Lucy Heartfilia sat on a smooth, flat boulder overhanging the stream that ran by the cabin, her feet submerged into the cool depths. Brown eyes watching her blurred reflection, seeing small dull colored fish slinking through the water below. The rock she sat on was covered in soft moss; that moss turning into slick green algae at water level. Water bugs skipping across the surface of the calm edges of the small river.
The water gurgled by gently, this section of the stream calmer and deeper than most others. The tall trees above swayed gently in the soft breeze, a green leaf detaching from one of the branches and falling down into the water, she watched the leaf absentmindedly as it flowed with the current. The sky a deep azure blue, white fluffy clouds dotted the heavens. Many morning birds singing in the trees, greeting the new day with their beautiful songs that mixed together to make an harmonic symphony.
It was a truly beautiful morning and Lucy found herself leaning back onto the heels of her palms, closing her eyes and just soaking it all in. Kicking her feet gently, sloshing the water. The Celestial Mage enjoyed the feeling of water passing in between her toes, she felt a sudden urge to jump into the water but refrained from doing so since she only had the clothes on her back, she really had not prepared for this trip at all.
A large part of the blonde wished she had brought her note book so she could write, she would have to call Mira on her communication lacrima later to retrieve it since Natsu obviously had separation issues.
Speaking of Natsu, that lazy lizard was curled up into a tight ball in the center of the large clearing. Lucy smiled as she watched the dragon sleep, many of his mannerisms reminded her of a cat, especially now with him sleeping peacefully on the ground. His bladed tail coming dangerously close to his face as he snored softly, in to deep of sleep to do so loudly.
Lucy's stomach churned as she watched him, how weak must she have been go cry over a little speed bump like this? The blonde had just started to get over the utterly humiliating losses at The Grand Magic Games, she had started to be more confident. The brown eyed mage had just recently became proud in herself, she believed she had finally held a place on Team Natsu as a capable mage that could hold her own without someone's help.
But there she had been, so selfish and inconsiderate to cry. Crying never fixed anything, Lucy knew all to well. Part of her brain tried to justify herself; that the stress had built up, that she couldn't confide in Natsu like she normally did so of course she was upset. But now there was nothing she could do about it. So, she waited for Natsu to get up, not wanting to disturb him when he looked so cute.
Wait... Cute?
Lucy looked at Natsu's sleeping form somewhat bewildered, he stretched out leisurely still asleep, snorting when another butterfly landed on his nose. She had to admit, he was pretty cute. Even in human form, the blonde could not deny. But it wasn't like she liked him or anything! Lucy tried to justify herself. Sure, she did have a small crush on him when she first became a member of Fairy Tail, but that hardly counted. She had grown out of it over the years, obviously. They were partners, best friends. That was all. She blamed her evasive thoughts. After all, Natsu was a fine specimen of the male gender, they were both young. It would be perfectly natural for her wayward brain to think like that!
The blonde huffed to herself, was she really so immature to even be thinking about this? There were times when she suspected that Natsu actually did like her, like that fiasco back when she thought the Fire mage was going to confess his love for her under the Sola Tree. In reality he had just needed her help to dig a hole.
A freaking hole.
But he had done so much more for her, always saving her ass just in the nick of time, in the Natsu fashion. But not only that, he had always been there for her when she needed a friend to talk to or just company to enjoy. He was her best friend, there was no denying that. And so what if he had uprooted an entire tree just for her to see? Did not mean he liked her. The blonde tried to ignore how her heart fluttured at the memory of the sweet gesture, Natsu wasn't prone to ever do anything sweet. She could count on one hand the number of tines he had done anything truly 'romantic'. Always denying fervently that he was absolutely not worried about her. Happy always leered otherwise though, which always made her smile cheekily.
Lucy's heart ached at the thought of Happy, the feeling of hopelessness filling her gut because he could be anywhere. The only thing she could do was wait for Natsu to get his mind back so he could tell them who turned him into a dragon. Because odds are, Happy was there. The Celestial Mage's stomach roiled at the thought of someone keeping her friends hostage. Her magic energy flaring slightly at the thought.
Whoever did this to her partner, was going to pay dearly, Lucy would make sure of that.
A tall boy, perhaps in his mid teens, sprinted down darkly lit corridors. Stumbling into a corner as he turned to sharply in his hurry, making him stumble and fall. The lad quickly scrambled back up onto his feet, ignoring the sting in his knees from the brutal crash. Silently he cursed his clumsy nature and continued on his way, breath coming out in short gasps.
Slowing down, the boy stared at large double doors ominously. With mop of unruly shaggy brown hair that often got into his eyes, and glowing copper irises, he was a good enough looking fellow, not yet grown into his own body yet. He wore a red tank top, his black guild mark could be seen on his left collar bone. A snarling dragon, wings outstretched as it crouched on his tan skin, tail swooping down to his clavicle. With that he wore a pair of baggy white, red, and black pants. He was on the scrawnier side, but we'll defined muscles lined his arms and shoulders that well made up for his short stature.
