Abyss: Chapter 10

Kosuke woke with a start early the next morning, his dream ending with that wolf leaping towards him and clamping down on his neck, the crunch echoing in his mind. His eyes snapped open, thankful that that was not how things ended last night. Thanks to the Iron Dragon Slayer. He sat up, rubbing at his neck absently with a bandaged hand as he looked around the inside of Gajeel's cabin. The small one room abode was very rustic in nature. Aged wood, metal fixtures, some of them made by the Iron Mage himself he guessed. Why buy something when you can make it? With his thoughts suddenly on Gajeel, he turned to search him out, surprised to find the man passed out in a chair beside the bed. His head was lulled back and to the side, resting on his shoulder, his arms hanging down on either side of his torso and his legs propped up on the table top, crossed at the ankles. He looked calm, serene, and very not dangerous. He looked normal. Kosuke smirked to himself, figuring not many people, if any, got to see this relaxed and vulnerable side to the tough, cold and mighty Gajeel Black Steel.

Kosuke shifted on the bed then, moving to get up when suddenly the frame squeaked beneath him, causing Gajeel to awaken with a jolt that caused him to lose his balance, falling off the side of his chair to the floor with a heavy thud.

"Uunnghhh," Gajeel moaned against the floorboards and Kosuke could not help the giggle that escaped his lips.

Seconds later a black head of disheveled hair rose up above the edge of the bed, piercing crimson eyes stabbing a glare dripping with warning to the boy.

"No one hears of this, brat, or I will make your life a living hell." He growled low, waiting until Kosuke's giggling was stifled behind a crooked grin before he was satisfied enough to stand and groan with a stretch.

Gajeel realized then that it was the first time he'd heard the boy laugh. He looked sideways toward the kid, taking note of the silly grin he was wearing this morning. Something had changed.

"Do I have something on my face?" Gajeel teased in a deadly serious tone and with a scowl on his face. Kosuke saw right through him and teased right back haughtily, "A whole lot of ugly. You need to fix that if you want to date my sister."

"Pffft... I….she," Gajeel floundered, the faintest blush creeping up his cheeks, his movements an exaggerated flailing. "I do not want to date your sister! It's not like that!" He finally managed, crossing his arms and turning his head to the side away from Kosuke in a childish type pout. After a prolonged moment of silence between the two, Gajeel lowered his arms, standing up tall and squaring his shoulders, yet still averting his gaze away from the boy. "I owe her," his deep voice rumbled in the room, confessing his innermost thoughts to Levy's little brother. "I need to know where she is, Kosuke, so I can help her if I can…if she needs me." The last part he added quietly to himself.

Kosuke finally stood from Gajeel's bed, moving to stand next to the dark man who towered over him. He leaned around to look into his crimson eyes. He saw a fierce determination there; a passion that he'd seen sometimes reflected in Levy's own eyes when she got her mind set to do something.

"If anyone can help her, you can, Gajeel." He stated matter-of-factly. Gajeel moved his hand to tousle Kosuke's hair then before the boy snorted and added, "Much better than those two boobs she's teamed up with."

"Gihi," Gajeel chuckled, his fangs flashing as he smiled. "Damn straight."

Later that morning Gajeel and Kosuke walked together back to Magnolia. The Dragon Slayer intended to escort the boy home, despite his pleas to tag along.

"You'll just get in the way," Gajeel finally stated coolly, ignoring the pout that clouded Kosuke's features. He was crestfallen and remained sulking and quiet the rest of the way back to his and Levy's apartment.

Kosuke opened the apartment door and started stepping inside as Gajeel turned to start heading to the train station. "Thank you," Kosuke said quietly over his shoulder towards the dark clad Dragon Slayer. Thank you for saving me, and for caring about Levy. Gajeel heard him with his sensitive hearing, but did not pause for a second to respond. His brows furrowed as he focused on the task before him as he stalked, his crimson eyes flashing. He had a bad feeling in his gut that something had happened to Levy and Shadow Gear. It had been a week now since they had left on their mission and it was not like Hargeon was a far off destination.

He boarded the train bound for Hargeon and brooded quietly on a bench to himself, his mind running through everything Kosuke had told him on their walk this morning about what he knew of their mission. It sounded pretty straight forward, to him, which further raised his suspicion that something had gone amiss. With his heightened sense of smell, he figured it wouldn't be hard to hone in on Levy's scent and follow it to where she was. Yep, that was the extent of his plan. He wasn't one to worry about details. With nothing but his thoughts for company over the next few hours his thoughts then shifted back to Kosuke.

The boy reminded him of himself, and their recent interactions were reminiscent of how Metalicana used to treat him as a boy. Gruff, but caring. That Dragon could be a real bastard, but he had cared for Gajeel in his own cold hard way. He remembered that look of defeat on the boy's face when he told him that he would just get in the way and it suddenly made him want to take the brat under his wing and teach him a thing or two. Maybe when this was all over and everyone was safe back home.

Would he want to be that close to Levy though? Wait, isn't that what he wanted, to be closer to her? The thought suddenly terrified him as he realized how tangible it was. He certainly wanted to start getting over the past with her and build a friendship with her, but then what? Anything past a friendship with her was out of reach for him, not that he wanted it to go any further than that anyway he told himself. He hardly knew the girl. What he did know he liked though. She was intelligent, caring, cheerful, friendly, forgiving, maybe even loving; everything that he was not. What did he have to offer her? Friendship. Yes, he'd start with friendship. Honestly, he thought to himself, that was more than enough for him, more than what he deserved.

It was hours later in the early afternoon by the time Gajeel stepped off of the train in Hargeon station. Immediately he set to work, turning every direction slowly as he inhaled the air, picking up the faintest hint of Levy's scent. It was the strongest from the north east, so he started in that direction. Moving down a main street, her scent lingered near a book shop and he snorted with a smirk. Figures. Continuing on for what felt like forever, he found himself standing at the front gates of a sprawling estate. No doubt the collector who had hired them lived here. But, there was also a scent that was oddly familiar. Distant, but definitely someone he had been around before. That gave him pause, considering everything before Fairy Tail in his past was a dark history filled with dark characters. He began thinking of Phantom Lord then. The scent must be someone from the disbanded guild. The thief perhaps? Gajeel grunted to himself as he tried to connect the dots in his head.

He started stalking the perimeter of the estate, finally making it around to where the gardens were. With a powerful fluidity that would make a big cat jealous, Gajeel pulled himself up and over the brick wall, landing with barely a sound on the other side. Stalking between the shrubs and hedgings within the gardens he came upon a scent trail that may as well have been a neon arrow pointing away towards a forest that jutted up against the far north east side. Well, well he thought to himself as he quickly walked towards the forest. He continued to mull over the scent as he bee lined it towards the trees. It was on the tip of his tongue. Definitely someone from Phantom Lord. As he neared the forest he also caught Levy's and her team mates scents as well. They were all somewhere in this forest and his nerves tingled all over his body at the thought that soon, very soon, he would know just what happened and who this mysterious person from his past guild could be.