An: I don't own fairy tail or its characters

An2: some of you probably already read this chapter, just reread it bcuz i didn't like how it sounded (i had been in a mood and rushed it) so i fixed a few parts.

AN3: Read, Review and enjoy

Chapter 4 No Trust, Sting and Rogue

"Alright Luce, this is the easy part" Natsu said as he lay his hands softly over hers "You just relax your shoulders – yeah like that – then you pull back and throw out the line!" The fishing line flew out into the sea.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" the pink haired pirate asked, standing aside to watch her grip on the long stick.

Lucy hadn't told him she knew fully well how to fish; if she had they wouldn't be having this bonding moment. A few members of the crew whistled in approval resulting in Lucy going red in the face and Natsu running off to pound them into the deck. She had sorted out the misunderstanding but some of the crew still found it fun to tease them over the incident. Even if it had been two days since.

With a resigned sigh she focused on staring at the vast expanse of water. They would be stopping at some island called Mirage to stock on a few things. Apparently pirates were frowned upon and due to that they weren't docking at the ship in the island port instead they would stop a mile or two away and send a few of them over by boat. She would be going along, but only because Wendy needed a few things and was too busy healing clumsy pirates to do it herself.

Lucy looked at the fishing pole–more like stick–in her hand; this was fast losing her interest. Natsu had yet to return and she no longer wanted to stand around waiting for something to happen.

"Oi Lucy!"

She turned to see Gray "Hey Gray!" she greeted, hoping he would occupy her time. Sadly it didn't seem like that was to be. He halted before her and held up a bowl full of metal corkscrews and scraps. She had a strange inclination this had to do with Gajeel.

"Could you do something for me?" He asked hastily, probably in a rush.

She nodded and he let out a relived sigh "I'm training some new recruits on sword fighting and Erza wants me to give this to Gajeel–could you do it for me?"

She blinked in fake confusion "Who's Gajeel?"

Grey gave himself a slap to the head "Damn, I forgot you didn't know everyone–Gajeel's the ships engineer, you'll find him below deck– he looks weird so you can't miss him."

Lucy nodded and took the bowl; she almost dropped it due to the weight "Thanks a bunch Lucy!" Grey ran off and she made her way over to the open hatch that led to the engine room. She cautiously walked down the stairs and scanned the narrow passage. She quickly reached a metal door and put down the bowl to push it open, it was a lot heavier than it looked and took a few tries before she finally got it open.

Inside were a few men and women, some running around checking various machines while others lounged around a table in the corner drinking on some beer. In the centre of the room was a huge machine that held a large white lacrima in the centre. Lucy didn't even try to understand how the machine functioned instead she walked over to the table, already spotting Gajeel as one of the lazing men.

"Um excuse me, I'm looking for Gajeel." She said, butting into whatever they had been discussing.

Gajeel slammed down his glass of beer and sneered at her "I'm Gajeel what the hell do you want?!"

Lucy almost smiled at his behavior "Gray sent these, probably to fix something down here," She said putting down the bowl. "I'm Lucy by the way. I'm new here."

"I didn't ask for an introduction."

This time she did smile. She shrugged, waving lightly before making her way from the room "See you later Gajeel!"

Lucy stepped out of Natsu's cabin clad in a mini skirt and a tank top; she thought she looked cute and spun just for the sake of seeing the frills move. Someone cleared their throat next to her and she turned to see Natsu with his arms crossed. He was looking at her like she had lost her mind.

"Where the hell are you going dressed like that?!" he asked pointing at her skirt.

Lucy scowled "To the island of course…what's wrong with what I have on?"

Natsu rolled his eyes "That island has a lot of dark alleys and is known for female tourist doing disappearing acts, if you dress like that I'm sure you'll be disappearing as well. Just go change into something else."

"But I like what I have on," Lucy pouted.

"Oh come on Luce we don't have time for this!" with a heated glare Lucy turned back into the cabin, coming back out minutes later in a pants instead of a skirt. She left her blouse because no way was she changing that. Natsu was no longer waiting on her and had probably already gone off to the small boat waiting at the side of the ship. She took a detour to Wendy's little medical room to pick up the list of herbs she was supposed to get then went over to the where she could see salmon colored hair.

