Wahaha! I am finished! My insomnia strikes again! Welcome back my lickable lovelies!

Rated M.
M is for MATURE people.
If I can pretend to be, then you can too.

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! *sob* However sometimes I wonder if Mashima-sama used to follow me around and take character ideas from me and my friends.
At least let a girl dream!


Episode 7
A Fading Dream

Blood splattered across Natsu's blackened face as he reminded himself for the tenth time that fire would be bad. He was up against hunters in a closed area. Between the bodies and the trees there would be enough tinder to start a raging fire that would stretch through the entire woods. It was difficult keeping his fire at bay, using it had become natural for him but this was a time that he must show restraint.

It bothered him to no end.

They were fast, driven by hunger. The sound that escaped their vocal tubes were inhuman despite their previous form among the living. He wanted them away from the creek, and away from the woods. Preferring to burn down the town than the trees, he had tried baiting them. Then one would crouch and slip behind him while another lunged right for his front, forcing him to out maneuver both while others were clawing past for their turn. He spun out from behind the grasp of his follower and used his hand to chop at the back of its neck, hoping to sever its spinal cord. As it tumbled to the ground, others tripped over it to grab at him. Natsu's feet quickly danced away and smirked at the mindless remaining three.

He began to raise his foot to finish them all in a round kick, but faltered as one he'd downed grabbed his ankle. His eyes widened as he fell face first into the dirt, rolling over to kick the boney fingers from his leg. While he was distracted, one of the hunters fell on top of him and he was locked in a wrestling match. It was strong, and lowering its putrid mouth toward him with ravenous biting motions.

Natsu grimaced, "You are one gross little fucker!" He planted his foot onto its stomach and kicked it over him and into the other two that had been going for his head. That disgusting wet smack echoing between the trees to his sensitive ears caused him to wince. Panting, he sat up and freaked out when he saw that the first creep he'd downed was still crawling toward him. He scrambled back, those crawlers were just a little too creepy—even for him.

Really, really missing his fire, Natsu lifted himself up and stomped the crawler twice for double-tap's sake and ducked down as he heard another behind him. Natsu grabbed the attacker's foot from behind him and tugged at it, forcing the creature at his back to the ground. It cried in frustration as the annoyed fire dragon came at him and swiftly kicked its damaged head right off its shoulders. Breathing heavily, he scanned the woods.

Everything was quite again.

Without looking back, Natsu walked away. He didn't think about the direction, he just wanted to get away from the smell those corpses were still assaulting his nose with.

His walk took him right to the fishing hole he'd found Loopy and Levy at. He could still smell them: the intoxicating aroma of the blonde's strawberry cream, and the pleasant fragrance of the blunette's citrus. Smell enough of her and no one would have a runny nose. Natsu grinned at his passing thought and stood there, curious as to what to do next.

Follow them? Find out where they're camping? Could be handy since we're kinda neighbors. Go back and tell Ironeyes and Kitten about'em? Talk to them and introduce yourself...?

None of those options seemed very appealing. Aside from the New Amazons, he hadn't talked to anyone except his brother and sister since... since forever. The last thing he wanted was to be all weird and awkward around the only other two people he thought could possibly be new allies. Natsu recalled how it felt like his insides were caught in a vice when he'd seen Loopy's face. How bad would that be if she actually looked at him?

What the fuck's up with that anyway?

Things had changed ever since he'd chased that white rabbit in the woods. Maybe it had brought him to his own personal Wonderland. With all the odd things his family said he was blurting out, with him smelling out that house without realizing it. Staring at two girls like he was a damn pervert? Natsu raised his head a groaned. Things were changing.

And Natsu didn't cope with change well.

o.o;;

The deal that Mirajane and Erza agreed to was simple enough. Send Jet to Lamia Scale, and Erza and Gray would meet him back halfway. That way if Jet was returning with a lost friend, he could race ahead and inform the others of news while Erza and Gray continued to escort the missing person back to their new halls.

Mirajane had wrote a letter for those at Lamia Scale, updating them on FairyTail's status and location. Considering the failure of communication lacrimas nowadays, they must bring news whenever they could to keep allies informed.

Erza and her partner walked along the train tracks toward the guild. Gray had shared a few stories about Lyon and him when they were kids, but Erza found it hard to focus on what he was saying. Her mind was rolling around what they'd found in Porlyusica's hut. Arawn's hammer. She didn't know much about deities, she'd never been raised to wonder about such things. When she returned to FairyTail, she'd ask Laki about it. With Lucy and Levy still missing in action, Laki had to be their number one source of random information.

Erza suspected a trip to a library might be in their near future. Perhaps salvaging books could be a noble cause in and of itself. Whatever remaining culture their people had left should be preserved. As the world is now, they ran the risk of forgetting all the recorded histories of the world. Not many would think to teach such things when simply surviving is a day to day task.

