. Oculto .

Levy's eyes sprang open when she was shaken awake, her heart pounding in her chest. She shot to her feet a split second before Gajeel did, and Lily growled, "What the hell's going on?"

"He fell," Natsu whispered as Gajeel darted forwards, heading towards the shadow. "Metalicana fell from the sky."

"What?" Levy raced after Gajeel and Natsu finally shook his head before coming after them. Her dark eyes filled with concern as she ran through the sands of the desert, and then skidded to a stop beside the shocked Gajeel, who stood before his father with wide crimson eyes. "Oh, no," she breathed.

Metalicana had managed to sit himself upright so that he was lying on the ground properly, but his sides heaved as he sucked in breath. An entire section of his flank had been torn away. Metallic pieces of armor curled up and smoldered, damaged from whatever had happened, and blood spilled heavily from the wound.

Levy thought she could see bone.

Hands clasped over her mouth, she cried, "What happened?!"

Metalicana grunted, massive head lowering to their level and making even Gajeel look tiny. Natsu nudged Levy back a step, noting that the pool of blood beneath him had begun to creep closer. "Dunno," the dragon finally muttered.

"How do you not know?" Gajeel said angrily, his eyes flashing with rage. How dare someone hurt Metalicana like this?! That was his job! He was the only one who was allowed to attack the dragon after the years he'd left him alone for.

Metalicana growled, the sound gurgling strangely in his chest. "I said," he snapped, clicking his jaws in agitation, "That I did not know, Gajeel."

For some reason, the use of his name made Gajeel's mouth snap shut, and he turned to glare in the direction that Metalicana had come from. "Then I'm gonna go look-"

Levy grabbed his arm, dropping Lily, and the Exceed swore in surprise when he hit the ground. Using all of her body weight to make him drag her in an attempt to stop him, she demanded. "Gajeel, whatever did this did this to a dragon. That kind of injury would rip you into pieces!"

"She's right," Lily agreed, brushing his fur off. He lifted his gaze to the iron dragon slayer. "I don't recommend going alone."

Gajeel grunted. "Then you can go with me, Lily."

"No," Levy snapped, panicked. "Natsu-"

"She's right," Natsu muttered, onyx eyes thoughtful for once. "We can't just...go off. Nothing hurts a dragon like that unless it's another dragon or something similar." Silence fell, and Natsu looked a little smug, as if proud that he was right for once. "And Luce is still back at that lady's. She's probably freaking out. We can't just wander off and leave her there. She'd come looking and get herself hurt."

"What Natsu said," Levy said quickly, her eyes darting to him. She smiled faintly in gratitude before saying cautiously, "How about this. Gajeel, you and I will stay here, try to see what we can do to stop the bleeding on Metalicana. Natsu and Lily can take whatever you used to get here back to Oak Town and grab Lucy as well as some supplies to help take care of the wound. And some more supplies. And then we'll all go investigate."

"I like that idea," Natsu supplied. "'Sides. Lucy might have found something else out in the time that we've been here. She does that kinda stuff all the time."

Gajeel growled furiously, but finally muttered, "Fine, go get bunny girl and supplies so we can go. Shorty, the hell do you have that we can use?"

"I'll take the deer," Natsu decided, and then turned and darted away to get to work on saddling Salutem.

Lily hovered in the air before Gajeel and Levy, eyes warning as he said, "Don't leave without us. Levy, see if you can find my sword while we're gone, I've been looking for it for days and can't find it."

"Right," Levy said with a curt nod, bidding the cat farewell. She watched with a bit of sadness as he flew to Natsu's side, their forms fading into the distance. She'd been with Lily for a while now, and she knew that they'd grown close. It hurt a little to watch him leave.

But then she focused on Metalicana, who grumbled about them not seeing what he wanted done. Without fear, she moved closer, ignoring the way her feet sloshed through sticky blood and sand to get to him. Gajeel waited, watching warily as she examined the injury and decided, "Gajeel. Cleanest building with my supplies in it. Bring me all of the blankets in there - there should be two - and anything that will help the blankets stick to Metalicana. And then you're going to have to break off all of these pieces that are sticking up around the injury so we can lay it out smoothly."

Metalicana grunted as he shifted, his talons scraping across the ground. "You will do no such thing."