"You're late Luce," He said when he caught sight of her. This Natsu was a lot more serious than the one she had known but that probably had to do with the fact that he was a captain of his own ship.

"I know I had to get the list from Wendy." He took her hand and without any warning jumped from the ship, Lucy gave out a small scream that ended the second he landed on the small boat below; Erza and three other crew members were already seated.

Lucy glared at him "Never do that again!" she hissed thumping him across the head with her bag. Natsu held up his hands in surrender and sat down. The three crew members; Eric, Tom and Leonardo took up the paddles and started paddling them to the island. Natsu tugged off his prized scarf and tied it around his hair, completely obscuring it from view.

"Why are you hiding your hair?" Lucy asked.

Natsu gave her a pondering look before saying bluntly: "You know, I've been wondering for a while…but have you been living under a rock all your life?" It was an honest query but Lucy looked to have taken it the wrong way because she was glaring darkly at him. "I-I didn't mean to offend you or anything it's just that…well you didn't seem afraid of us despite Fairy Tail being a well-known pirate crew."

"What does this have to do with your hair?" Lucy bit out.

Natsu grinned "I'm one of the top ten most wanted by the government and my hair gives me away−ow!" Erza had smacked him across the head and looked ready to strangle him.

"You idiot, you don't tell people that!"

Lucy frowned, a bit put off "…It's not a problem Erza. I wouldn't sell you out. I swear." Erza didn't look as relieved as Lucy hoped her words would have made the redhead, instead gave her a heated glare that had the blonde scooting closer to Natsu.

"Let me make something clear to you Lucy−I don't trust you, I like you and your personality but I don't trust you…you or your little friend and If you ever do anything to harm my friends, I will kill you. We aren't friends Lucy, we're just giving you a ride to an island understand?"

Natsu felt his heart stop when he smelled pain rolling off her Lucy in waves, her face looked completely relaxed as though it didn't mean a thing to her and she probably fooled every else into believing that, but not him. She caught his stare and almost immediately her pain disappeared, if Natsu hadn't known better he would have thought she had gotten over Erza's words but he knew Lucy was simply a lot better at masking her emotions than he had initially thought.

"She didn't mean that Luce…" he said

Lucy waved away his words "I'm okay Natsu. I understand. We just met…we're not friends or anything…you don't know me…" He caught a waft of her pain before it once again completely disappeared. The silence that followed was stifling.

Lucy was the first to leave the ship when they docked, she barely heard Erza send Eric−the crewman who she thought was scrawny but had really pretty long green hair− to watch her. He was quickly at her side but she paid him no mind. The pain she felt at how Erza treated her was harsh, she knew that they weren't really her friends per say since her friends were all dead but to be told that was a lot more damaging that she thought it would be.

The island was big but the town only took up a small portion of it, from what she could see large walls surrounded the village, separating it from the woods. Maybe there was some beast out there and that was why they had those walls, either way she didn't know and she didn't care she just wanted to finish up her shopping and get away from this idiot so that she could get some alone time. She needed to cry and she couldn't do it here.

Eric was good lad, a smart lad, a good smart lad who wanted to move up from cleaning duty and he was a smart lad who knew that this was the first step to doing that. He wasn't a stupid lad so he saw how Natsu treated Lucy; everyone saw how Natsu treated Lucy. The last time the salmon haired pirate had taught someone to fish she had silver hair and gray eyes. Maybe that was why Erza was so harsh to Lucy; she didn't want to get close to her when she would inevitably leave.

But enough of that, back to the matter of Eric being a smart lad; he was a smart lad who knew that carrying all twenty of Lucy's shopping bags would make her happy and in turn Natsu happy, but alas, Eric was not smart enough to realize Lucy slipping away, easily unseen as the bags blocked his sight.

Eric was a good smart lad, a good smart lad who, in a few minutes, would have to find Natsu and explain he had lost Lucy; soon Eric might be a good smart dead lad.