Swallowing down his fear he knocked twice on the thick wood, flinching at the feel of slimy magic imbedded within the wood that reached out to him like a starving animal, trying to bite him. It take great skill to imbued wood with magic, the boy knew and he did not want to find out what enchantment was placed on those doors. Considering the man he knew to be behind it, it wasn't good.
"Enter, Darsur." He heard a deep muffled voice say from the other side of the door making him flinch. Darsur carefully peeled back the door, trying not cringe at the dark magic from the door gripping onto his fingers almost painfully. Copper eyes scanned the room, it was dark in here. The walls covered in shelves of books, old tomes and scrolls splayed across the floor. The large desk that sat near the wide window (that was the only light source at the moment) was stacked sky high with old texts and sheets of paper. The boy eyed a particular scrap of parchment at his feet, it was an ancient language that he could not read, the paper was yellow and shriveled with age. On it was a half covered picture of black wings, the rest covered by other pieces of paper.
Quickly, Darsur's glowing eyes flickered up. Behind the desk sat a tall man, his long dark hair tied back into a low ponytail his features shadowed. A pair of glowing red eyes watching him as he awkwardly shifted his weight at the entrance of the door. "It's rude to linger in door ways, Darsur." His low voice rumbled politely. Darsur scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before shuffling away from the door, jumping when it closed by itself once he was out of reach.
After a moment of silence the man spoke, "Have you found out where our escaped dragon has flown off to?" The man asked, his velvety voice almost lulling Darsur into a false sense of security. But the young boy could hear the undertones of anger and fury. He cringed at the thought of what would happen if the man knew it was him who had unlocked the chains a couple days ago.
"I-it seems he has flown back to his home town in Fiore, Magnolia." Darsur stuttered, ignoring the way his voice cracked. The man behind the desk chuckled "I should've known." He muttured to himself.
"Sir?" Darsur questioned, worrying his bottom lip as he cocked his head slightly in curiosity.
"Don't worry, young one," the man said. "We will get our wayward dragon back in two days time at the most. Besides, there's no way he can hold back his instinct to destroy everything in sight for long." The scrawny boy watched his master with a sense of unease as the man chuckled quietly, his large shoulders shaking in sadistic amusement. "I'd hate to be around him when he snaps." Darsur felt his stomach drop, but tried his best to not let it show how uncomfortable he was.
"Well, if that is all you may leave." He said, waving the boy off who quickly scrambled for the door.
"Oh, and Darsur?" Darsur was trying to get out of there as quickly as he could but froze when the man called out his name. Turning his head slowly to look at him, Darsur felt his heart go into his throat. "It seems someone helped our dragon escape, there are few in the guild with access to the key to his chains." Darsur felt like a ten ton boulder had crashed onto his chest, his heart twisting painfully as all the air left his lungs.
'He knows. He fucking knows!'
"I'd...hate to be the man when you find out who it is, Master Freyr." Darsur coughed out, quickly exiting the room he dashed down the hall. He sprinted through the corridors seemingly at random, turning sharply into his sleeping quarters he locked the door and collapsed onto the ground. His breath coming out in short pants as he looked around the empty room, as if expecting someone to be in there.
The boy gritted, his hand gripping onto his shirt tightly as his chest constricted tighter. Why had he done it? Honestly, Darsur had no clue. He had been assigned to look after the well being of the dragon...no, Natsu during the transformation process. His job had entailed to make sure the Fire mage did not die. The two never talked, Natsu would growl at him menacingly and that was all. So why? Why did he unlock those chains? He hadn't owed that man anything!
Whatever the reason, it was obviously going to get him killed.
AN: Bum bum baaaaaaaa!
This chapter was the shortest chapter to date...and boring...and is super oober late...I am so sorry... Seriously, I am so sorry...again. I'm sure you do not want to hear excuses, but I had a pretty crappy last couple of weeks and did not want to write at all. Like at all. But I am forcing myself to write this chapter so apologies if it is not the best.
So we delve into how Natsu escaped and who kidnapped him in the first place! Wahoo! Darsur is my OC, and so far I really like him. Like a lot. So he's probably gonna be pretty important.
Anyway, we didn't get to see much of Lucy or Natsu in this chapter so I am sorry. But finally we can get into the fun stuff! Action! Fight scenes! Death! Pain! Misery! And a dash of romance! That's the stuff I love to write, booya! Oh I am so excited I actually started to write a chapter that is not going to be out for a long time. I plan for this fic to be around... Twenty five maybe thirty chapters in all. And I legit started writing approximately the eighteenth chapter cause I am so excited for it.
But yeah, again so so sorry for the late chapter. Hope you guys liked it nonetheless. See you guys next chappie! I'll make the next one extra long just for you guys! Promise!
But guys... This fic has almost reached one hundred reviews! Like... Holy shit that is amazing! I can't thank you all enough for that! It makes me so happy to know that you all enjoy this story and want to read more its such an amazing feeling and just... Thank you guys so much seriously!
Tell me what you thought, and as always constructive criticism is always welcome! Your reviews fuel my passion for writing!
Questions for you guys!
Any predictions on what will happen? I tried to hint a little teeny bit about it, lets see if any of you caught it! ;)
