Author'S Note: Just WOW you guys! I got two comments with the first hour of posting if not sooner, and then a slew more followed. Thank you all so much! I hope that you keep commenting! I probably won't put a comment requirement on my next chapter though because I felt bad about forcing you guys to do it out of fear that I wouldn't continue, or at least continue in a timely manner. And I came up with that decision hours after I posted chapter so those of you who did not respond all too kindly to my request, (this is really petty but,) I didn't do it because of what you said. And, for those concerned reviewers, I did say that I was going to finish this story regardless of the amount of comments I got so never think that I won't.

Anyway, I still do LOVE to receive comments so if you have the time or really enjoyed something like my "fire retard-ant" insult Gray made in the last chapter, I would love to know. I also laughed so hard at most of your guys comments. They kept me going the rest of my day! :)

Lastly, this comment is dedicated to ShiningStellar who was the first person to buzz in with the correct answer of Haru from Rave Master. Thank you everyone for trying. A lot of you got it right and I wish that I could let you all win, but rules are rules.

The question for this chapter will be at the end of the chapter as it will be from this point on.

P.S. Whoever reviewed with the name yourworstnightmareifyodont, that is the kind of smart-ass-ed-ness that I LOVE! XD

Ostriches

'Shit! Haru!' Lucy thought, wondering as to how she could have allowed herself to lose track of him. Unfortunately for her, the particular foliage covering this area of the forest placed her at a disadvantage compared to shorter individuals like Haru, or Aoi, for instance. Thick branches stretched out from the grainy tree trunks that littered the area; however, they did not grow low enough to impede the speed of vertically-challenged people like Haru, much to Lucy's chagrin.

"LUCY!"

Lucy cocked her head to her left, towards the direction of the sound, a decision she instantly regretted when her face collided with a hard tree branch. She fell to the forest floor and threw up a hand to massage her injured right temple. Lucy kicked the tree next to her where the offending branch had originated from.

'Damn tree,' she cursed, getting back up to her feet. The stellar spirit mage looked past the tree to her left once again for a brief moment. Lucy wasn't sure if she was going crazy or not, but she could have sworn that that was Natsu's voice calling out to her, but as to why he would be all the way out here, she hadn't had the foggiest.

"!"

'Haru!' the blonde remembered. Lucy shrugged off her thoughts regarding the mysterious voice calling her name, knowing that more important matters were at stake and made her way to the source of the screaming. The brush seemed to be clearing up to Lucy's relief and the Stellar Spirit mage could make the fallen outline of Haru. At first she was relieved to see that he was still in one piece, but fear ripped through her when she noticed the large entity poised over him. Lucy could feel her heart jump to her throat, sensing the danger the boy was in and willed her feet to power her faster. In an instant, she jumped through the foliage into the clearing and dove towards Haru's fallen body. Lucy felt the soft fabric of his shirt and she knew that she had a hold on him. Yanking the cloth to her chest, she captured the boy's body in her arms, pulling him into her fall. Beside her, she could feel the rush of displaced air created by the monster as it lunged at the spot where Haru's body had just been. But Lucy did not have much time to dwell on the unpleasant sensation of narrowly avoiding being the beast's morning snack, as the ground came rushing up to her. She rolled her shoulder to the left, trying to shield the child and take the brunt of the impact herself.

The dirt floor had been harder than Lucy had imagined it would be and she cringed at the contact. Lucy opened her eyes after they skidded to a halt, quickly looking down to see Haru safely cradled in her arms and instantly felt relieved, knowing he was safe. Her reprieve was short-lived however, as she realized a dark shadow was now looming over her.

'A snake?' Lucy thought horrified, staring at the oversized serpent incredulously. The olive-toned snake leered menacingly, its threatening amber eyes forcing Lucy into action. She pushed herself and Haru off the ground and in one swift move, Lucy heaved Haru up so his head hung over her shoulder. His body was slanted slightly, causing his legs to beat against her left thigh whenever she moved. Despite this inconvenience and the possible bruising it could lead to, Lucy preferred the new position, as it allowed her to only support the child with one arm and thus, freeing up her other to arm to pull forth her keys. With her left arm poised threateningly as she held forth her golden keys, Lucy narrowed her eyes at the beast. She did not want to fight the creature, not like this anyway. She knew that as long as she was holding onto Haru, she was at an extreme disadvantage and merely hoped the serpent was wise enough not to mess with a mage.

