A/N: Hey guys it has been far too long, hasn't it? Well, I am sorry for keeping you waiting, but now I'm back and I'm sure you just want to read, eh? So get to it! Get all fired up!
Presents and Bruises
The next morning, Natsu woke up warmer than he'd expected to. And when he tried to move, something on either side of him was keeping him from doing so. Cracking his eyes open, he blinked not sure that he was seeing things right. If there was so much snow next to him, how could he be so warm? His fire magic kept him warm in most conditions, but with this much white…
His eyes flew open all the way as he realized that it was not a pile of snow beside his face, but a head topped with shock-white hair. Lisanna's breathing was deep and even as she buried her face further into Natsu's shoulder, causing his own to blaze redder than Erza's hair. Lisanna was partially lying on top of him. He was about to throw her off and start shouting crazily as was his typical wont, but something stayed him. She looked so content and at ease, he couldn't bring himself to just throw her off.
She had been through hell with the tortures the Ra'zac had put her through, not to mention the previous two years couldn't have been easy, despite her explanation of things. If she was happy right where she was, he wouldn't move her- not yet anyways.
Looking over on his other side, he noticed that Wendy had also curled up beside him, though she wasn't actually on him in any way. That explained why they were all still warm- they had all shared body heat throughout the night. Natsu briefly wondered why Wendy being so close didn't bother him the way that Lisanna did. Was it because she was a little girl, and Lisanna was…?
He shook his head and got to his feet, careful not to wake the two girls. He didn't know what Lisanna was to him beyond a close childhood friend. Sure, they had played 'house' as little children, but didn't every kid do that at some point in their lives? Looking back at his sleeping companion, his gaze softened. She really is pretty…
"Good morning, boy," Brom said from right behind Natsu. This startled him badly, causing him to whirl around with a flaming fist. Fortunately, Brom sensed the blow coming before it could hit, so he ducked down and shot back up to grab his arm with a strength and speed that betrayed his age.
"Don't go sneaking up on people like that!" Natsu shouted angrily. "That's rude!" He seemed to be forgetting all the times that he had snuck into Lucy's apartment.
"I suppose stealth would be beyond your range of abilities, despite the raw amount of magic you carry," Brom muttered as he moved to set up a fire. He and Eragon had stolen a generous amount of meat from Sloan, as well as some leather hides from a man whose name escaped Natsu at the moment- and likely for a long time as well.
Once the sticks were arranged properly, Brom looked up at Natsu and said, "What are you waiting for? This is usually where you start lighting things on fire."
"So I'm a pyro-breathin' meathead, is that it?!" Natsu shouted. At this point, the others were beginning to stir, with Eragon being the first to speak.
"Y'know…" he mumbled. "I picked this place to hide ourselves in, not to call attention to ourselves, Natsu…" He shook his head and yawned mightily as he stretched. Saphira did the same, save that she had wings to spread that reached well over the heads of the campers.
"Yeah well it's not helpful that this old guy keeps picking on me!" Natsu continued ranting at no one in particular.
"Calm down, Natsu," Wendy groaned. "Isn't it a little too early for this?"
"Just let him run with it for a bit," Lisanna grinned as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. "He'll calm down again at some point."
"Yeah, but usually Happy is the one that calms him down," Wendy sighed. "That or Lucy kicks him in the face and he chills out."
"Wow, Lucy from Earthland is just as tough as the one in Edolas?" Lisanna asked.
"In her own way, I guess so," Wendy nodded.
Natsu finally stopped when Saphira hit him in the head with her tail, stunning him and leaving a large bruise on his forehead. He lay on the ground with his foot and right hand twitching randomly, and his mouth open wide in shock. When the others looked at her critically, she sniffed, "He woke me up early- a poor decision on his behalf." Nobody really knew how to argue with her, so they let it drop.
Breakfast was followed by Brom presenting some gifts to Eragon while Lisanna, Natsu, and Wendy practiced their magics. Lisanna helped Wendy to read through some of the old script that Gertrude had passed on to her from Grendina while Natsu punched some trees and performed acrobatic exercises.
Eragon received a fine red blade- the one that Natsu had seen Brom threaten the Ra'zac with only a few days prior. The name of the sword was Za'roc, and it had once belonged to a rider whose name Brom refused to reveal. He explained that normally a rider's blade would match his or her dragon's color, but in this case, they would have to make an exception, as no sword in existence could replace the resilience of Za'roc, save for the king's own blade.
Next, he used all of the leather that they had taken to fashion a saddle for Saphira. Eragon was extremely grateful for this, as his first experience in riding his dragon had ended with half of his skin being scraped clean off of his legs. While he worked, Brom explained what he knew of the dragons physically, as he had already covered their history with the young man some time ago. When Brom mentioned that he should try the new saddle, Eragon declined with a bit of apprehension, which slightly affronted Saphira.
It was eventually decided that they would buy horses at the next town that they came across so that they could catch up to the Ra'zac with greater speed. Eragon mentioned that he could ride ahead with Saphira once his legs were completely healed, but this point was nullified when Brom pointed out that Eragon was ill-equipped to deal with the Ra'zac. Natsu looked sullen when Brom reminded the young man about what had happened to the dragon slayer. So Eragon reluctantly agreed to stay behind with them.
When the evening was upon them, they all once again sat by the campfire while they waited for dinner to cook. Brom was whittling at some sticks for some unknown reason while the others talked quietly among themselves. So it was unexpected when Brom began tossing sticks at each of them, which they all barely managed to catch in time.
"Uh…?" Natsu said as he examined the stick that now resembled a crude sword. Looking across the fire, he saw Brom smiling devilishly as he held a wooden blade of his own. "Oh, give it a rest, old-timer."
