirked as she glanced back over her shoulder to find no footprints – she was definitely learning and she was sure Gajeel would be proud of her at this very moment. She was not leaving evidence of her presence and she was even using her small stature to her advantage. Why should she care about the opinion of someone she had never met? All that mattered was that they were together. She had left everything behind to be with him and he regularly defended her against his father's comments. Apparently Metalicana liked her, but if he did, he had a strange way of showing it.

She continued to crawl forward, pushing her hopefully soon to be father-in-law out of her mind. What was the correct term for the family of your Pura? If they went into a Boscan town or village, would they be recognised as husband and wife? Is that how the outside world would see them? What was she thinking?! She is the outsider. A few months ago at the end of the summer, she would have thought that both the man and the woman were barbarians and the thought of 'husband and wife' would never have crossed her mind.

In fact, she would not have considered 'Purav' to be anything like married couples, but would have simply translated it as 'mates'. It did literally translate as 'mates', but it was so much deeper, likely much deeper than 'husband and wife'. Gajeel had said he would die of grief if she died, but a 'husband' of her culture would potentially just take another wife. His people are not barbarians and she knew it. They care more about the people they take to their beds than her own do. They allowed themselves to find love before taking a Pura.

She stumbled out of the bushes, only just catching herself as she fell forward, having not noticed how far she had crawled. She pushed herself back onto the balls of her feet, her eyes scanning the clearing. It was empty. What had caught her eye? Had Gajeel not come in this direction? What if she was lost? She had been so proud of her new ability that it had not occurred to her that Gajeel might not be able to find her. She could head back the way that she came. She would head back to the river this very moment. She was not curious about what had caught her attention.

"Impressive." A familiar voice grunted, causing Levy to jump.

"Metalicana." She sighed with relief, standing up to smile at the male appearing from the shadows. "How are you feeling?"

He glared at her, his icy blue eyes piercing into her, almost as if he was searching for something. He shrugged his left shoulder slightly, before crossing the clearing without saying a word. He nodded in the direction of a prey trail that headed away from the clearing, signalling her to follow. Should she trust him? Gajeel had warned her that he may try to hurt her, so what if he was leading her away so that he can rid Gajeel of her? He had to return home to his Pura and she was a hindrance. He could kill her here, slitting her throat with one perfectly sharpened fingernail, and head back to Gajeel as if nothing had happened. She was lost and Gajeel would never find her. Her body would lie, rotting, in the grass, alone, as the scavengers of the forest ate their fill of her flesh.

"Are we going back to the camp that Gajeel is making?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

He looked back at her over his shoulder, frowning slightly. She smiled to herself as a memory of Gajeel resurfaced, reminding her of when she had first started trying to talk to Gajeel. She held back her laugh as his father mirrored his stance exactly. He was standing tall, his shoulders drooping only slightly in their relaxed state, his back to her as he watched her over his shoulder with mild curiosity, shown by the frown. His body language told her that he was unsure of her intent, but considering that it may be genuine interest. He nodded slowly, another gesture that Gajeel had frequently used. She giggled quietly as she realised Gajeel must have learned his little habits from his father.

She quickly moved across the clearing towards him as he slipped onto the trail. He certainly was not interested on waiting for her to make a decision. She followed after him, checking behind her to make sure she was not about to disappoint Metalicana. She did not know what he had found interesting, but he did not seem interested in speaking further. She would ask Gajeel later - when his father was not present. He did not leave them on their own often, but she could guess the reason for his occasional disappearances.

Her face flushed as the thought of what she had just potentially stumbled upon crossed her mind. Perhaps he had been amused by the fact that she had managed to accidentally stumble into the little area he had chosen by chance, after the effort he enjoyed making to ensure neither she or Gajeel did just that. Was that why he was not talking to her? No, Gajeel had already explained that he would not speak. His sole purpose at this point was to make it home to his Pura, with or without them. If Gajeel moved from the path he had chosen, he would likely keep walking on alone, choosing the shortest path over the easiest.

They emerged into another clearing. Gajeel's confused expression caused a snort of amusement to escape his father. Metalicana walked up to the little bundle of sticks that Gajeel had gathered and placed into the hollow in the ground he had dug for them. It was the only evidence of their presence that they ever left. When they arrived at a good campsite, Metalicana would disappear in search of prey while Gajeel would dig a shallow pit into the soil at the centre of the area, making sure that there was nothing that could catch fire. He would then leave her to sit by it, saying that he would be back as soon as he had gathered enough wood to cook their latest catch. She was supposed to call out to him if anything happened, but she had never needed to.

"Something caught my attention, so I went to investigate...I found your father." Levy explained, earning a disbelieving stare from Gajeel. Well, surely it was not that far from the truth? She just did not want to admit that she had gotten herself lost.

"You went to investigate?" He gasped, some sort of turmoil swirling in the depths of his black slits.

"Yes? I knew you were nearby, so I knew I would be safe." She smiled, playing calmer than she was as she realised that she could have been in genuine danger.

"Vkrepr, that was dangerous! Why did you not come tell me?!" He lectured, the inner turmoil clearly gone.

"You were nearby and I did not think there would be anything so dangerous so close to where we are camping!" She returned, frowning up at him, her arms folded in front of her chest. "I am not an idiot, Gajeel."

"I know you are not an idiot, Vkrepr." He sighed, rolling his eyes at her. "I only wish to keep you from harm; what if it had been something dangerous? Although, I would not say that my father was harmless. He is far from it – he has not held onto his place in the family through being polite and kind."

"What do you mean?" She frowned, watching him closely. "Surely he does not need to 'hold' it if it is his birthright?"

"The eldest son of the Head of the family is the only accepted Heir, should he reach adulthood." He nodded, eyeing his father warily. "However, there are other strong males within the family and some decide to challenge the Head for their position in the family. Sometimes it is for self gain, other times it is because they genuinely believe the family would be better off with them leading."

"Have you ever known the Head of the family to lose?!" Levy asked in awe as she ran her eyes over Metalicana's large, strong frame.

"How would it have happened during my life, Vkrepr? I was born the eldest son of the Head of the family." He smirked, causing her to purse her lips together in annoyance. "My father has been challenged in the past by three other males, but one of them is particularly determined. My eldest uncle is only eleven moons younger than my father and is determined that he will prove himself. It is simply self gain, so do not concern yourself with his determination. The others just roll their eyes and ignore him."

"Did your father accept the challenges?" She continued, suddenly curious about the scars over his father's body; perhaps they were not all from hunting?

"He must accept all challenges – that is why his current injury is a particularly serious problem. The boys enjoy watching the fights, but they get violent...If my uncle sees the arm of my father...he will jump at the chance of taking advantage of it, hoping to finally defeat my father..." He explained, turning his face away from her. "We should not have gone after that boar...If he does not make it back to my mother, he will just be one of many to die because he hunted a boar."

"Then he will make it back to her." She nodded, holding her head high to show her determination.

"There is no way to make that a certainty, Vkrepr. He is badly injured and we are two days from the river." He returned, turning back to look her in the eyes. "Even once we make it to the river, they may not be at the camp closest to the crossing point, which would have been another day."

"It does not matter which camp they are at! He will make it! He is strong! He cannot die here! He will make it home!" She exclaimed, holding his stare.

"The furthest is more than half a moon away!" He snapped, making her falter. "...Vkrepr, if they are there...he will not make it back...not with such a serious wound..."

"Gajeel...He will make it, I promise." She reassured, crossing to the centre of the clearing to place a hand on his arm, sliding it down over the studs to take hold of his hand. "Even if we have to carry him between us, he will make it." She finished, squeezing his hand.