Disclaimer: Mine? This? Noo… *smiles nervously*


Chapter Seven – Mata Kaze ga Tsuyokunatta (The Wind Became Strong Again)

It was a stormy night.

Thunder ripped the sky, the wind was howling in every direction, which added to the sea's increasing turbulence. It seemed the even the rain that was about to fall was scared of falling into such tumultuous environment so it contented itself with being there, making the air thicker.

As soon as Natsu's feet touched steady ground he started feeling better – much better. He took a deep breath and saw Happy flying away again, to where the others were still. They needed him to be in good condition (that was brought by the solid ground) otherwise they would fail.

He was standing on a cliff, dark rock under his feet and if he took a couple of steps back, to the edge, he would be able to see (with some difficulty) the jagged scarps all the way down to the sea – the contrast between the dark rock and the white foam was spectacular.

Down, in the turbulent sea, the rest of the team was standing in a quickly sinking ship. Possessions from the cabins were drifting in the waves, a beam of light highlighted an old map that floated for moments, before being torn and starting to sink.

But Natsu didn't have time to look back. He was on a mission and it included the cloaked figure that was standing before him, shrouded in shadows – which was a strange thing as this place was usually well lit – if the lamps were of any indication – and not even the light from the lightning were able to pierce that darkness.

Above, swallows flew in strange formations, their bodies shaking slightly against the sky's leaden color – they had been confused by the weather. Something in them gave the feeling of wanting to go back to different times, times that were missed. But as they suddenly turned sharply on their routes and headed to the village, that was a sign that only meant one thing – from that old saying, 'A storm is coming…' (1)

A voice started saying a spell in a commanding and almost shrill voice that could be heard above the storm. The voice came from the darkness and sent a shiver down Natsu's spine.

'artioda mia dista

artidia mia kasa

artioda mia dista

artidia mia vista'

Numerous dark figures emerged from the ground and they all turned towards Natsu as one. Black, unseeing eyes were assessing him. It was not a comfortable feeling. But then, a smirk appeared on Natsu's lips as he cracked his hands – he had something to have fun with while he waited for the others.


Back in the ship, the rest of the group watched Happy return. Their first concern – of getting Natsu out of there – had been overcome as he could take care if himself as long as he wasn't on a moving device. Now they had to take care of themselves and get the hell out of there!

Flames were starting to grow and the wind only contributed to raise them even further. The water crashing against the hull didn't do anything to help the situation, on the contrary, the force of the waves was making the wood creak and groan.

The ship wouldn't last for much longer.

They looked towards the shore. Their way out – their path to safety was going to disappear in no time! And Happy could only take one of them so they still needed something to take the others. They found a slightly damaged dinghy, got it into the water and got in. Gray hurried to cover the bottom with ice so that the small boat didn't start sinking. The flames had risen so much that were now engulfing the whole ship.

They were already some meters away so they could see it perfectly when the ship rose and, slowly, went under the waves.

With some difficulty they managed to control the dinghy and tried to get to that 'path' that would lead them to the shore and to relative safety. It was hard, because of the dark (as the stars had been covered by the stormy sky) and the wind.

Then the only light that they had was the one coming from the flames that were emanating from Natsu who was standing at the top of the cliff. Up there, at that precise moment, he was their guiding light and he was, surely, looking at the person that had caused all their troubles.

Lucy's warning about the impending storm only made Gray and Erza row faster.


The guy was doing that chant once again and it only contributed to increase Natsu's bad feeling. His enemies, these dark creatures, were increasing in number at a bigger rate than the ones he managed to dispose off. He might be able to defeat a whole lot of them on his own but, surely, he couldn't defeat them all. He needed the others.

Then, around them the wind stagnated. It only stopped right in the area around him and the cloaked guy – it even seemed to dissolve the black creatures that were staying between them. Almost as if there was only place in the world for the both of them, and that's when an extremely rare thing happened. A strange, cold fury took over Natsu whose eyes became steely and the demeanor became dead serious. This was very rare and he hadn't lost control, like he felt like he was about to, in a long time.