"Leave," she commanded, and suppressed a shiver when she saw the creature's face contort into an ugly grin. However, to her surprise, the snake did what she told it to and turned away from her. It was now focused on a small, brown object across the field. Lucy felt relieved that it had chosen to leave them alone, until she saw the brown mass begin to expand and contract. It was breathing! Whatever it was, it was a living thing and almost as if she had been struck by lightning, the stellar spirit mage suddenly remembered Haru's description of Toshi.

'He's big and brown with a white spot covering his entire ear!'

'Toshi!' Lucy thought, horrified. Although she couldn't see the white ear, she knew that the brown object lying there could only be Haru's beloved pet. After all, they were in this predicament because they heard barking coming from deep inside the woods.

"No! Stop!" Lucy screamed, trying her best to run with Haru in her hands, but was forced to admit that the extra baggage slowed her down tremendously. The snake ignored her and lunged for the downed canine.

"Noooo!" she cried and like an answer to her prayers, an orange-reddish hue emerged from the tree line right in front of the beast. The flaming fist was soon followed by a furious-looking Natsu. His fist collided with the serpent just before it could swoop down and swallow the dog. The monstrous snake flew back, falling into some trees and crushing them under its girth.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed happily. He always had her back. Lucy couldn't help but be amazed at how he always managed to be there for her.

"Hey, Luce! What's up?" he smiled back at her, and if Lucy didn't know better, she would swear that just a minute ago, he had not punched a giant snake twelve yards into the air. Speaking of which… The snake bounded up from its bed of broken trees to glare at Natsu. The snake slithered towards the dragon-slayer, emitting an awful high-pitched cry. Lucy brought her free hand to her ears, despite that it was still clutching onto her keys. She looked up in time to see the creature lunge towards Natsu. He was about to dodge, when Lucy realized that Toshi was still lying right next to him. If the snake missed Natsu, it would most certainly hit Toshi.

"Natsu! The dog!" she yelled.

The dragon-slayer looked down, noticing the dog for the first time.

"Kuso," He swore, flames now erupting from his feet. The fire propelled him far over the treetops and even the head of the snake, much to the monster's surprise.

"Fire Dragon's," he said, pulling his left leg up to his face, flames continuing to dance in a trail behind him, tracing up to his leg, "CLAW!" Natsu yelled, bringing down his leg on top of the snake's head, sending it crashing into the ground just a few feet shy of Toshi. Dust flew up from the impact and Lucy braced herself as a shockwave of air hit her.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled angrily, opening her eyes once most of the dust had settled. "You nearly killed Toshi!"

"Hey! He's still alive, isn't he?" Natsu shot back.

Lucy huffed and made her way over to the canine, relieved that Natsu was indeed correct that the dog was still alive. However, it had been badly beaten. She knelt down next to the injured pet, laying Haru down beside her. Toshi's head was soaked in blood and his front left leg seemed to be broken. Lucy couldn't be sure whether the wounds were inflicted prior to Natsu's stunt or not, but as long as they weren't life-threatening, she supposed it didn't matter much. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, but could not revel in the canine's survival long. The ground jerked and vibrated parlously beneath her and Lucy swore she hear her bones rattle. Slowly, the blonde turned her head to face the sight she feared; the snake was getting back up. It shook its head, small rocks falling down to the dirt below with each shake of the head.

"It's still moving?" she cried out.

"KKYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the beast screamed. Lucy ran her fingers up to her ears once again to block out the deafening wail. Even so, the howl penetrated her defenses and she could feel it coil itself around her very being.

"All right! Time for Round Two! I'm all fired up!" Natsu answered in response to the serpent's shriek. And despite his superior hearing, he showed no signs of irritation left over from the snake's yell. Rather, the dragon-slayer seemed incredibly eager.

'Monster,' Lucy thought, referring to both beings in front of her.

"Hey, Lucy."

"Eh?"

"Take that dog and kid and get to a safe place while I deal with this guy," Natsu told her, jabbing a thumb towards the overgrown serpent. Lucy starred at her pink-haired friend for a moment, but the confidence that exuded from his entire being told her that the dragon-slayer could handle the monster.

"Fine. Just don't burn it beyond recognition."

Natsu looked down at her, confused as to her sudden concern for the snake.

"I've always wanted a pair of snakeskin boots," She joked, scooping up Toshi in her free arm and Haru in her other while she staggered to her feet.