If they could only find Lucy... she could find out anything worth researching with her spirit Crux. Let those two be safe. Last they knew, both her and Levy had been at Sabertooth on a mission for Master—and they'd never heard a thing from them or Sabertooth since.

"Erza? Are you listening?" Gray's annoyed voice tilted her out of her thoughts.

She looked over at him as they walked, "I'm so sorry Gray, I'm having a hard time focusing on anything in particular right now. My thoughts keep returning to Arawn's Hammer..."

Gray sighed, "Are you really thinkin that crazy old lady was on to somthin? I mean come on, Erza."

"Well what else do we have to go on, Gray?" She was growing defensive, "do you think it is science that led the population to get up and linger on after their life expires?"

It took him a moment to respond, slipping his hands in his pockets and fiddling with a loose string he found there, "Well... they do need to feed, that's science right?"

"Murder, reproduction, maybe, but I doubt they have to eat." Erza retorted immediately, "not much science there."

A frown overcame the face he was trying to keep neutral, "I dunno Erza, just seems far fetched is all."

Lowering her voice, she turned forward again and looked out onto the world so different from just over two years ago, "Everything that has happened seems 'far fetched'."

This brought the both of them to silence. The two continued their lonesome march delving in their own thoughts, Gray no longer attempted the distraction of reminiscing. It would be good to know how his brother was doing, he hoped he'd been able to keep the guild intact despite Jura's absence. Their master, Ooba hadn't been heard from—just like Makarov.

He had been watching his feet walking on the tracks when he heard Erza unsheathe her katana. Rarely did she requipt these days, for they'd learned many times over that residual magic attracted more like moths to a flame. Instead she opted for keeping a pair of sickles latched to her torso, a katana on her hip, and a spear on her back. If she needed back up Gray would try to help first with his combat skills before resorting to his maker magic. Not an easy task when he was burdened with their supplies, this woman would never pack lightly. An over loaded backpack was far better than the cart she used to keep in tow though. He looked up and watched her walking quickly to introduce her blade to a lone eater's neck, cleaving its head off in a single swoop, then casually tearing a dry part of the headless creature's clothing to wipe her blade. As he walked past it, he noticed the clothing it wore was a dress fashioned much like one Sherry would wear. Her popularity with the people of Margaret Town had been setting a trend. Gray shook his head sadly, and once again recited a silent prayer for the lives lost.

A moment of panic pressed deep within him when he heard his partner gasp, then fall to her knees. Gray had fallen behind a little and stepped quickly to catch up. "Erza? Erza!"

He looked into her eyes, and saw tears welling in them as she stared forward. Gray raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Jet waved to them from far off in the distance, the wizard walking next to him was one he thought he might never see again. He had his face covered and was loaded with more than a few weapons to choose from, his steps weary as he kept up with the quick pace the high speed wizard he traveled with set. Gray turned back to Erza with a smile, it may not be one of their FairyTail wizards, but it was one that might bring even more life into his dear friend's will to survive.

To Erza, this was a sign. Two reasons to gain a glimmer of hope on but one journey. Porlyusica's notes, and this man, the only man to have ever held sway over her heart—was coming home. Jellal was returning to FairyTail, to her.

o.o;;

The hungry dragon had opted for quail instead of fish.

Hunting them had proved to take much more patience than he thought he had the capacity for. Trying extremely hard to contain his fire, he'd spent almost all day stalking the birds. He had hoped they would arrive at their nest—eggs would've really hit the spot right about now, but it eventually became dubiously clear that these birds had no eggs to go to. So... eggs of no eggs, he had three quails to take home to feed his family.

Using the door to the house they were staying at never occurred to him. He simply used the window as if it was the simplest thing in the world. It was kind of funny how he'd freaked out his sister, who was laying on the floor calmly reading a book when he yelled, "Sup's on!" from the windowsill.

"Damnit Natsu! You've got to use the door! You're gonna give me a heart attack!" Wendy yelled back at him, had she truly been a kitten; her tail would have been all puffed out.

"Geez," Natsu swung himself into the room, holding their dinner by the neck, "You guys are way to uptight about that."

Wendy titled her head, "You... guys...?" This made her bite her lip, "Natsu, it's only me here."

Blinking curiously, "It is? Oh, okay." Natsu sat on the floor, leaning against the foot of the bed and started plucking the birds.

"Natsu?"

"Yea? What is it?"

"If we're going to be here for a little while, shouldn't we do that in the kitchen? This is where we sleep..."

Natsu sighed, "Fine. I guess." They rose together and headed for the kitchen.

