*Disclaimer: I do not own the story or the characters from Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima owns them.*
CHAPTER 7
Lucy watched as they rushed Lisanna to the infirmary. She followed and slipped into the room quietly. The master was staring into Lisanna's half-awake eyes. "My dear girl, what happened?"
"Th. . th . . they c came out of n . . nowhere." She started to sob, looking around the room at everyone. "We were. . . were in the f . . forest a little east of th . . the town yester . ." Her eyes met Lucy's and new tears welled up. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes trying to regain composure. The tears still spilled from her clenched eyes. She frantically looked to the master. "Please send someone! They called themselves the D. . D. . Dragon Demolishers." She was shaking so hard at this point, tears running down her face like rivers.
Lucy slipped out of the infirmary and quickly walked out the front doors, disregarding the much needed umbrella; once outside, she started sprinting home, trying not to slip from the slick wet cobblestone streets.
Halfway there she felt someone pull on her arm, stopping her. She whipped around to see Gray. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Lucy, what happened?" She just stared at him. "Where's Natsu and Happy?" She bit her lip and looked down shaking her head.
Gray could tell that Lucy was upset, and knew exactly what she was planning. Natsu's rash actions and impulsive influence was always contagious. "Lucy! I know what you're planning on doing. I . . I can't let you go." Lucy looked at Gray ferociously, her brown eyes matching his dark blue yes defiantly. Before she could start arguing, he continued. "I can't let you go after Natsu. . . Alone. . I'm coming with you."
Lucy bit her bottom lip and half tackled Gray into a deep hug. With a strained voice filled with emotion, she said, "Thanks Gray." She stepped away from him meeting his eyes again. "We have to save Natsu and Happy."
Lucy and Gray rushed into her apartment and frantically packed a few essential things into her small backpack. As they opened Lucy's front door, there loomed Erza Scarlet; her expression was domineering and perceptive. "The master has requested everyone at the guild hall immediately." Gray and Lucy exchanged baffled looks.
Lucy looked back in Erza's direction, avoiding eye contact. "Well . . You See . . ."
Erza squared her shoulders. "Are you planning on defying the master's orders?" Her toned was threatening.
Gray looked at her challengingly. "Erza, Lucy and I are going after Natsu. Mira told us the city and basic information about the job yesterday."
Lucy chimed in, "Yeah! We are going to speak with the client and see what information was given before looking for him."
Erza's expression was dangerous. Gray and Lucy knew that they were wasting precious time. Lucy but her lower lip nervously. She couldn't help but recall the time her and Natsu went on the S Class mission without permission. "Erza . . . Come with us!" Gray stared at Lucy, mouth agape. He remembered Erza's fury from that S class mission as well and couldn't believe Lucy was inviting Erza along. She was always so dutiful to the master and took his word as ultimate law. Lucy continued to plead, her eyes filled with heart wrenching emotion. "We will need your help to rescue them."
Erza stood still, eyes shut. Lucy and Gray couldn't tell if she was battling inner demons about going or if she was building up rage to unleash on them. After a minute, she opened her eyes. "We must leave immediately, there isn't any time for packing extra supplies." She looked at Lucy. "Whatever you have packed will have to be sufficient." All Lucy and saw was a whirl of red hair as Erza turned around and departed. They rushed after her, and all headed towards the train station.
The train ride was unbearable for the trio; no one spoke the entire ride. The sun had already started to set and it was getting darker by the minute. The only positive thing that they could all see was that the rain was starting to let up. Once they arrived, they rushed to the client's home.
When Mr. Rigney opened the door, he was surprised to see 3 soaking wet Fairy Tail wizards. Erza just simply made it sound like they were just in the area and wanted to see if their comrades wanted help or company on their job. He was happy to oblige and repeated the information. The client offered the small team hospitality for the night, but they declined.
As they rushed out into the dark, they team stayed alert and open for clues. Lucy summoned Pixus and asked her duck/compass spirit.
"Pixus, can you show us in which direction Natsu and Happy are?" Pixus closed his eyes and focused at Lucy's request. When he opened them, he looked confused. He threw his wing in the air, pointing one feather up. Lucy looked perplexed. "Up?" Pixus shook his head. The team thought about it.
Erza knelt down next to the spirit. "One?" Pixus nodded excitedly. The team looked at each other before looking back to him. "Please lead us to whoever you can Pixus." She pleaded hoarsely.
Pixus pointed to the East, just south of the town. Lucy looked to Pixus, "Can you come with us until we find them?" Pixus looked uncertain but agreed with a big nod.
They followed Pixus for fifteen minutes, until the spirit poofed back to the spirit world. Lucy looked sadly at her key. "Sorry, he isn't use to staying in our world for longer than a few minutes at a time."
"Lucy, we couldn't have made it this far without him, we will just have to keep a better eye out for Natsu or Happy now." They kept a fast walking pace spreading out a little so they could cover more ground.
After another 5 minutes, Lucy spots a small, furry, blue object roughly 15 feet in front of her. She runs over to find Happy unconscious looking tattered. "GRAY! ERZA!" Lucy screams as she falls to her knees next to the blue exceed. Gray and Erza appear next to her. Lucy carefully picks up Happy, turning his body so he was facing her.
Happy opened his eyes slowly. "L . . . Lu . . . Lushy?" His voice sounded weak.
Lucy felt tears rushing down her cheeks as she rubbed them on Happy's furry forehead. "I'm here Happy. It's okay. I'm here."