'Boy, these guys are heavy. Maybe I should start lifting weights,' Lucy grumbled internally, moving as far away from the battlefield as she could muster. Her sore and feeble arms forced her to settle for a spot just on the opposite edge of the clearing, right at the tree line. She dropped to her knees, laying Toshi down first and then, using a tree to support the child, doing the same for Haru.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Lucy could hear Natsu cry out in the background. Her eyes noticed the orange and red flickering light flirting against the brown wood and green grass around her. Lucy knew that it could only be caused by the giant fireball that her friend had magically brought forth, breathing the flames into life just as easily as she called upon her spirits. But instead of worrying about Natsu, Lucy chose to be slightly more productive with her time and watch over Haru and the others. Only sparing a second to lament her skirt, Lucy tore a piece of the blue fabric off and used it to blot off some of the blood covering the canine.

"Sorry," she mumbled as the canine winced under her touch. Meanwhile, Lucy could hear the fight rage on behind her.


"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled, his clenched hands covered in flames. In one swift blow, he knocked the creature down just as he had been doing for the past ten minutes and just like all those times before, the serpent slithered back up.

"Bring it you overgrown worm, I'm just getting warmed up." Natsu smirked, always eager for a challenge.

The serpent glared at Natsu, slowly easing its long, muscular body to the right of the dragon-slayer. Natsu was oblivious to the snake's shifting body. He was too focused on the head to bother looking anywhere else, an oversight that would lead to his downfall.


"Mmrrrrnnnnn," Haru mumbled, rubbing his head.

"Good, you're awake now." the boy heard a female voice tell him.

"Huh?" he murmured, slowly opening his eyes. The bright light from the sun flooded his senses, leaving him momentarily blind. He blinked a few times, the world slowly coming into focus. Lucy knelt over him, smiling, glad that he was waking up and coming to.

"Fire Dragon's Elbow!" a male voice screamed from behind her. Haru looked behind the stellar spirit mage towards the origin of the cry. His body quivered with fear when he noticed the terrible monster that was still in the clearing with them, but he managed to bite back his scream. Suddenly, a flash of pink and red darted into his line of vision and he noticed a boy fighting the creature. Flames darted and erupted around the pink-haired mage as he battled the creature head on. Haru watched in amazement as the man gave the serpent a powerful kick to the jaw, sending its head rearing back.

"Wow," He breathed out, more intelligent words failing him at the moment.

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked, leaning over him to place a cool hand to his forehead, inadvertently showcasing her oversized bust in the process.

"F-Fine," He stuttered, a blush creeping across his face.

'Awww. He can be really cute sometimes,' Lucy thought to herself, smiling warmly at him, completely oblivious that it was her unintentionally provocation position that made him behave as such. Haru quickly turned away from her, his embarrassment getting the better of him. In doin so, his gaze fell upon the injured Toshi.

"Toshi!" he cried out, scrambling to his friend's side. "I'm so sorry, Toshi." he whispered, petting the canine tenderly, "This is all my fault. Please forgive me."

"Your fault?" Lucy questioned.

"Yes. Toshi protected me from that snake and that's how he got hurt," Haru answered, silent tears streaming down his face now.

Lucy was about to protest, when a loud yell caught the pair's attention.

"WWAAAHHHH-MMRGRESH!"

Lucy turned back to where Natsu and the creature had been fighting, only to see that the pink-haired dragon-slayer had been ensnared in the serpent's coils. His face had turned a sickly green color and Lucy knew just what that meant.

"You idiot!" she shrieked. "Do you really consider that thing transportation?"

Natsu tried to respond but only ailing sounds could be heard from the unfortunate mage.

Lucy growled at his stupidity, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand in frustration. Without wasting another second, she turned back to Haru, her expression deadly serious.

"Listen. If you want to repay Toshi, then watch over him while I go help my friend," Leaving the boy to consider her words, she left to go help Natsu.

The serpent shook him violently and appeared to take great pleasure in beating the trapped dragon-slayer's head upon whatever hard object it could think of.

"Lucy Kick!" Lucy yelled, extending her leg to hit the portion of the beast coiled around Natsu. But sadly, Lucy lacked the ridiculous strength her friends all seemed to share and her kick fell flat. The stellar spirit mage felt her momentum immediately die when she hit the snake. It was like kicking a brick wall and with the momentum now gone, she could feel herself falling to the ground.

"Owww," Lucy groaned, rubbing her behind, which had taken the full brunt of the fall.