They took seats at the table and went to work on the quails. Wendy had been worried about the funny way Natsu had been acting lately, so she decided this might be a good time to prod him a little. "So... I thought you were going to go fishing. Were they not biting?"

"Never tried," Natsu shrugged.

"...Why? You seemed pretty set on it this morning," Wendy watched him carefully.

"Meh. I ran into—" he glanced at her, noticing that she was watching him with inquisitive eyes, "into... some creeps. ...Over by the water, so after I took care of them I figured it wouldn't be much fun to sit and try to get some fish if I had to smell them the whole time."

Not a bit of that was a lie. I wouldn't lie to you, Kitten.

His sister set the last quail down and studied him.

Lying and neglecting the full truth was beginning to feel like the same thing under her gaze. Natsu glanced around the room, "Wh, where's Gajeel?"

Wendy laced her fingers and supported her chin on top of them, leaning on the table. "He took off after he heard those wails outside."

"He did huh...?" Natsu fretted a little, "I took care of those, where was he?"

Wendy shrugged, two could play at this game, "Maybe there was more than one band of them." She could plainly tell he was not telling her everything—so she would make him think she was leaving something out as well.

Unfortunately for her, he was completely unaware of a female's mind games. Natsu grinned at her, "Oh well! Who wants to wait on him?" He grabbed his sister's bird and flamed it up. "Time to eat, Kitten!"

He was a tad bewildered when she frowned at him and snatched it away, proceeding the eat it without looking at him.

What did I do?

Natsu grinned broadly at his own fat quail and fired it up nice and toasty, gobbling it down before his sister was even halfway done with hers.

"You really should have washed up before eating big brother." She said primly, "you're going to make yourself sick."

"Yeesh." Natsu grumbled, standing up, "When did you become such a teenager?"

"About a year ago, thanks for finally noticing." Wendy retorted.

"Such sass... you didn't get that from me. You oughta stop hanging around the man in the iron mask." He sighed, heading to the bathroom to wash up like his little sister had passively ordered him to. That was a good bird. If Gajeel didn't get home by the time he was minty fresh, then he couldn't be held responsible for the shelf life of that last quail.

Wouldn't want it to go bad waiting on an ungrateful dragon.

Sure the shower was cold, but Natsu found it refreshing after a day out in the hot sun, waiting on a quail's nest. He explored the shampoos and soaps and found one that had this great pine wood scent. He used it on his body and hair, imagining that the creeps out there would have a tougher time smelling him if he smelled like a tree. He pictured himself out in the woods, pulling tricks on those dumb things. They'd come shuffling along and he'd pull a rope and trip them, making them eat dirt.

He snickered mischievously, "Oh man this is gonna be so great!" Natsu applied much more soap than necessary, hoping the scent would stick.

o.o;;

Gajeel was following a scent that had him drooling at the mouth, the sweet taste of orange already playing tricks with his senses. He'd thought he was more like a meat kinda guy, but this smell... it was bliss.

He'd stumbled on the scent from a passing breeze while he was engaging with some of those annoying wailers and clung to it during the fight. It was way better than any smell his opponents had been putting off. Now that they were out and smashed into the ground, he couldn't just let that scent go. Gajeel wanted to devour it all for himself. He might share it with Wendy, but Salamander would have to make due with his dumb fish.

The smell led him to a stone cottage on the edge of the forest. It had a broken sign on the front that was so faded there was never a chance to try and read it. Oh well, it could have said 'PIT OF RABID DOGS' for all he cared—he was eating citrus fruit tonight. The iron dragon kicked the door in, expecting some sort of wild fruit growing where the sunshine might hit from the holes in the roof, but stopped short when he was met with two girls looking at him like they'd seen a ghost.

A girl with blue hair reaching to her back was sitting on an old couch with the most intriguing brown eyes, while a blonde had been laying with her head on the blunette's lap. They squinted at him at first, no doubt blinded by the light.

No turning back now.

"Geheh. It smells like fruit in here, you got any still on ya?"

The girls did something off then. The blunette started gripping the blonde and the blonde sat up quickly and shushed her. She locked eyes with him for a moment and threw a protective arm in front of her blue haired friend, "Levy don't... he's like Sting and Rogue..."

Those hypnotizing eyes of the citrus smelling shrimp widened as she forced herself to breath.

"Well that ain't very hospitable, comparin me to some other dudes just as soon as we's met," he smirked. Gajeel felt like he could play with the shrimp all day long and never get tired of it. Her face was full of delicious emotions.

Not like the blonde, who stared at him like he was gonna eat them.

Hell, what kinda shit has these two been through?

The blonde's loose bandage only clung to her wrist as she moved some bangs out of her face, and the sight of the pink mark she had there made him growl. Rage filled him, an iron hot spark that tingled right at the bottom of his spine. These broads were part of that dragon hunter guild.