Natsu took a step, then another and stopped when a black creature got in his way. Natsu was so focused on the cloaked figure that he just walked around it, but the creature wasn't about to allow that so it hit Natsu. Blinking slowly, Natsu raised his hand to his face and touched his cheek, where the creature had cut him. He looked at the bloody tips of his fingers and then at the creature who in the following moments was melting away. A lot of the black creatures around Natsu were suffering the same fate. With a cold smile in the otherwise expressionless face, Natsu turned and resumed his previous action, getting closer and closer to the guy. Right at that moment there was nothing that could stop him and Natsu had the upper hand – a thing that they were both aware of. He stopped a few steps away from the guy.

"Don't you think that's about time you give it to us? Enough is enough…" he said in a strange voice that resonated in the thunderous silence.

The other gave a mocking laugh and, from his robe, he took what looked like a small crystal sphere that had what appeared to be a dark mist inside. "This won't stop until I say so!" he bellowed.

Natsu raised his left hand and saw his bloodied knuckles. He licked the blood, distractedly, never taking his eyes from the other. "Hmm, salty…" a lightning lit him from behind and his eyes flashed, "salty as it will burn your wounds afterwards."

In a movement too fast to follow, he was in front of the other and fighting with him. The cold rage almost blinding his thoughts. In a far corner of his mind he was saying that he was going too far.

The other, however, wasn't that bad at hand-to-hand combat and had more tricks up his sleeve so when Natsu got him on the ground, he liquefied in a black goo. The black goo divided and raised in the form of two identical figures. The little light that managed to come through to them vanished into the now double forms.

A strange thought came to Natsu; in any other day a well-aimed punch would suffice but today that wasn't the case. No, today he wanted to see his enemies become a bloodied pulp. That was a strange but attractive thought.

More light came through and was absorbed by the darkness and instants later something struck Natsu inside. He doubled over and coughed. Something strange was hurting him from within – a something that was deadly cold was spreading and making Natsu drown in pain. And as he was worried and focusing in what was happening inside him, outside the most certain thing to happen was for the others to take advantage of this and attack him. He had to get himself together, get up and finish the job. And before the others got here and ended up like him.

From glimpses that he managed to get from his doubled and heaving position, he saw the pair in front of him come to a stop – they were about to do something. What, he didn't know because he didn't let them. Seconds after they stopped Natsu was standing up and throwing a punch into both their faces. Somehow, the flame inside that had been steadily dwindling had flared up and was now burning brightly. From afar noises got to him but he paid them no heed – he was focusing completely in the pair in front of him. The fire that he conjured had been too much for them and weakened them so it didn't take long until Natsu saw them merge into a single person again – and that person was already out cold. A slightly feral grin reached Natsu's lips as he retrieved the sphere. That had been easier than expected.

The rest of the group reached him and looked at him curiously, as he placed the sphere – that now had a bluish-green mist inside – in Erza's hand and then walking away. The rain that was falling down didn't bother him, as he walked to the promontory and stood there, looking at the turbulent sea.

The wind that before had been so sharp and aggressive blew again, maybe stronger than ever before. Almost as if it wanted to take Natsu with him. But none of that mattered to Natsu.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back. He saw Gray and the girls and Happy were a little behind. They weren't exactly in the best condition but they were there and safe. And that was all that mattered. The hand had the effect of steadying him and made him go back to his usual self.

The everlasting wind was just blowing their way, clearing the path that they had to follow.


(1) We have a saying that goes like "Seagulls in land, storm in the sea." Well, it's something like that and I thought that was appropriate, in a strange way.


A/N: A new chapter and we're back to a strange scene. This hasn't played exactly how I had firstly intended (as usual) but the feeling that I wanted to express ended up way too soft (what can I say, it's being a rough week). Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy it.

I won't try to predict an update in To be Careful because only 1/3 of the chapter's been written so far. Writer's block is awful.

As usual, review please. ^^