Hey guys! Since I took so long to post the last chapter, I decided to update sooner!

So, I feel like I should explain some thing, in my vision of Juvia, I see her as a very forgiving person (i.e. the episode she gave Gray a scarf).

I'm sorry if the last chapter disappointed any of you! Thank you for continuing to read this far. Your reviews and favorites are greatly appreciated! Yours- SmItTy

Gathering Intel

Natsu stood with his back against a nearly erupting volcano. He stayed alert, watching the area as he began to consume fire that surrounded the hot rock. The rumbling from the volcano ceased as the heat was guzzled into Natsu's belly. His black vest had been torn and burned to shreds. He lost one of his shoes, but his scarf remained safely around his neck. He stripped himself of the remainder of his vest and last shoe before tying his scarf around his head.

Happy had taken Natsu's pack and fled to a high, isolated cave, promising to return quickly as soon as he found them a shelter. After eating his fill, the dragon slayer wiped his mouth as he turned to face on coming enemies. Natsu sniffed the air.

"Something is off," he spoke aloud. He looked around and saw five of the turtles coming towards him. He knew they weren't normal turtles, so they wouldn't smell like them. But this island had an unnatural, lingering smell. "Vanilla?" he asked aloud. Suddenly, a fist came flying at him. Two green-shelled turtles charged at him, their fists encased in rock. He met their attack with his own fiery fist, "No," shattering the rocks and sending the two cowering away. "Its more like honey," Natsu corrected himself. He glanced to the sky and saw a strange, pint hue surrounding the island. "A poison?"

Natsu dashed to a near by river and drank some of the water. Confirming his suspicions, there was some kind of toxin driving the turtles wild. Clearly, it didn't affect humans since the village people were fine. It must have only been in the water. He looked around at the other animals and seen that they were normal.

"A toxin that only affects turtles?" he asked.

"Natsu!" Happy yelled as he flew down.

"Happy, are their other humans on this island?" Natsu asked.

"No, they evacuated when their village was attacked by the turtles," Happy told him. "You should have read the flyer." Natsu groaned before looking up to his friend.

"You need to stay away from that cloud, buddy. Don't drink the water either, only what we brought," Natsu told him, pointing above them. The blue cat looked up then back to his comrade.

"Why? No way am I leaving you down here alone!" he retorted.

"I don't know how this toxin will affect you, and I would prefer not to find out. Please, Happy?" the dragon slayer asked.

"Okay, but if you need me, I'm coming back," he muttered, hugging his best friend. "Be careful," he added. Natsu nodded as he watched his friend retreat to the skies. The slayer cracked his knuckles as a new determined smile formed on his face.

"I'm all fired up, give me your worst, you stupid turtles!" He bellowed.

~~WJ~~

On the far side of the island, opposite of Natsu, a small mountain began to tremble. Slowly, a large blossom protruded from the hill-top. The rosy petals opened and a beautiful, slender, green man with bright, hot-pink, medium-length hair stretched his lean arms. He was lightly clothed in leaves and vines. He opened his sharp, bright, blue eyes and smirked lightly, small fangs poking from his lips.

"So, someone has come to stop my army, have they?" he asked aloud in a smooth, sly voice with a slight chuckle. "No matter," He said as he turned and stepped off of his flower, his bare feet leaving foot prints of fresh soil in their path. New pink flowers grew from each step. "He won't make it past my minions," He sighed.

The man's name is Amai Doku, known as the god of poison and plant manipulation. He had lived for many years, feasting off of the soils buried deep in the mineral rich areas of the earth. Evil as he may be, no man or woman has the power to resist his infectious, arousing scent, not to mention his almost-divine, beautiful body. No one has ever been able to escape the strength of her poisons either.

Amai walked until he reached a large, blue pool of water and slowly stepped into it. Sinking to his waist in the cool lagoon, he sighed and began to emit a pink mist from his hair. The mist floated downward and polluted the water, disappearing into it.

Snapping his fingers, two turtles with red shells ran to him. They breathed fire into the water, heating it until he was satisfied. Amai sighed, opening his bright eyes and looking forward. He swam closer to the turtles. Once he reached the shore, he petted their chins as they rested on the ground in front of him. He floated in the water, resting his arms on the water's edge. The two turtles relished in their master's touch.

"Bring him to me, the intruder," Amai spoke sweetly, "Do not stop until he is within in my grasp. Understand, my pets?" he commanded. The two turtles nodded and sprinted away, letting the others know of their new orders. Amai closed his eyes and sunk into the water, bubbles floating from his mouth. "This should be fun," he spoke from the water's depths. "It's been a while since I've felt the touch of a human."