"Yes," Levy bit back, "We will, or you'll make it worse, so shut up and let us do it."

He looked a little surprised by Levy's snapping, but then snorted and lowered his head so that his eye was near her head, staring at her. "Don't forget, little one. Ya made me disobey an order from the Fire Dragon King. I can eat you if I want."

"Go right ahead," she challenged. "Then who'll make sure you don't bleed out?"

Gajeel bit back a snicker. It was hilarious watching the woman who was smaller than most argue with a dragon that was equivalent to several hundred of her. He left to get what she wanted, hearing the distant thudding of hooves on sand as Natsu left. A strange call filled the air - Salutem, he recognized. The deer was announcing its leaving to them, as if checking to make sure it was alright, and he grinned.

Maybe he'd buy that deer off of the man who owned it. He kinda liked the weird animal.

Gajeel found the building that Levy had mentioned, recognizing it as the one she'd sat in the doorway of. He dug around inside for a short while, and then found what he was looking for and shouldered anything he thought would work to get Levy what she wanted.

He grabbed a towel that he'd make sure to keep separate, because he didn't want her to have dried blood slicking her feet until they were done with whatever the hell was happening now.

By the time he'd returned, Levy had finished arguing with the dragon, and it appeared that she had won. Smug, he let her examine his choices thoughtfully before she murmured, "This'll do. Go cut off the pieces while I start fixing this stuff up."

Not exactly eager to slosh through blood, Gajeel smirked at the cautiously watching Metalicana. Anger flashed through him at the superior look in Metalicana's eyes - one he'd always had. Metalicana was a proud dragon who prided himself on being who he was. How often did one get to say that they were a dragon?

He'd taught his son that manner.

"How often do brats like you get to say that you're a dragon slayer?"

It had been a long time since he'd hoisted himself onto his father's back. Metalicana made a rumbling sound in the back of his throat, but Gajeel ignored it, fingers turning into metallic barbs that let him dig into his father's heavy plating. Once on his back, he went to work, turning his arm into a saw.

Levy's faint voice called up, "Will it hurt?"

He snorted. "S'like cutting dead skin off." A pause as he turned furious crimson eyes on the grouchy dragon. "If you move that tail and squash her, I'll fucking kill you."

"I'm fond of the little one," Metalicana bit back, flicking said tail irritably. "Don't think that I would harm her, brat."

Their bickering continued as Gajeel sawed through the ruined plating with the sound of screeching iron in the air. Levy covered her ears, hating the sound, but watched to make sure neither of them tried to do anything she disapproved of.

It was pitch black out with the disappearing moonlight guiding his vision when he finished. Levy was exhausted, anxiously sitting just outside of the pool of blood that was slowly soaking into the sands, leaning against one of Metalicana's metallic limbs as he breathed softly over her, watching over the young woman, dozing.

Gajeel paused to look down, checking the damage before finally trampling across his father's back. He didn't say anything as he walked along the crest of Metalicana's neck and up to his head, sliding down his face and earning a snort for his efforts when he hit the ground beside Levy. She jumped in surprise. "Done," he said gruffly.

"'Bout time, brat."

Metalicana's grumbling voice filled their ears, and even Levy could hear the softness of it.

Metalicana had missed Gajeel, even if he was being an aggressive jerk about it, Levy noted, climbing to her feet.

She pretended not to see Gajeel suddenly press a hand over Metalicana's large nose, touching the familiar metal with calloused fingers. The way he grinned, showing his sharp teeth with a smug look in his eyes when Metalicana uttered something about him being stupid.

Levy hummed as she worked on figuring out just how they were going to cover the wound. The blankets wouldn't be enough, she realized as she looked up. But maybe…

"Solid-script: Bandage." She lifted her hand and scribbled the word out, grinning at the bandage that suddenly appeared over Metalicana's hide. He grunted in surprise, massive head snapping around to study it before he turned his gaze on Levy. She wiggled her fingers almost playfully.

"...not bad, girly," he decided, lowering his nose so that it just barely brushed over her head. She jumped at the gentle touch - and then screeched when his teeth caught the back of her clothes. Ignoring her protests, he lifted his head high.

And promptly dropped her.

