It would have been easier if she had remained unconscious, but after only a short while the girl was forced to endure pain and humiliation she was not accustomed to handling. A month of walking, running, hiding and falling over while in the company of a dragon that never tired had hardened the princess somewhat, but nothing had prepared her for what she went through now. Natsu never staved off boredom by tormenting her with pinches and slaps, never pulled her hair or mocked her with foul curses whenever the pain grew too intense to ignore. Hanging like a sack of grain over the bobbing whithers of a horse was bad enough, add the callous torture to that and Lucy soon stopped holding back her tears, finding it utterly pointless. What was the use of saving face when her angry glares or mute resistance only made it worse?

Her captors rode hard throughout the remainder of the night. Slowly the dark sky paled in the east, bleak fingers of sunlight hesitantly testing the blanket of clouds without really managing to break through. The air grew warmer but the clear skies of the previous day were nowhere to be found, muting the colors of the landscape into something less stunning and far more ominous.

They kept to the road and didn't take any detours, which was a relief for the girl. Fearing the consequences if she did anything stupid while on horseback, Lucy kept herself as still and quiet as she could, focusing more on the surroundings and the villages they passed through.

Galunar might be a small country but the amount of people that lived within the borders became more and more apparent. Farms dotted the landscape within sight of one another and the houses in the villages grew steadily larger and more crowded, until they resembled small towns and cities rather than the rugged settlements they were. Still no more than a few miles from the border the place was already heavily populated, but no one seemed to look twice at the peculiar trio that blazed past along the road. They kept their heads down and minded their own business - after the initial shock and confusion died down, Lucy grimly recalled what Natsu had said about the place. Thieves and rogues and plenty of gangs, things like kidnappings and rough treatment must be every day occurrences here.

She was glad when they finally stopped by a small shelter along the road sometime before noon and she was let down on the ground. Keeping up the resigned facade was difficult, but the men seemed to buy it. She kept her eyes down, did nothing when the pierced man aimed a kick into her ribs in passing. He snorted and kept going, not bothering with another glance. They left her unguarded while they tended to the horses, lying in a heap on the ground, arms still bound and her mouth gagged.

That was a mistake. Lucy might be restrained, but she could still use her legs. The Trackers had barely turned their backs on her before she rolled up on her feet, ducked behind the shelter and started to run, terror driving her on as she sped back down the same way they had come.

Angry shouts altered her to being pursued, but their threats and curses was spurring her own even faster. She had to go back to find Natsu and make sure he was alright, had to find a way to escape the men that steadily gained on her for every step. The binds made it hard to run, to breathe; stumbling on the even ground she felt the tip of her boot catch onto something on the road and sent her headfirst onto the ground, the impact nearly knocking her out again.

In a heartbeat they Trackers were over her, and they were furious. Especially the tall, sharp-eyed man seemed to take her trickery personally because he didn't hold back in the slightest as he kicked her hard in the gut, hands trembling from rage as they dragged her up by the collar only to knock her down to the ground again. Lucy coughed and gagged, grinding her teeth together to stifle a scream.

The pain was nearly more than she could stand. Perhaps it would have been easier if there had been a purpose to the beating, if she'd had a reason to be strong and stay quiet - but this violence had no other purpose than to satisfy their thirst for blood. It was so pointless, so crude and uncalled for - wouldn't they receive less gold for her if she was returned bloody and broken? But they seemed to have forgotten all about that, all but the cruel pleasure of hearing her scream and whimper as they kicked, stomped, hit and dragged her around by the hair.

When a booted leg drew back for a final kick, Lucy thought it had to be the end. It aimed for her head as it came swinging back; she snapped her eyes shut with a wince, waiting for the blinding flash of pain to drive her back into unconsciousness.

Nothing happened.

Instead the air filled with the sound of screams and beating wings, searing curses she didn't even know the meaning of. Looking up she found the sharp-eyed bandit swept several feet up into the air and dangling in a choke hold from strong fingers. They dug deep into the neck until the man thrashed and screamed in pain. Dark blood spilled from the wounds onto over even hotter scales that burned a furious crimson, so bright that they seemed to glow even in the dim light of day. A horrible gurgling sound Lucy remembered all too well quieted the screams as blood streamed down the mans throat, and with a careless jerk the dragon threw him aside, already heading for the dark-haired offender by the time the body hit the ground, thrashing and convulsing in throws of death.

"Natsu!"

Relief battled with mounting trepidation as Lucy watched him dive, in too much pain to move or do even move. Natsu's face was contorted with rage as he swooped down on the narrow-faced tracker, more dragon-like and frightening than she had ever seen him before. Flames licked his fist as he aimed a bone-shattering blow at the man's face.

Instead of connecting however the man raised his crossed arms and blocked, dust swirling around his feet as he skidded back across the road.