"WRUSHY," Natsu managed to gurgle, causing Lucy to look up into the golden eyes of the serpent. The blonde held back a gulp and fumbled for her keys while closing her eyes. The stellar spirit mage knew that she would never reach her precious gateways to the spirit realm in time. However, when she felt the cool metallic rods that were her keys, she knew something was wrong. Opening her eyes, she saw the snake had continued to toy with Natsu. It mostly likely considered it payback for all the blows the dragon-slayer had inflicted upon it earlier or perhaps it was just tenderizing the mage, preparing it for digestion. Either way, Lucy didn't care; what she did care about was how the beast found her so little threat that it didn't even bother to attack her.

'That bastard is looking down on me!' she thought bitterly, bringing forth her keys. She ran to face the creature head on and began to recite the summoning spell.

"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and-"

Lucy did not get the opportunity to finish her spell as she was hit by the serpent's tail, sending her halfway across the clearing. The celestial spirit mage had inadvertently gotten directly in the snake's target zone that it had meant for injuring Natsu and in the creature's excitement, it did not notice her.

The second she hit the ground, Lucy heard a dreadful scream. She looked up to see the monster thrash about wildly. Its body convulsed from some unknown cause and it cried out in intense agony. Lucy could feel the fear swell up inside of her. She was afraid, afraid of whatever plague could hurt this monster when even Natsu could not. But she bit back her fear when she saw a flash of pink being thrown up into the air as a result of the snake's violent thrashing. She pushed her legs, running towards the disoriented dragon-slayer. He was still sick from his previous bout with the snake and could not do a thing to impede his fall.

"Natsu!" Lucy called running to the spot where he would fall. She held out her hands, ready to catch him, not quite factoring in just how fast the pink-haired boy was falling.

WHAM!

Lucy felt like she had been hit by a bus. Fighting against the heavy object that lay on top of her, she managed to move her arm to rub head. It took her a moment to process the situation, realizing the hefty weight pinning her to the ground was her none other than her best friend and partner, Natsu.

"Get off of me Natsu! You're crushing me to death!" she yelled, failing her limbs about wildly. She felt like a turtle that had been flipped onto its back and was desperately trying to right itself. Finally, she managed enough strength to toss the dragon-slayer off of her and took a deep breath, reveling in her newfound freedom.

Turning over to face Natsu, with her limited strength that she had only been able to flip him off of her, she noticed he was just recovering from his transportation issue. She felt sorry at first, but then, remembering as to just what had made him feel nauseous in first place, she grew slightly irritated.

'Really, who considers a giant snake transportation?' she mused to herself. 'Ah! That's right! The snake!'

Lucy sat up and looked at the fallen creature. Instantly, she knew it was dead.

'Just what the hell happened?' Lucy thought bewildered. The blonde mage pushed herself to her feet and approached the creature tentatively, stretching out a hand in front of her. Her fingers lingered just above the cool and slick skin and she could feel the electricity pace through her body as her digits hovered over the serpent's body. She could feel her heart beat faster and heard the slight suck of air she breathed in before she lowered her hand to touch the lifeless body in front of her. Lucy felt as if she was merely a spectator to the whole event, that she no longer had control over her body and was forced to watch herself from a distance. The instant her fingers touched the olive skin of the monster, the forest and everything else around her disappeared to blackness. Her mind became flooded with an image of a person's face. The man's features were cast entirely in shadows, all except for his unsettling grin and the trimmed goatee below it. Lucy instantly recoiled and retracted her touch. To her relief, the second her fingers lifted off of the serpent, the image disappeared and she was brought back to her senses. But she could feel her legs wobble beneath her and felt as if her very life force had been sucked out of her.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled, running to her side, catching her before she could fall down. The entire incident occurred only over a matter of seconds, but even so, it seemed to have drained all the energy out of her.

"Luce, are you ok?" he asked, deeply concerned. Lucy could read the emotion riddled through his face and was touched by his worry. The stellar spirit mage took a few more deep breaths before she answered him.

"Yes, Natsu. I'm fine. I just…I don't know really, but I'm fine now," she told him, pulling herself free from his grip to stand on her own and stare at the snake. She glanced down to her fingertips. They seemed perfectly normal. There was no lingering trace of magic or anything.

'What was that?' she mused.

"Hey! What are you guys doing? Is that snake dead or not?" Haru called out from his relatively safe location across the field. He had fashioned himself a club somehow. Lucy figured it must have been a crude instrument created from whatever was close to him.

'Ah! Haru! I forgot all about him!' Lucy scolded herself, turning her attention to him.