Lucy threw down the bag of medical ingredients she had procured for Wendy and curled up into a ball at the base of a tree; she had jumped the town wall in hopes of getting the solitude she wanted in the wilderness. If anything attacked then she could finally try out her keys; she had yet to do so and was curious if they would be different as well. The tears she had been holding in were finally allowed to fall and she sobbed, crying out her despair, stress, anxiety and pain at her situation. Unbeknownst to her two little boys, one with short blonde hair and the other with short black hair sat transfixed in a nearby tree watching her.

She didn't know how long she had been there; she just knew that when the pain in her heart lessened she decided it was time to head back before Eric got in trouble. Before she could move a low growl reached her ears and she stood slowly, wiping away her tears to clear her vision. She screamed when she saw a large beast that looked like an overgrown white Lion with a snake tail and a flaming mane was approaching her. She was in trouble, her keys were in hidden in a pouch in a secret compartment of her bag and the time it would take her to get them would see her dead.

She took a hesitant step back and it leapt.

A blaze of white hot flames shot out from somewhere above her, creating a barrier between her and the Chimera. She hadn't even gotten her bearings when a small hand clutched hers and she was pulled away, dragged through many bushes before finally coming to a stop outside a cave.

"Hey are you okay lady?"

She looked down and gaped at the little boy beside her; he looked no more than ten and was dressed in black pants with no shirt. It was his face that had her gaping. Oh sweet mother of god she was looking at a chibi Rogue!

Lucy didn't know what to say, she was still in shock at the fact that Rogue was Wendy's age in this world. Another shock came seconds later when a chibi Sting jumped down from a tree and landed before her, dressed in a white pants with no shirt either. He was smiling "Did you see that?!" he asked not seeming in the least bit put off to be speaking to a stranger. "I just blew that Chimera sky high! You're lucky we were there lady or you would've been its lunch."

"U-Um right, thank you for that" she didn't know what to say, she was still in shock.

Rogue tugged her forward, pointing to the cave "It's safe in here." He said as they entered. Sting lit up a pile of logs and took a seat in front her next to Rogue. A few silent seconds passed before Lucy decided to introduce herself.

"I'm Lucy."

"Sting"

"Rogue"

"…so how did you boys find me?"Lucy asked, a bit curious. "Are you alone out here?"

"We were hunting for food when we heard you crying…we didn't know how to make you stop so we just watched…" Rogue said, looking genuinely sad that he did not stop her tears.

Sting played with a bit of dirt then answered her other question "We've been alone for a long time…our parents died when we we're babies and our adoptive parents were killed by the government."

"You're Dragonslayers right?" They were immediately on alert and looked ready to bolt, they probably hadn't expected her to know that. She decided to sooth their nerves before they disappeared. "I've studied different forms of magic and can spot Dragonslayer magic when I see it−Does that mean you're adoptive parents were dragons?"

They nodded. "You won't tell the government, will you? People come out here all the time to try and catch us…you aren't like them are you?" Rogue asked. Lucy resisted the urge to squeal at how cute the quiet boy looked and sounded.

"Of course not!" She shouted as her mind moved a mile a minute to try and figure out a way to save them. There was just no way they would stay alive long here, Dragonslayer or not. Sooner or later the government would hear about them and then they would send in forces to kill them. "Look, I can do magic too, just like you. I'll get in as much trouble as you if the government finds me so."

Sting was immediately on his feet "Wow! What kind of magic?! Can you show us?! We've never seen other types!"

Rogue nodded rapidly.

Lucy chuckled "Sure, I have to try them out anyw−" she paused in reaching for a bag that was no longer on her shoulder. "My satchel! Damn! I am so not running up and down to get back those herbs. Come one we're going back to where you found me, I left my bag and some really important stuff are in it." As they left Lucy prayed no curious animal ripped into her bag.

"You did what?"

Eric really wished that Natsu had shouted at him, when Natsu shouted it meant he wasn't as angry as they all thought; when his voice grew calm and cold then you knew he was beyond furious. Eric trembled, taking a step back and almost stepping on Lucy's bags around him. He had searched for her as long as he could but couldn't find her and since the sun was setting he had hurried to the port because that was the meeting time they had all set, he had hoped beyond all hopes that she was there…but she wasn't, instead Natsu had been there sipping on a can of soda.