"Yo, Salamander, long time no see! Fancy seeing you here, I thought you'd be out cold for at least the rest of the day."

Lucy gasped and stared at the kidnapper's arms where the fire had burned through his dark coat. Instead of fragile skin they were dressed in large scales, shimmering in metallic hues all the way down to the hands, which suddenly looked a lot like Natsu's. Not only the hands though, but the face was changing as well - the metal scales spread slowly from the neck and up until every inch of skin was covered, wings and a long, smooth tail bursting from the back of the shoulders with a sound of tearing cloth.

No, it couldn't be. It wasn't possible, how could it... but unless her own eyes were playing tricks on her, the man really wasn't a man at all but a... dragon. A dragon just like Natsu, who looked, if possible, even angrier.

"GAJEEL! What the fuck do you think you're doing here!?" He dropped down on the ground, snarling in outrage as he stared at the other, tail thrashing back and forth.

The girl snapped her eyes onto the friend in shock, her mind reeling. He knew this person? Never mind that they were both dragons, they even knew each other's names?

"Working or course, what does it look like?" Gajeel sneered evilly and threw her a short look, eyes cold enough to make her shudder in fright. "A dragon's gotta make a living..."

"I always knew you were a shitty bastard, but to think you'd stoop so low as to work with the Trackers! Don't you have any pride?" Natsu growled and moved until he stood between herself and Gajeel, blocking her from view with the leathery wings. "I don't even care why, you hurt Lucy and for that I'll beat you into a fucking pulp!"

A dark, bloodthirsty grin spread across the black-haired dragon's face as Natsu smacked a fist into his open palm, flames bursting forth with a menacing whoosh as he started forward. For several long moments the dragons sized each other up, the pressure from the mounting tension alone enough to leave Lucy with dry mouth and frantic pulse, as terrified as she was awed by the sight. But the moment Natsu surged in to dish out the punishment he had promised, the metal dragon cackled and kicked off into the air, gusts of wind stirring up the dust on the road as he raised himself higher with steady wingbeats.

"Gehehe, I'll admit that you're strong, Salamander, too strong to take down quickly" he said with a sneer as he looked down at Natsu, who snarled angrily in response to the taunt. "Normally I'd take you on in a heartbeat, but since you killed my partner it would be... impractical to fight here. Go ahead and take the bitch, run and hide all you want - this is only the beginning, they're never going to stop coming after her!"

"Shut up! Get back here, you fucking asshole!" Gajeel was already flying off however, a sinister cackle lingering in his wake.

For a moment Natsu seemed about to go after him, body quivering in barely contained rage while the long tail thrashed furiously against the ground. It took several deep breaths and a harangue of swears for him to calm down enough to turn back, anger still burning in the dark eyes as he came hurrying towards her.

It was quickly replaced by worry as he dropped down beside her, the clawed hands surprisingly gentle as he removed the gag and untied the ropes from her wrists.

"You okay, Lucy?"

"If being alive means okay..." she tried to smile, only to wince and clutch her stomach as pain shot through her torso. She felt nauseous.

Calloused fingers examined her quickly to see if there were broken bones, but even though he couldn't find any Natsu looked grim when he carefully turned her face and saw the bruises that began to form on the pale skin.

"They beat you up pretty good" he hissed. "I'll kick that brain dead idiot senseless when I see him next time! Doing something like this... Lucy? What's wrong?"

She shook her head, lips tight and trembling in their struggle to hold back a sob. Hot tears were rolling down her cheeks again, emotions overflowing now that she had time to feel again.

"N-nothing. I'm just... so glad that you're alright. I was afraid that they had..! They said you were..."

Natsu looked confused for a moment, then seemed to realize what she was talking about. His face fell, a guilty look taking over as he carefully raised her up to sit.

"Ah, that. I'm sorry Lucy, its... kinda my fault it took so long to get here. I noticed from the start that something was off with my drink, but I... didn't think it would be potent enough to actually do anything. So I... kinda..."

"You drank it anyway?!" she said incredulously, the tears stopping from pure shock. "What if it was poison, you could have died!"

"Hey, it's not that easy to kill a dragon!" he protested, though it was a feeble one indeed. "Usually that kind of stuff don't do anything, and I didn't feel strange at all to begin with. But... when I woke and heard you scream and tried to get over to help, my body sort of seized up... I couldn't move for hours."

Lucy shook her head in disbelief, tempted to laugh at the sheer stupidity of it if she hadn't been in so much pain. Even sitting up hurt however, and she was grateful for the supporting arm around her back that kept her upright.

"How did you know where we were?" she asked faintly, trying to look at her friend despite the swelling that had begun to close one of her eyes. Mostly she just wanted to close her eyes and curl up on the ground in agony, but the sight of the dragon's face was too precious right now. Lucy hadn't realized how much she depended on him until they'd been separated. Not just for protection, but mentally... just having him there made her feel like she could endure anything.

