Sorry if it feels like I'm dragging this mission out. Thanks for your positive comments so far! And I promise, there will be more NaLu than "Dragon's Plight" so please look forward to it ;) And guess what, guys? Today's my birthday! So send me some reviews! I love you all! And thank you so much for your support of my fanfictions! 3

Chapter 4

"Where should we start?" Gray wondered aloud.

It was getting late, and they still didn't know where to begin. The council had given them a detailed explanation of the strange disappearances that had been happening. The sun was already starting to set. The sun-baked sky melted from a clear blue to a gray-orange hue.

"Who cares?" Natsu trudged down the main street. "The council told us everything they know, so let's just get some food."

Gray shook his head. "Always thinking with your stomach."

"What was that?! Wanna say that again?!"

"Sure! I'll say it as many times as you want, moron."

Lucy grabbed them both by the ear. "Okay okay. That's enough, you two." She let go of them. "Maybe we should start by talking to the families of the missing villagers."

"Ow!" Natsu rubbed his ear. "You didn't have to do that, you know. You could've been a little nicer about it." He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. She jumped in surprise. He nuzzled the tender spot where her neck and shoulder met, burying his nose in her fragrant blonde hair. "Like this."

"N-Natsu!" She squirmed in his grasp. "Stop it…not here!"

Gray snickered. "Please. Get a room will ya, Natsu?"

Natsu glared up at the Ice Mage. His black eyes glinted with fiery passion, daring Gray to mock him again. "Jealous?"

"Hmph." Gray folded his arms. "More like focused on our job."

"Don't like it? Then you shouldn't have come."

Lucy pried his arms away from her waist. "Natsu, not now," she hissed. "We're here on a job, remember? We're not on vacation."

"Fine." Natsu buried his hands in his pockets and grinned. "Later then."

The sound of snow crunching underfoot made Natsu pause. He glanced over his shoulder, but no one was there. Hands clasped behind his head, he followed Gray and Lucy as they headed for one of the houses where the victim's family lived. Not many people were out and about. It was odd. The whole village was filled with an eerie silence. It was like the townspeople were afraid to be outside. With so many people missing, it was only natural. But the farther they walked, the more he heard the crunch of footsteps behind them. And each time he cast a quick glance over his shoulder, they were gone. Finally he stopped.

Lucy bumped into him. "Natsu?" she said, surprised.

"What's the matter?" Gray asked.

"Oi! Why are you following us?" he said. "Come out already. I know you're there."

"What?" Lucy looked behind them, but there was no one in sight. "Is there someone following us?"

"Yeah. A girl's been following us for a while now."

A long pause of silence followed. The shuffling of feet greeted their ears. A small hand grasped the side of the house and slowly a little girl peeked around the corner. Her wavy light brown hair hung down from underneath her jacket hood. She stared up at them skeptically, her big green eyes fixed on the Fairy Tail wizards. She looked to be about eight years old. Lucy knelt down and smiled at her.

"Hello," Lucy said, her voice soft. "What's your name?"

The girl shrunk back a little, unsure of what to do. Slowly she inched forward. She glanced from Lucy to Gray to Natsu.

"Are you wizards?" she asked hesitantly.

"Aye!" Happy said, approaching the girl. "We're all mages from Fairy Tail!"

The girl's eyes lit up at the sight of the little Exceed. "Wow! A talking cat!" She grabbed Happy and pulled him into a tight hug. She petted his blue fur. "Such a good kitty! How come your fur is blue? How come you can talk?"

Lucy laughed. "He's a special kind of cat. He's a wizard too you know."

Happy struggled against her. "Natsuuuu! Help!"

"Cats can't be wizards!"

Natsu strode toward the girls and snatched Happy up by his green bandanna. "Happy isn't a toy or a pet, you know! He's our friend."

The little girl flinched.

Gray smacked Natsu on the head. "Don't scare her! You're such a simpleton sometimes, idiot."

"Natsuuuu," Happy whined. "I thought I was gonna die. She just kept squeezing me…."

"Um…Nii-san, why aren't you wearing any clothes?" the girl asked hesitantly, pointing to Gray.

"Gray!" Lucy cried, covering the girl's eyes.

Gray had stripped down to his boxers out of habit. The Ice Mage merely stared down at himself and shrugged. Natsu punched him in the jaw.

"Don't go stripping whenever you feel like it!" he shouted.

"The weather was nice, so why wouldn't I want to take off my shirt?!"

"And your pants too?! Besides, it's snowing!"

"Tch. Whatever." Gray pulled on his pants and tugged the shirt down over his head.

Shaking her head, Lucy smiled at the little girl. "So what's your name?"

"Shirayuki."

"What a cute name!" She squeezed the girl in a quick hug. "Why were you following us, Shirayuki-chan?"

She stared at them silently a moment. "Did you come to help us?"

"Aye!"

Lucy nodded. "That's right. We came to help find the missing people."

"Oi, Lucy," Gray said harshly. "Come on, we can't waste our time. Just leave her alone."

The little girl grabbed Lucy by the hand and started to pull her away. Lucy stumbled after her.

"Hey! Just a…wait a minute!"

"Lucy! Where are you going?" Happy asked, flying after her.

"To my house," Shirayuki said.

"Hey, kid." Gray hurried after them. "What do you think you're doing?"

She looked up at them, determination shining in her big green eyes. "You said you came to help us, right?"