Happy lifted his little paw and touched her cheek, and she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "Lu . . . Lushy . . . Please s . . save N . . . ." His voice cracked and his body shuddered in pain. "Save Natsu."
Lucy bit her lip, trying to hold back the endless amount of water flowing from her eyes. "Where is he Happy?"
Happy looked towards the East and pointed his paw. Lucy looked in that direction and Erza bent down. Lucy looked to Erza who was also crying. "Happy, we need more information than that. How far? How were you separated? Time is of the essence."
Happy's expression troubled, looking between the friends. "It. . . it's about 2 miles East. . . Nat . . . Natsu threw me."
Lucy looked between Gray and Erza, perplexed. "Threw you?"
Happy smiled grimly. "Aye." With that, he lost consciousness. Lucy hugged him carefully as she stood up. She looked to Erza and Gray. "We need to find Natsu."
Gray scratched his head. "Why would Natsu throw him?"
Erza, clearly deep in thought, replied seriously, "Perhaps he threw Happy out of danger." She looked at Gray and Lucy. "There is only one way to discover the truth, let's go find Natsu."
They hastily made their way east, while staying alert and cautious for others. It was another hour before they were completely absorbed into the forest until they heard voices. The trio crouched down behind some bushes, and scanned the area. Soon 3 men walked into their view, complaining loudly. "Ugh why do we have to look for that blue cat and the girl? She isn't even as described in the original explanation."
One of the men smacked the complainer on the arm. "Shut it Marcus! It's your fault the white haired girl escaped."
The man who's name must be Marcus replied. "But that pink haired freak threw a fire spin my way. I had to dodge it; by the time I turned away, she was a bird flying away! It's Frankie's fault for letting the cat get away!" He threw a small stick at the third man who was looking up a tree.
The man who they called Frankie was the largest of the three and turned around with a roar. "ARE YOU BLAMING ME?!" His snarling face was covered his deep scars and his orange eyes gleamed dangerously.
Marcus replied, "I don't think we have another Frankie on our team, dimwit!"
Even in the dark, the trio could see Frankie's face turn red with anger. He up rooted the tree he was just looking up and threw it at his two comrades. They luckily dodged and glared at him. The third man who's name still unknown at this point cleared his throat. "I will take the blame for the cat. Master requested Frankie's assistance with the dragon slayer and handed me the mongrel. I wasn't expecting the Dragon slayer to slip past Frankie and give my face a flaming elbow, and then throw his friend. Who knows how far away that little beast is? We can look all night, but I don't think it will do any good." He shrugged indifferently. "I think we should regroup and look in the morning."
Marcus huffed. "I don't see the point of finding neither the cat nor the girl, Lenny."
The supposed, Lenny, wacked Marcus on the arm. "IDIOT! How stupid are you? They could go back to the guild for reinforcements. Plus you know for our plan to work we need at least one hostage." He sighed. "It's better if it's someone close to the dragon slayer. It would have been better to have them both so no one could inform their comrades and we could keep the blue exceed." His expressions turned to a sickening dark expression. "I hear exceeds sell for a high price. Some are desired as pets. . Others have peculiar and rare dining preferences." He laughed coldly. Lucy held Happy a little tighter, starting to feel sick to her stomach listening to what they were planning to do to the Exceed.
Frankie was standing awkwardly off to the side to sniffing the air. Lenny watched Frankie with interest while Marcus let out a sigh and plopped on the ground. "So are we done for the night or not?"
Frankie let out a sickening chuckle. "Oh no! We are just getting started." He grinned menacingly. He plodded over to the bush that the Fairy Tail trio was eavesdropping. Lucy looked to Erza and Gray, worried.
Erza sprang from her hiding place changing her outfit into the Heaven's Wheel Armor and charged at Frankie. Gray glanced at Lucy. "Stay here!" He leapt out and went for the remaining two enemies.
STAY HERE? HOW DARE GRAY ASSUME I'M OKAY WITH THAT! Lucy was furious, she stood up cradling Happy with her left arm, she grabbed her keys. "Open, gate of the lion. LEO!" Loke appeared and adjusted the sleeve to his suit. "Loke, I need you to help them attack our enemies." Loke glanced over his shoulder reassuringly, but stopped as he spied Happy in Lucy's arms. His expression turned cold with rage as he turned towards the enemies.
Lucy, knowing she couldn't fight hand to hand while protecting Happy, took a step back behind a tree. She watched in turmoil as her team mates struggled against their opponents. Erza was having difficulty moving around in such a small space, and it didn't help that her opponent was swinging a tree at her. Gray was fighting Marcus, who was throwing pins that looked like they were dipped in poison. Loke was ensnared in tree roots as the man name Lenny used the nature around him to do his bidding. He started to attack Erza and Gray as well until he noticed Lucy peering from behind a tree.
Lenny couldn't believe his eyes. It was the girl they were originally looking for! The white haired one was going to have to do, but now they can have their trump card. He smirked.
Lucy felt something touch her leg. She glanced down to see a tree root wrapping itself around her ankle. The next thing she knew she was being yanked in the air above the battle. Her scream was short as the vine covered her mouth and cocooned itself around her.
"LUCY!" Loke, Erza, and Gray all yelled together. Lucy struggled against the vines; she started to get sleepy. Trying to force her eyes opened she scanned the ground for Happy. She must have dropped him when the vines snatched her. She noticed she didn't see Loke anymore and wondered if he was forced back into the celestial world. Her eyelids felt like they weighed a hundred pounds as she tried to remain conscious. Finally, the blackness overcame her senses.