And I walked right into it. Like Sting huh? Guess he was one of their victims. Well, set of pretty brown eyes or not, they ain't getting me. If they're gonna chase us all the way out here... only one thing left to do, I'm tired of running.

o.o;;

Natsu had dressed in just his pants and was examining the toothpaste when he heard the door downstairs burst open.

Great. Old Faithful's in one of his moods again. Seriously, doesn't he ever get tired of being a stick in the mud?

A little harsh, but he wasn't in the mood to cater to his brother's bad attitude tonight. Maybe he should go find him some more booze. The thought was fleeting however, because following the slam of the door came the clinking of chains and the sound of a girl crying hysterically. He heard Wendy run past the bathroom door and stop at the top of the stairs.

"Brother! What have you done?!" Natsu hadn't heard her voice sound so horrified since that first night in the cave, so the protective side of him rushed out to give his brother a most warranted beating to cause their sister to take a tone like that.

And what he saw from behind his sister was something that made himself think he should pinch the ever loving shit out of himself to wake up, because this had to be a nightmare.

Gajeel stood on the bottom floor and shut the door behind him after pulling a dirty, tired, and pained Loopy into the house by the shackles he must have made just for them. The weeping came from the blunette he had slung over his shoulder, probably wrecked so badly with her sobbing that she was rendered unable to walk as Loopy was, being tugged by the long chain that Gajeel held attached to both her wrists.

Natsu couldn't speak, it was time to wake up now. She looked so broken, and her friend looked like she might be beyond repair.

"You two just settle down. This is a good thing." Gajeel smirked, dumping the small woman to the floor from his shoulder.

"LEVY!" Loopy ran to her and tumbled down next to her, cradling the girl in her arms. The memories of when Gajeel had attacked her team when he was a part of Phantom Lord now fresh in her mind, and his mistreatment of her just now was an overwhelming taste of betrayal to the trust she had grown to feel for him. Dealing with this after everything else was too much for her to bear, she had missed Gajeel so much—for him to not only look at her as a stranger: but as an enemy. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Loopy spat out.

This was too much. Natsu pushed Wendy out of his way, using more force than he'd meant to. "We're taking prisoners now, Gajeel? Just what the hell are you doing?"

Gajeel kept his smirk, "Relax little brother! These two little girls' ain't as innocent as they look."

Loopy was staring right at Natsu, her eyes wide and welling with tears of her own. She gripped her friend as if she were the only thing keeping her grounded. "Just like Sting..." She murmured to herself. He couldn't breath with her eyes locked on him in such a way. Everything about those eyes screamed hopelessness and despair, and his heart broke beyond repair.

Natsu growled and his body temperature rose, "Let her go."

"That would be a bad idea," Gajeel swooped down and grabbed Loopy's wrist, forcing her to stand despite her pained cry from her hurt hand. "I ain't no murderer, but seein as how they're dragon hunters and all, I couldn't just leave them be around here, where we're nestin." Gajeel held her hand with a pink emblem on it toward his siblings. It was just like the red brand on his shoulder.

No...

Suddenly Natsu felt as though he was falling through an endless sea of darkness, never to hit bottom. Destined to forever fall down the rabbit hole. Loopy, the brilliant, capable survivalist was just another dragon hunter... and his broken heart turned cold.


-TO BE CONTINUED-

OOOOHHH! BUT I STILL LOVE YOU! Deep breaths, DEEP BREATHS! Keep breathing! We'll get through this together! There is always light in the darkness-DEEP BREATHS!

I know you're prolley mad at me... and you probably dun want my licks... but I give them to you neway: I pushed this chappie out a day early cuz you guys blessed me with so many awesome reviews-I was super pumped to get to where I'm going!

beginswithkay: That really means a lot, it truly does. It means that in some form or fashion, I touched your heart. To be able to reach out like that is the most magnificent feeling ever. Thank you for sharing it with me. ^.^
tkitty23: Ooooooohh... I'm really glad you don't know where I live right now. I get the feeling you're kinda loco like me, and I feel safe in my cozy blanket of anonymity. :D Don't do anything I would!
AuroraWolf64: Well... now they're all shacked up together under the same roof, ne? That's progress... right? ROFL, Once again Lulu's house becomes center stage. XD
fanficlove2014: Puppy Erzie? Kawaii! I'm a bit more of a cat person ((Neko-Natsu from previous fic, just too much cuteness! I lost one of my own nine lives! :3), and how the hell can that forgetful lil bugger remember ANYTHING? Honestly! Maybe instead of Neko-Natsu it should be Dumbo-Natsu, hehehe! I hear elephants have a REALLY great memory!

Just for you,
Seriphia
aka
Lick

SMILE!

*~.😅.~*