"What the hell!" Gajeel shouted, diving forward to snatch her up before she hit the ground. He tripped in the process, barely flipping them so that the shrieking blue-haired woman landed on his stomach. He grunted in shock and wheezed for air as she scrambled off of him, screeching, "Why would you do that, you stupid hunk of metal?! You don't just drop humans!"

"Gihi," Metalicana cackled, the sound rasping heavily out of his chest in a way that made her stop and contemplate whether or not it had been Gajeel who'd laughed. "Shrimp's gotten yer attitude, brat."

"Oi," Gajeel snapped, glaring up at his adopted father irritably. "Don't call 'er that. My name for the bookworm."

"We're not fighting over nicknames," Levy gritted out, climbing to her feet and kicking Gajeel in the side. He didn't flinch, only smirked when she hit solid muscle and winced in pain. "We're yelling at you for dropping me!"

Metalicana lowered his head again and she edged back, glaring warningly as he studied her. "Wanted ta see if my brat had some attachment."

"I told you we were friends," Levy protested, throwing her arms in the air. "Isn't that enough?"

"Not for dragons, shorty," Gajeel told her, sitting up and messing with his hair until the sand was out of it. Levy hated the fact that they were teaming up on her, but silently admitted that she appreciated it, because it meant that there was at least some sort of peace forming between the two.

At least they weren't trying to kill each other.

"Well then what do dragons require?" she bit out, annoyed.

But neither of them answered as she gave a huge yawn. Instead, Gajeel shot to his feet, brushing himself off and then grabbed Levy by the collar of her shirt. She squawked when he lifted her and began carrying her away from the dragon and towards the building she'd been using. "Go sleep, shorty, you're nearly passed out on your feet."

"I don't have a blanket and it's cold," she protested.

"Use your magic."

"My magic was all used up to make a bandage for Metalicana."

"Ugh, you're so needy. Ya ain't gonna need it, Levy, the sun's gonna be up in a few hours and then you'll be regretting ever wantin' one."

"Well," she retorted, deciding she was tired of arguing. "I want it now, so stop complaining and go find it."

"Fine, fine," he growled, glaring at her for a moment before going to find one that wasn't slicked with blood that had crept along the sand. It took him a few minutes - mostly because Metalicana was snickering about how he didn't know how to stand up to a female. Eventually, he came back with one and simply draped it over her head. "There. Happy? Go sleep."

Levy moved to do just that, silently agreeing with him, and then stopped to point at his chest, poking it. "No fighting while I'm sleeping. If I find out you've done something to fight, I'm never making any iron for you again."

He smirked, roughly patting the top of her head. "Hate to break it to ya, shorty, but I can get iron elsewhere."

"Not my iron," she retorted, and then kicked his shin. He didn't flinch. "No fighting." And then she turned away, slipping into the building to nap.

I hope Lu gets here soon, she sighed silently.

Lucy could rival Mira and Erza sometimes, and it'd be useful keeping the dragon and Gajeel off of each other when it came to tearing the other apart. Particularly if she decided she wanted Natsu to interfere, because Natsu did whatever she wanted despite his protests that he really didn't.

Levy curled up where she'd been sleeping recently with Lily, missing the comfort of having her furry friend beside her, and pulled the blanket that had been retrieved over her, closing her eyes.

She missed Lily.

But she was comforted by the fact that the one she'd most wanted was just outside, awaiting her waking in the next few hours.

She just hope he refrained from getting ripped apart when he pissed his dragon parent off.

When Levy awoke, she discovered that half of the day had passed. Dismayed by this fact and frustrated because she knew that it meant she was messing up her sleep schedule, Levy headed outside and blinked, blinded by the sun.

Metalicana's gleaming hide didn't help her regain her sight as his massive head swung around to look at her, his red eyes sharp with amusement. "Hello, little one. The brat has gone to tend to the horse."

"Thank you for telling me," Levy said honestly touching his large nose before making her way around his body. It took her several moments to reach his flank at a jog and she frowned, inspecting the injury. "It's healing already?"

"Dragons heal fast," was all she got in reply as he lifted his head to search the surroundings.