"Oi where's Lucy," Natsu had asked

"U-Um W-well you see…"

Natsu must have smelled his fear because his next words had been shouted "WHERE IS LUCY?!"

"I-I-I don't know! I lost her a few hours ago!" and those words led to Eric's current position.

Natsu pushed roughly past him, running back into town in search of the blonde haired girl, who despite only having met him days ago had secured a place in his heart. She was just so much like certain silver haired beauty it was impossible for her not to. He picked up her scent when he neared the wall surrounding the village and knew immediately that she was on the other side. He leapt the wall without a second thought and took off in a mad rush, her scent was strong on this side and before long he was staring in barely hidden fear at a large burnt patch of grass. It was still smoldering at places which meant it hadn't been put out long; he could smell Lucy's tears and he saw her bag discarded at the base of a tree. Lucy would never have just run off without her things and despite how put off he knew she had been at Erza's words she would never have left Wendy to fend for herself.

That only left the option that she had been attacked and ran. He couldn't smell blood so she hadn't been hurt…but what had caused the fire? Lucy couldn't do magic, she had been in a travelling dance group for Kami's sake. "Lucy! Luce!" he shouted out, in hopes of her being close. He hadn't in all truth and honesty been expecting a reply, especially not as close as the one that followed his shouts sounded.

"Natsu?"

He spun around, relief flowing through him when he saw the blonde appear from behind some bushes; he hadn't smelled her because she had melded with the scent already in the area. He was curious as to who the two boys with her were but tossed it aside in favor of pulling Lucy to his side so that he could look her over for injury.

"Hey you let Lucy go!" the blonde boy shouted. "She's ours!" the boy didn't wait to be obeyed he merely leapt into the air, his fist encased in white flames. The other boy took that as his cue and ran forward, his fist also becoming enflamed though the flames were black instead of white. Natsu was surprised at seeing other Dragonslayer's since so much slayers had died. He was not though, shocked enough to allow himself to be beaten. He easily caught the blonde's wrist and threw him into his approaching friend; they collided and rolled into a tree, both falling unconscious.

"Sting! Rogue!" Lucy ran over to the two boys, gathering them in her arms to check for cuts and bruises. She gave Natsu a mild glare that had him scowling back, hey he hadn't done anything wrong here, he was the one who got attacked.

"Why are you glaring at me?! I should be the one glaring at you because you ran off!"

Gulit appeared on Lucy's face and she looked away. She should have kept track of the time. She sighed then apologized "Sorry about that, I just wanted some time alone…"

Natsu was grateful she was safe and uninjured so he dismissed the issue with a mere nod and grabbed her bag "let's go it's time to leave." He looked at her, waiting for her to move but she seemed to be staring at the boys in contemplation. "Oi Luce, we need to move, the suns almost set and we have to get back to the ship before nightfall. You don't want to be in these waters on such a small boat in the night."

"…Natsu, can I ask you a favour?"

Natsu was immediately on high alert, when a female asked for a favour from a male it was never something good "W-What is it?" he asked wearily, she was looking at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Can they come with us? They kinda grew on me, they're just children and you know how the government is about magic," she contemplated saying something about the government's hatred for Dragonslayer magic but didn't want to give away that she knew about it. If Erza knew she knew about that then the redhead would probably throw them off the ship, labeling them as Government spies. Dragonslayer magic was so rare that only government officials knew about it and it was a top secret. She knew about it from her world and the Lucy from this world had known about it because her father was friends with very talkative government workers.

"I-I don't know Luce Erza wouldn't be happy…" Natsu muttered, he felt for the boys since they were Dragonslayers like him but Erza was scary when she was angry.

Lucy rolled her eyes "I do believe you're the captain. Plus, we'll be out of your hair in two days, that isn't so bad now is it?" Natsu didn't want her to leave in two days, he actually wanted her to stay but Era would never allow that, the last time he had allowed a girl to stay…let's just say it didn't work…

He sighed and nodded "Fine"

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