"Yeah, it's dead," she answered ruefully, feeling some apathy for the painful death the monster endured and beginning to walk towards Haru. Even if it was trying to eat them, it seemed to have suffered a far more terrible end than she could have imagined.

"So how are you feeling?" she asked once she got close enough to the child.

"Fine. Toshi seems to be feeling better too!" Haru added gleefully. Toshi did seem to be much better. Sometime during their fight, the canine had woken up and licking his injured leg. Lucy knelt down next to the dog and delicately took the wounded limb in her hand. The dog grimaced but let her examine the injury.

"Hmmm, I think he broke his leg. He'll need to see a vet," Lucy determined.

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy called out, turning around to face the oddly quiet dragon-slayer. She realized why when she saw him. The dragon-slayer was poking the dead snake incessantly, materializing from one spot to the other.

"JUST WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" She screamed. Natsu stopped and looked at her blankly.

"Well, when you touched it, you got all weird. I just wanted to see what the big deal was," he answered nonchalantly.

"Baka," Lucy deadpanned. "Now, if you're through," Lucy told him, her tone informing him that he had better be through with what he was doing, "I'm going to need you to carry Toshi so we can get out of here."

"Fine. Whatever," He grumbled, walking over to them.

"You're ok to walk, right, Haru?" Lucy asked, standing up and holding out a hand.

"Yeah," He nodded, taking her hand.

"GGGRRRRRRRRR!" a low growled erupted from next to them. Both Haru and Lucy turned around to see Toshi face off with Natsu.

"Toshi. It's ok. He's a friend," Haru comforted him, but Toshi ignored him. His eyes remained set on Natsu and even with the dog's injured leg, it managed to give off a menacing aura while standing on its three good limbs.

"Come on. It's ok. I won't hurt you," Natsu reassured, extending a hand towards the canine.

"Natsu, I don't think-" Lucy was caught off by the dragon-slayer's scream. Natsu ran around the field like a madman waving his arm in the air with Toshi still attached.

"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Natsu hollered.

"That's weird. Toshi usually likes people," Haru mused aloud.

"Oh, don't worry about him. I just think Toshi sensed that Natsu is a cat person," Lucy answered before jogging off to help Natsu free his hand.


"Thank you both so much, for helping me find Toshi," Haru said, bowing in respect to his new friends. Thanks to Natsu, they had found the road once more and were ready to part ways.

"Don't worry about it. Just make sure you take him to a vet as soon as you get home. I honestly can't believe that he is walking on his own right now," Lucy commented.

"Yep! That's Toshi! He's super strong!"

"Arf!" Toshi answered happily, standing tall. Lucy could swear that the dog was trying to show off for her.

"Hmph," Natsu snorted. He was still holding a grudge against the canine. Toshi glanced at the dragon-slayer, growling. Immediately, Natsu ran a few yards down the road until his figure was approximately the size of an ant. Lucy giggled at his antics and gave Toshi a pat on the head and then turned to face Haru.

"Now, just because your parents are busy taking care of your baby sister doesn't mean that they don't love you. I'm sure that they are worried to death right now. So next time, when you feel neglected, don't run away from home."

"Ergh! How did you know I ran away from home?"

"Come now, did you really think that I was stupid enough to believe that you camped out here for two days just to find Toshi? Even if you did truly care for him, any other person would have gotten their parents to help them look or put up a flyer, but I didn't see any flyers when I was in Danerac," Lucy told him.

"Hmph. It's just not fair. Mom, Dad, and I were perfectly happy when it was only the three of us, so why did she have to come along? I never wanted a little sister anyway," He pouted.

"Haru, just because your parents are busy with your sister doesn't mean that they love you any less. And trust me on this; your sister's addition will only bring more joy to you and your parents' lives. Just give her a chance."

"Fine; I suppose I owe you one for saving me and Toshi back there, so I'll give her a chance. You know, luckily for you, I don't think that all that blonde has leached into your brain quite yet," Haru answered, sticking his tongue out at her as he took off down the road. Toshi followed him, managing to keep pace with the young boy, despite only using three legs.

"Why, you little brat!" Lucy yelled after him, bringing up a threatening fist. She really hated that blonde stereotype crap.

"Pshht," she sighed, turning around and heading to where Natsu was waiting for her. The sun had risen in the sky and Lucy's shrinking shadow told her that afternoon was fast approaching.

"What a busy morning this has been," Lucy said aloud.

"Yeah. What were you doing anyway?" Natsu asked.