"The inn-keeper was very cooperative" he replied, a dangerous glitter about his grin that made her more worried than reassured. "He started talking very fast when I set the inn on fire."

"Natsu, you didn't...?!"

"Oh, don't worry, he's still alive. Might not want to walk for a while... but he won't sell out his guests again, I'll tell you that."

"Oh dear..."

Was a royal beat down really better than a swift death? Lucy thought about her own pain and tried picturing how the poor man must be feeling right now, and shuddered in misplaced sympathy. She very pointedly avoided to look at the dead man in the ditch and Natsu didn't acknowledge him with so much as a look when he got to his feet and picked her up, opting to simply carry her and fly rather than walk.

"No point in hiding anymore" he explained when she asked about it, wings already raising them into the air with steady beats. "They know we're here now, we know they're after us and if Gajeel is involved he will probably know that we're headed for Isval. We'll just have to stay ahead of them from now on."

"Why do you know someone like him?" She didn't like the thought at all, almost didn't want to hear what kind of connection two dragons could have when one of them was capable of hurting her like that. Did it mean that Natsu might have...? But she already knew that he could be cold and callous, that he wouldn't hesitate to kill if necessary, or in the heat of the moment like now. Were all dragon's like that?

"We've clashed a few times before over work" was the answer she received, delivered with obvious dislike. "He has a way of picking the dirtiest, most disgusting jobs there is, which means we usually get in each others way."

"Work? What kind of work?" It sounded much better than them being old friends, so Lucy latched onto the idea like a drowning to a string. Talking was better than thinking, better than feeling the throbbing pain of her limbs and face.

"I'm taking on requests for help" he replied quite willingly, a long glance down on her face suggesting he understood her plight. "Sometimes people want a monster to be taken down, a bodyguard on a long trip, or maybe help retrieving some book or trinket that's been stolen. Usually interesting, I get to travel a lot and the money I get tend to be worth the risks."

"Sounds fun" she murmured, wishing her mouth didn't hurt too much to form a smile. The wind was cold this high up, the draft enough to make her shiver. Lucy was glad that Natsu had remembered the bag before he burned down the inn, she wouldn't mind a change of clothes later... "You think I can do that too?"

"Of course you can! You're smart, so there will definitely be plenty of jobs. If we team up there won't be anything we can't do. Especially when you've learned magic..."

"Wait, I'm learning magic? Since when?" This was news to her, Lucy had to raise a brow at the dragon in face of this arbitrary decision. Sure, the thought made a flutter of excitement pass through her and her flexible mind immediately conjured images of herself shooting balls of fire from her hands and... well. Fire was the only magic she had ever seen, she wasn't even sure what all one could do with it.

"Huh? I thought you wanted to - you looked so eager back when you saw my flames..."

"Well... sure, it'd be fun and useful and... but are you sure I can? Not everyone is able to use it you know." She made a defensive gesture with her hands, careful not to aggravate the rope-burns around her wrists. The ground rushed by like a quilted blanket far below, but the girl was not afraid of falling anymore. Natsu would never drop her, never let go.

"I know you can" the man said firmly with a strange confidence that had no basis whatsoever in the real world. "If you really want to there's nothing you can't do."

The way he looked at her was so filled with faith and trust that the girl felt color rise to her cheeks, suddenly feeling plenty of pressure. If Natsu would go so far as to say something like that then she wouldn't have a choice but to try, would she? And if she succeeded... A thought hit her so suddenly that she had to grab onto him, forced to smile widely despite the various pains and aches it caused.

"Natsu, you're a genius!"

"Huh?" He looked oddly flattered, but the expression was ruined by the confused blinking.

"Magic, Natsu, me learning magic! Mages aren't allowed in Firoe, you know that. So if I become one... won't that mean my father has to give up on bringing me back? I'd have to be exiled right away even if he did!"

He stared at her, comprehension slowly dawning until he returned her smile with a grin that looked almost evil in its wicked delight.

"Better get to Isval as quickly as possible then" he cackled. "I know loads of people that can teach you, really strong mages... What kind of magic do you want?"

"I don't know... what kinds are there?"

"Almost anything you can imagine!"

He set off on a long rant on all the things he had seen people do and Lucy listened quietly, more grateful for the distraction than she wanted him to know. What use was there in revealing that the steady rise and fall of his wings made her sore stomach clench painfully with each beat, or that his arm pressed against blackened bruises on her back until lights danced before her eyes? They couldn't stop now, it would take days before the pain went away, and with pursuers hot on their heels it would be foolish to waste time.

Lucy chose to endure in silence - it was something she was good at, after having done it her entire life.

And if it was for her favorite, best and only friend and savior, she wouldn't mind doing it some more.