"Come over here and say that to my face," Brom challenged. Then his grin widened as he said, "Or are you too afraid?"
"All right, that's it," Natsu snarled, tossing aside his stick angrily. "In Fairy Tail, we do things with our fists when we spar! Even Erza knows that!" And he leapt across the fire to punch straight at Brom's face. The older man dodged and whacked Natsu across the back of the head as he went by.
"When you face the enemy, they will not care what weapon you choose to use," Brom said dryly. "And should the day come when your magic runs dry, you would do well to have a weapon in your hands."
To Natsu's surprise, Lisanna tossed him his stick. "Listen to him, Natsu," she urged. "When I was in Edolas, I had to use a sword because I couldn't use my regular magic, and it proved pretty handy. Besides…" she grinned mischievously and winked at her old friend. "Don't you want to be able to beat Erza at her own game when we get back home?"
That got Natsu's attention. "Well, when ya put it that way…" He grinned broadly as he took a stance that he'd seen Erza use when fighting with one sword. "I'm all fired up!" And he unleashed a rain of blows at Brom, who countered and evaded them with ease. Not only that, the old man managed to bruise Natsu from head to toe in a matter of minutes, much to the discomfort of him and the others. Every now and again, he would run Natsu through some swordplay moves before resuming his vicious attacks.
"How is he beating Natsu…?" Wendy asked a trifle nervously.
"Well, to be fair, he's not using magic, and he's never fought with a sword before," Lisanna replied. "Unless he suddenly started using one recently, right?"
"No, he's only ever used Fire Dragon Slaying magic," Wendy replied.
"Then that's why," Lisanna nodded. "If he wasn't holding back so much, mister Brom would be a pile of ash already."
"Don't underestimate the old one," Saphira said in a serious tone. "He is far more capable than one might think." Wendy suspected she knew why Saphira was saying that, but her oath in the ancient language prevented her from commenting on the matter.
When Natsu had been beaten, he plopped down on his bedroll, grumbling angrily to himself. Wendy giggled and moved to heal him, even though she knew that he had received far worse from Gray on an almost daily basis. Lucy had told her all about their daily hall brawls, and she had even seen Gray and Natsu go all out during a time when the ice-make wizard had feigned being an evil accomplice with a crazed scientist. This was nothing- but it didn't hurt to practice her healing magic, either.
"Thanks, Wendy," Natsu said as she finished ministering to him.
"No problem," she grinned. "I'm always happy to help." Just as she got up, it was Eragon that was being knocked into the dirt. The girl sighed heavily- she could tell that it was going to be a long night.
Out of the four of them, Lisanna definitely did the best, though that wasn't saying much. Brom earned himself a few bruises form her, but she ended up amassing a collection of welts, same as the others. Wendy was the only one spared physical injury, but her fragile pride was bruised badly as Brom struck like a phantom, each blow so close she could feel the breath of the sword strokes on her body whenever the blade came near to her.
Brom explained that although enemies would not hold back, he had no wish to strike a little girl, so he would have to settle for non-contact until she could hold her own against him. This both relieved and embarrassed her in equal measures. By the time everyone made it to bed, more than one curse was tossed at Brom, much to Saphira's amusement.
The next day, Eragon's legs were healed enough for them to begin their journey out of Palancar Valley. As they left their campsite, Eragon lingered for just a moment. "What's wrong, man?" Natsu asked.
"I don't know…" Eragon answered truthfully. "So many things are going through my head right now, I don't know how to feel. I'm leaving my family behind without a word of farewell, and now I feel as though I'm saying goodbye to my home for the first- and last- time."
"Nah, not a chance," Natsu grinned. "I'll stick by ya until you can come home again, okay buddy? That's a promise as a wizard from Fairy Tail."
Eragon's eyes widened at that. He may not have known the guild personally, but he knew Natsu and Wendy well enough to know that they did not invoke the name of their home lightly. Natsu was making the most binding of oaths that he knew how to make that he would see Eragon home. And that lifted his spirits enough to make him smile back.
"Thank you, Natsu," he said.
"No prob," the dragon slayer grinned brightly. "Now let's get a move on! We've got a couple a monsters to chase down and a king to boot!" And with that, the group walked away, not knowing that some of them would never return to this place.
Makarov: That last bit sounded pretty ominous... What are you planning to do with my children, Mataras?!
Mataras: Oei, chill out! Wait for the story to finish before you go slinging any giant or fairy magic at me, okay?
Gray: As long as we get to see more of that old guy beating up Natsu, I'm cool with this story.
Gajeel: I'm almost done writing my new masterpiece, so I think I'll check in to see Salamander get his butt handed to him.
Erza: You traitors! How can you be so callous towards your own comrade?!
Gray: Cos he's annoying.
Cana: Says the guy with the stripping habit.
Gray: Huh? AH! Where's my clothes?! I know that wasn't me!
Mataras: Juvia... give 'em back.
Juvia: Never! My beloved looks so handsome, why should he try to hide it?!
Mataras: Because I'll cast a modified version of Fairy Law on you if you don't give his clothes back this instant!
Lucy: Whoa, he's not messing around here! Though I do have to wonder what he meant by a modified version of Fairy Law...
Mavis: He's been practicing it for weeks, and I gotta say- anyone that it gets cast on is gonna get hurt pretty bad.
Lucy: How bad are we talking here...?
Mavis: It's designed to destroy dragons in one blow.
Lucy: And he'd use it on Juvia?!
Mavis: Knowing Mataras...
Lucy: Juvia! Give 'em back! I'm too cute to die yet!