"Oh. I just had a bad dream and decided to go on a walk, but you know what? I can't really remember it anymore. I think that it had something to do with the name 'Ophiuchus' though," Lucy contemplated.

"Oh, well. I guess it's nothing important!" The blonde exclaimed, pulling up one arm above her head into a stretch.

"You're so weird, Luce."

"Eh? Just what did I do that was weird?" Lucy spat back, agitated that he always called her weird. But Natsu ignored her comment, opting to practice his whistling skills instead. The stellar spirit mage bit back her urge to give the dragon slayer a well-deserved lump on the head and decided to ask him a question instead.

"So why are you out here Natsu?" She spat, still mad at the pink-haired mage.

Natsu turned to look at her with an incredulous expression, "To find you, of course! Why else would I be here?"

Lucy could feel her anger dissipating and a slow blush creep onto her cheeks from his very open admission. It may not have been a very romantic statement, but Lucy felt flushed nonetheless.

"And it's a good thing I did, too! You would have been snake food by now if I hadn't."

"Whatever," Lucy huffed, her previous embarrassing thoughts dissipating. Really, why did she get so flushed in the first place? Natsu was just being typical Natsu and would have come charging after any one of his nakama, not just her.


"Oi, look who's back!" Gray said aloud, nodding his head towards the road. Erza smirked as she turned to see the dragon-slayer and stellar spirit mage walking happily down the road. The pair seemed to be engrossed in a humorous conversation judging by the way Lucy was laughing.

"LLLUUUUUUCCCYYYY!" Aoi cried, running to the Stellar Spirit mage, throwing out his arms and tackling her with his hug.

"Hey, Aoi," Lucy answered, supporting herself with one arm and ruffling the young person's teal hair with the other.

"I was so worried!" she cried, snuggling into her chest. Lucy laughed at Aoi's antics and pushed herself off the ground while maintaining Aoi's embrace.

"I'm sorry; I just went on a little walk, is all."

"Come on, you two," Erza said, walking up to Lucy and Aoi and pulling the two apart. "It's nearly eleven; we need to get moving." Despite that she was speaking to both of them, Erza's gaze fell on Aoi. The child, in turn, boldly stared back.

"Ok, Erza," Aoi answered happily, "Let's get to the chariot, Lucy!" Aoi finished, taking Lucy's hand and dragging her off to the cart. Erza's eyes narrowed as she watched the two approach the chariot where Gray was currently loading up the luggage.

"Oi, Erza. What's the matter?" Natsu asked, looking between her and the subjects of her glare. "Are you mad at Lucy for wandering off or something? She has a reason, you know."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, she said that she had a bad dream or something."

"A bad dream?" Erza questioned skeptically.

"Yeah, she said she couldn't remember much about it anymore aside from that it had something to do ostriches or something," Natsu replied, horribly misquoting the blonde.

"Ostriches? As in the bird?"

"Something like that. Don't ask me why she was dreaming about ostriches though. You know how weird Lucy is," He answered, walking off to join the group, leaving Erza alone with her thoughts.

'Ostriches?' she thought again. She couldn't possibly fathom as to how ostriches could make someone have seemingly reoccurring nightmares. Something was very wrong. Erza could feel it in her bones.

"Erza, come on! Ash Brain here is too afraid to get in the chariot!" Gray hollered, forcing Erza to come back to reality.

"Oi! I'm not afraid of anything, Snowflake!"

"Snowflake? Why don't you get up here and say it to my face?" Gray taunted.

"Fine! I will!" Natsu shouted back, leaping into the vehicle and falling straight into Gray's trap.

"I'm gonna kill-" was all Natsu was able to spit out before collapsing to the floor, his face taking on a greenish hue.

"Jeez! You really have melted your brain, haven't you?" Gray mocked.

"UMURGSH," was all Natsu could bite out.

"Alright, is everything packed, Gray?" Erza asked, bounding up to the step ladder leading onto the chariot.

"Yep. Everything has been taken care of," Gray answered, an eager smirk on his face. He was ready to get moving and reach Suh Cuihpo. Erza gave him an approving nod and took a seat.

"Alright then, here we go!" Aoi yelled, bringing the vehicle to life. The group was on their way. Only more day of traveling and they would reach their destination…all according to plan.


Perhaps what I am most eager to learn about from you guys is what you thought of the fight scene. Was it too short, too long, too confusing?

Now for the question, from what date to what date do you need to be born in to be considered an Ophichus?