Natsu sighed. He could tell that there would be no swaying the girl. She held onto Lucy's hand tightly, refusing to let go. The snow crunched beneath their shoes as they walked. Shirayuki led them down multiple side streets. Finally they reached a small house near the outskirts of the town. A light was on in the window, glowing like a beacon in the empty, snowy street. Shirayuki opened the door and hurried inside. Lucy, Natsu, and Gray followed her inside, Happy flying in behind them.

"Mama! Papa!" Shirayuki called, pulling down her hood.

A rustling sound and the clatter of dishes came from the next room. Rushed footsteps hurried toward them. A woman wearing a plain dress and apron emerged from the doorway, wiping her soapy hands on her apron. Her brown hair looked a bit disheveled. Relief washed over her face when she spotted the little girl.

"Shirayuki, where have you been?! I was so worried about you!" She knelt down beside the girl. "How many times have I told you not to go out by yourself?"

"Um," Lucy said hesitantly. "I'm sorry to intrude."

The woman looked up at them, confusion written all over her face. The little girl tugged on the hem of her mother's dress.

"Mama! They're mages! They said they came to help us."

"Mages?" She looked at them all individually. "You all accepted the job offered by the council?"

"Aye!" Happy said. "We're from Fairy Tail."

"Come in, come in." The mother locked the door behind them and hurried into the kitchen. "I'm sorry my daughter dragged you all here. She seems to think that you came to help her specifically." She brought out a kettle and glasses for everyone. She poured them each a cup of tea. "It's getting late, so why don't you stay the night?"

"Is that all right?" Lucy asked, surprised. "We wouldn't want to impose."

"Why not?" Natsu grinned. "She's offering, so why not stay?"

Gray nodded. "Sounds good to me. We don't have a place to stay yet."

"Make yourselves comfortable," the mother said with a smile. "I'll prepare dinner for you."

"ALRIGHT!" Natsu shouted excitedly. "Now you're talking! I'm starved!"

"Are we having fish?" Happy asked, mouth watering.

The woman laughed. "I'll prepare a fish for you."

"Hooray!"

The lock on the front door clicked as she made her way to the kitchen. The door opened with a creak, snow blowing in through the gap. The man in the doorway closed it quickly and locked it. He hung his cap on the peg by the door before he realized there were guests in the house. He stared at the new faces before him.

"Do we have guests?" he asked, his voice gruff.

"Papa!" Shirayuki raced toward him and threw her arms around him.

He chuckled and picked her up. "I'm home! And who have we here?"

"Welcome home dear," his wife called from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready shortly. We have guests this evening."

"I see that." He strode toward the table and pulled out a chair. "My name is Jude."

"Nice to meet you," Lucy said.

"They're mages!" Shirayuki said excitedly.

"They are, are they?" Jude looked up at them. "I'm sorry if my daughter dragged you here. She was a bit excited when she heard mages were coming to help our town."

"Oh no! It's no trouble at all," Lucy insisted. "I'm Lucy from Fairy Tail. And this is Natsu and Gray."

"Aye!" The blue cat hopped up and down. "And I'm Happy!"

"It's nice to meet you all." He pulled a pipe out of his coat pocket and lit the tobacco. "So, have you come to find the missing townspeople?"

"That's what the old guys want," Natsu said.

Lucy nodded. "We're going to try our best to find them. Do you have any ideas of what might have happened?"

Shirayuki slid off his lap. She sat on the floor and pulled Happy close to her. Once she was quietly playing with the blue cat on the floor, her father shook his head. He drew in a deep breath through the pipe. A plume of smoke billowed out from his mouth as he exhaled.

"Our oldest daughter went missing like the other townspeople." Jude glanced at his daughter. "At first we thought she might have gotten lost, but she knew the mountains too well for that to have happened. So we took a search party out to look for her, in case she had been injured somewhere and couldn't make it back."

"And?" Gray urged him to continue. "Did you find anything?"

Jude shook his head. "No…. Not a trace. It's like she disappeared into thin air. And just last week, our neighbor's son went missing. But unlike our daughter, he was asleep in bed the night he disappeared. He vanished without a trace." He took another puff on his pipe. "I remember hearing a strange howling noise that night."

"It was probably just the wind, right?" Natsu chuckled.

"Aye!" Happy said.

"It was unlike anything I've ever heard before," Jude muttered.

Lucy shivered. "That's so creepy…I knew we shouldn't have taken this one. I think we should have let someone like Erza take this job…."

"It's definitely weird," Gray muttered

"Sorry to keep you waiting." The mother hurried out of the kitchen, dishes laden with food in both hands. Shirayuki darted into the kitchen to grab the remaining plates. "I hope it's to your liking. Please, help yourselves."

"Alright!" Natsu grabbed a plate for himself. "I'm starved! Itadakimasu!"

"For you, Happy." The woman set down a smaller plate with a cooked fish on it.

"Fish!"

"I guess we'll rest up for tonight and we can get started on the job tomorrow," Gray said, taking a plate for himself.

As Natsu ate, he couldn't help but think about what Jude had said. The details about the disappearances were kind of strange. Especially the howls. If it wasn't the wind, then it had to have been some kind of animal. Thinking about the howl reminded him of the eerie sounds he had heard in his dreams. The thought made him shiver. Maybe it was something more than what they had previously thought. Things weren't going to go as easily as he thought they would.

As a present, I'm posting chapter 5 as well!