~~WJ~~

Natsu jumped into the trees and surveyed the ground below, watching the turtles communicate in their own language. They seemed to be under some kind of control. The dragon slayer concluded that the toxin had something to do with it. Rather than fighting all of the turtles, he decided to find the source. Taking a sniff of the air around him, he focused on the direction the toxin smelled most potent. As he turned to jump for the next tree, he was knocked from the sky by a water attack.

"Hey!" Natsu shouted as he rubbed his back. "what'd you do that for?" he asked. Turtles surrounded him of all colors. One of them wearing a red shell stood.

"Take you to leader," it muttered.

"Your leader?" Natsu asked.

"You come." It repeated. "we make you."

"I will come peacefully," Natsu replied, holding his hands up in surrender. Suddenly, rocks and water came flying at him, wrapping his body in a cocoon of mud. One of the fire turtles breathed fire and hardened the shell and Natsu fell to the ground with an 'oof.' "I said I would come with you!" Natsu shouted. His head was the only thing uncovered. He attempted a fire dragon roar, but the shell restricted his breathing.

The standing turtle picked Natsu up from the ground and tucked him roughly under his arm. Natsu rolled his eyes and attempted to move inside the rock. The turtles all turned in sync and headed for the back part of the island, returning to their master.

~~WJ~~

Lucy, Erza, Gray, and Juvia were on a small boat heading to Tortuga Verde. Wendy and Carla were above them to avoid Wendy's motion sickness being activated.

"Wendy, do you see the island?" Lucy asked as she looked above.

"Its not that far from us," the sky-dragon slayer answered. "There is some kind of pink cloud above it."

"What do you guys think it means?" Juvia asked.

"I don't know, but I am getting major flash backs to Galuna island," Gray admitted.

"Be on guard, everyone," Erza commanded, earning a nod from the group.

"Wen-chan, could you come get in the boat for a second? Juvia could get us there quickly," the water mage asked. Wendy nodded as she and Carla sank into the boat. All of the mages held on tight as Juvia got closer to the back of the boat. With a shout, she pushed against the waves and the boat flew through the water.

"We're closing in," Gray shouted.

"Right," Juvia nodded as she slowed the water beneath them as they arrived to the shore.

"Wendy, you and Carla get some surveillance from above and let us know if you see Natsu," Erza asked.

"We will!" The two nodded as they took to the sky. Not a moment before they were to pass through the pink cloud, Happy pushed them back down, away from it.

"Happy?" Wendy asked. "Why aren't you with Natsu?"

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Happy?" Lucy asked from the ground. The group flew back down to the ground and regrouped, close to the shore.

"Where's Natsu?" Gray asked.

"He'd been fighting the turtles for a while. They're not that strong, but they have numbers. I took him to the volcano and somehow he figured out that there is a toxin here," the cat informed.

"A toxin?" Erza asked.

"Its in the water. He said the humans that were here had been unaffected by it, but it's been affecting the turtles," he answered.

"I see," Carla replied.

"Lucy, you're wearing the necklace?" Happy asked. "I suppose you guys worked things out, huh?" he asked as he looked to her and Gray. Lucy walked forward and hugged Happy lightly.

"We came to help, but also to apologize. We know we hurt Natsu's feelings," She admitted as she released him.

"Someone made some assumptions and got all upset," Juvia chuckled. "Isn't that right, Gray-kun?" she teased. Gray visibly tensed and walked towards the water mage.

"Juviaaaaaaaaa!" he groaned. The others laughed. "I'm sorry about that, Happy…"

"I hope you both know that you really hurt his feelings," Happy said seriously. "I am disappointed in you both. Lucy, you know how Natsu feels about you, it's not like he tries to hide it. How could you kiss Gray back like that?" he asked. "And Gray, you are Natsu's best friend, aside from me, of course. You should know that jumping into things without all of the knowledge is a bad idea. That is what you tell Natsu before he jumps into a fight, or are you a hypocrite?" Happy asked, a smirk on his face.

There was an audible gasp as the group coward slightly. Even Erza flinched at the sight of angry Happy, whilst Carla blushed and looked away from the steaming tom cat. Wendy was the first to speak, breaking the tension.

"Gray and Lucy both owe Natsu an apology," she started. "but they can't do that unless we know where he is. Can you tell us?" the sky dragon slayer asked sweetly. Happy turned to her and nodded, his paws resting on his hips.

"Natsu told me to stay away from the water and the cloud that's above the island, but I think I'm fine. I stayed closer to the ground, and I saw him get taken by the turtles. He was going to go with them peacefully, but they took him captive. They're taking him to their master," Happy told them sadly. "I lost them in the trees and couldn't find them again, and that's when I saw Wendy and Carla."

"We'll find him," Lucy told the small cat as she clutched her necklace. Happy jumped onto her shoulder and wrapped his tail around her neck. The celestial mage opened her palm and looked down at the crystal. "Find Natsu," she spoke, the necklace emitted a golden glow as the flames inside began to dance. It floated upwards and pointed in Natsu's direction.