Levy began to kick sand around, determined to hide away the disgusting sand from the previous night even as her stomach growled loudly, demanding food. She'd wait for Gajeel, see if any food was left for them to eat, or if she'd need to go and crack coconuts open again.

"Oi!" It was a while before she heard Gajeel's voice, and she smiled hugely when he appeared, arms crossed and the sleeves of his shirt removed. His scarred arms were bared for all to see, the iron studs glinting in the sunlight. "Finally up, shrimp?"

"Yes," she retorted, though she smiled up at him when he stopped beside her. He ruffled her hair, and she huffed as she fixed it so that her headband was straight. "Don't do that, this is my last headband. Metalicana's wound is healing nicely. So we just need to wait for Lily and the other two to come back, and then we'll head out. Right?"

"Thinkin' about leaving ya here with the bastard," Gajeel replied thoughtfully. "in case we don't come back. But ya wouldn't stay and Lily would kick my ass, so yeah."

"Damn right I'd kick your ass if you left me behind," the solid-script mage muttered. She licked her lips and then said, "Come on, I have some cleaning to do at the oasis Lily and I found. Help me?"

"Only since ya can't carry anything."

And he wanted her to be in his line of sight.

They headed back into the small house that Levy had been using, and she gathered up several clothes and blankets before guiding him through the sandy town, her eyes thoughtful. She paused when they reached the fresh water, dropping to her knees beside it and splashing it onto her face before telling him, "Took Lily and I forever to find this thing when we first came."

"Good thing ya did. Too hot for ya to not," he muttered back before adding the things he carried into the water. She glared as she quickly gathered them into a pile, and then spread out a blanket beside her after shaking it free of sand. She then began to dip one thing at a time into the water, trying to scrub it clean.

"Gajeel," she said after a moment, "You're not mad, right?"

He grunted. "The hell do I have to be mad about, shorty?"

"That I found Metalicana?" She hesitated. "I know you don't really hate him - don't lie to me, Gajeel, I know you don't," she added when he opened his mouth to make a retort. "I would have told you if I could. He threatened to destroy Oak Town if we didn't listen."

"Tch, sounds like him. Don't care about it," he told her. "So long as my cat's fine, I could care less. We're out of here soon as we figure out what attacked him."

"I don't want to leave him here alone, I think he was lonely and used his hiding as an excuse to keep us here." Levy's voice was sharp, her words leaving no room for argument. "He was alone, keeping everyone away for years to try and hide himself, Gajeel. He deserves company."

"Then he shouldn't have left." Gajeel's crimson eyes locked with her dark ones when she lifted them pleadingly, no sympathy in their depths. "Don't care who he is, or if he's lonely. He shouldn't have left if he wanted company. It's his own damn fault, Levy."

"...then you can go home, I'm staying," she retorted. Not really. She'd probably go home as soon as possible, but she'd make damn sure that she came back often. Because not even a dragon who had abandoned his child at a young age for a reason he wouldn't say deserved to be alone.

He smirked. "What? Think I won't drag ya back with me and tell Mira that you ain't allowed to take work anymore?"

"Mira isn't in charge of that," Levy bit back, though a look of unease flashed across her face, because Mira was. Mira was the one who chose whether or not someone could handle a job, not them!

"Sure she is," he drawled. "And the old man said she was, so ya can't go against that…"

"Gajeel," she protested, dropping the cloth she'd been cleaning. "He's hurt, someone has to make sure it heals right, and-"

"He took care of himself for years." The bitterness that had been gone earlier was back, she realized, the loss that he'd felt for years bubbling up. "Screw 'im."

"Gajeel-"

"Damn it, shorty, no." His voice was gruff and sharp, snapping at her irritably. He turned and stormed away after that, ignoring her call of his name as he headed away to do who knows what. She felt a flash of frustration mixed with a desperate need to chase after him.

So much for sticking close together while they were here...

Levy went back to scrubbing at the clothes viciously, frustration in her eyes.

"Stupid Gajeel," she mumbled, feeling angry tears in her eyes.

She'd missed him desperately, yet he still managed to piss her off. She scowled at the thought, furious.

Some things never changed, she guessed.

"Levy!"

Gajeel's voice filled her ears and she raised her head, furious, to shout at him to go away before he pissed her off again, but the alarm in it suddenly caught her attention. He bellowed at her to get down, sprinting at full speed towards her, and Metalicana's roar filled the air, a warning to those in his territory that he was there. She did as she'd been told and as soon as her head was nearly touching the water, he bellowed out an attack.

Iron skimmed her back and made blood trickle down her spine, but she didn't notice, screaming in shock when something met it just above her and turned it into a cyclone of death. She shuddered when black magic crossed her senses, turning her blood to ice.

Suddenly, she was dragged forward by the front of her clothes, her dark eyes meeting a malicious set of red that made Gajeel's eyes look like rubies. "Hello there," he practically purred, dark laughter leaving his lips. Dark hair fell around him like a spiky cloud, and she shrieked, kicking. She caught him by surprise, and he dropped her into the oasis. Sputtering and gasping, she shot backwards and up the hot bank until her back crashed into Gajeel's legs.

"Gajeel," she gasped, wheezing for air. He took a brief seconds to touch her head, making sure she was unharmed, and then snarled in a vicious manner. The ground trembled as Metalicana made his way over, his slow and heavy movements terrifying to the frightened Levy.

He glared at the strange man, cloaked in a cloak of black and scruffy clothing that was stained with blood. When he grinned, his teeth were sharp. "Knew there was a dragon slayer around here…"

"Who the hell are you and what the fuck do you want?" Gajeel snapped, reaching down without taking his eyes off of him to pull Levy to her feet. She clung to him, her fingers tangling in the front of his shirt. He tucked her safely against him, momentarily forgetting the fact that he was trying to distance himself from her.

"Tch." The man itched the back of his head, studying them for a moment before grinning hugely, showing off his teeth. "Looking for you," he hummed, as if it was a normal thing to say. his voice was hoarse, rough, like it hadn't been used.

Metalicana suddenly appeared, a growl deep in his throat as he leaned his head down to snap his jaws at the newcomer. "You're trespassing."

"Eh." He looked unconcerned as he apologized, "I'm sorry for frightening you there, lady. Haven't seen one as lovely as yourself in a while. Been out in the desert for a long time." She laughed carelessly, and then added, "I wanted a friendly brawl with another dragon slayer."

"...you were raised by a dragon?" Gajeel crinkled his nose, not recognizing the scent of him, and Levy only glared, pressing closer to the iron mage as if hoping he could hide her. "Well fuck off. Not in the mood."

"Aw, come on," the man whined. And then he grinned again, jabbing a thumb at himself. "I go by the name Eberos."

"Like I said, screw off, man." Gajeel turned cautiously, nudging Levy towards the dragon that was glaring viciously at Eberos. "I don't want anything to do with you. C'mon, shorty, go get changed. Stuff can't be fun to sit in."

But Levy ignored him, studying Eberos over her shoulder. "...how did you know we were here?"

"You kidding?" Eberos gave a friendly laugh that made a smile flicker across her face. "Could hear the dragon screaming from miles away. My hearing's rather sharp, you see?" He winked, tapping his head.

"Hm." Levy studied him before tugging away gently from Gajeel, intrigued. While the man's magic was based in darkness, he didn't seem to be bad. She assumed his magic was something like Rogue's. Clearing her throat, she planted her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry, Eberos, but we aren't currently looking to do friendly brawls, so you'll have to look elsewhere. Sabertooth has other dragon slayers. Sting's always interested in a battle."

"Ah," hummed the other dragon slayer, "But I'm only interested in someone like your friend here, sadly. Close and who won't get cocky about it." His gaze darted to the dragon that was watching with a malicious look. "How about this. If I help you with whatever happened to your dragon, I get my fight."

"...they hurt a dragon, they could be dangerous," Levy admitted under her breath, looking to her friend with a hopeful look, but he was glaring down at her.

"No, Levy," he said.

"Sure," she told Eberos.

Whatever kept Gajeel safe and alive.

Eberos beamed, ignoring Gajeel's shout of outrage. "Great. When do we start?"

Introducing this weirdo who I somehow love…Eberos. Thanks to those who reviewed (EddingsFan, Usweasil, AfterWriter, trim, and metalican slayer) as well as those who favorited and followed! Sorry if your user isn't in the thanks part, they haven't all been showing up lately...