A/N: Hello again, readers! This chapter we will look a little bit more at the developing relationships between Wendy and Saphira, and- my personal favorite- Natsu and Lisanna. Enjoy, and please be sure to leave a review!
Exploring Land and Heart
Their path took them out of Palancar Valley by the end of the next day. Much of the time was spent talking about the different worlds that the Fairy Tail members had been to. They all agreed that Edolas had been the world that had the most difficult magic to get used to, Fiore had the most versatile of dangers, and- so far- Alagaesia seemed to be the one in the roughest shape.
As they walked, Natsu was not oblivious to the way that Lisanna looked at him with a dream-like quality in her eyes, nor the way that she would blush and turn away whenever he met her gaze. He remembered that she used to do that when they were little kids, too, and it had gotten better as time went on, but now, there seemed to be a new element in the picture. What it was, he couldn't tell, but he wished he could- trying to figure his old friend out all over again was going to make his head hurt.
It might have helped things if Wendy had mentioned that Natsu had a tendency to blush whenever Lisanna looked at him for any amount of time, but she didn't know much about having a crush on anybody, so she stayed silent on the chance that she was wrong.
"Why can't those two-legs come out and admit that they have feelings for one another?" Saphira asked Wendy at one point. "If it were any more obvious, they would be wearing signs that say 'Be my nest-mate!"
"I don't think it's our place to get involved," Wendy said a bit nervously, afraid of offending the blue dragon. "I don't really even know what it means to be in love with someone, so I have no idea of what's going on in their heads right now."
Saphira snorted, though she couldn't be physically heard. She was hiding in the forests during the day so that if the group ran into other travelers, she would not attract attention. "I am the last of the free dragons, and I shall involve myself in any manner I please," she said smugly.
"Maybe, but Natsu was trained by Igneel to be a dragon slayer," Wendy cautioned. "Even among dragons, those two aren't normal."
"What do you mean by that?" Saphira asked, slightly affronted by the idea that Natsu could defeat her.
"Natsu didn't tell you guys?" Wendy asked in surprise.
"Tell us what?" Saphira demanded, her thoughts flashing slightly red with impatience.
"Natsu's dad is probably the most powerful fire dragon around," Wendy said simply. "His proper title is Igneel, King of the Fire Dragons. Even my mom, a sky dragon, knew who he was. And she seemed to hold some kind of respect for him, too."
"So then…" Saphira shook her head, not certain that she was adding things up right in her thoughts. "That would make Natsu…"
"Yup. The prince of the fire dragons," Wendy nodded. Saphira had no response to that, so she severed the connection to Wendy.
They reached a small, unnamed town by that afternoon. The way into it was blocked by a single, roughly dressed individual. The grimy man was standing in front of small bridge that led over a small river. Their packs were too heavy to swim, so they would just have to see what this man wanted.
Natsu cracked his knuckled and grinned eagerly as he anticipated a fight, but Brom held up a hand to forestall him. "Wait a moment," he said firmly. Before the pink-haired boy could start shouting angrily, the old man said, "If I say 'move aside', then you can hit him."
"Rrrgh…" Natsu grumbled. "Fine." That settled, they moved to confront the man.
"Ye c'n stop right there," he slurred. "This 's my bridge. Ya gotta pay ta git over."
Brom frowned slightly, seemingly concentrating. Then he shrugged. "There's no one watching us," he said simply. "Move aside." Before the man could utter a retort, Natsu had smashed his flaming fist into the man's face, instantly decking him.
"Aw, yeah!" he giggled. "That felt good! Thanks, old-timer!"
"Glad you enjoyed yourself so much," Brom said dryly as he knelt beside the unconscious man and started feeling at the purse he kept on his belt. When he encountered the sound of many coins, he used his knife to slit the bag from the thug's belt and put it in his own pack. "This idiot should know better than to keep so many coins in one place- there must be over three hundred crowns in here."
"Er, Brom?" Eragon said hesitantly. "I know that he was trying to extort us, but should we really be robbing him like this? He-"
"Would have done the same thing if he had the chance," Brom said to cut him off. "And as I recall, you didn't have any problem stealing back in Carvahall." He was referring to the leather that he had used to make a saddle for Saphira, and the meat that was currently keeping their bellies full.
"I did what I had to in order to survive and accomplish my mission," Eragon replied with some heat.
"Same thing here," Brom shot back. "This money will get us horses so we can catch up to the Ra'zac. Or would you rather they get away and have the chance to hurt more innocent people?" When Eragon stayed silent out of stubbornness, Brom shrugged and said, "Sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils, Eragon. I'm sure that the longer you're a rider, the more you'll learn about that."
The group went into town without causing a ruckus, and Brom quickly figured out where to find horses from a young boy that he tipped for his information. As they walked through the streets, Natsu and Lisanna ignored the curious looks that their bizarrely colored hair attracted. Wendy was a little more self-conscious, and she clung to Natsu for comfort. At least their clothing wasn't a source of more curiosity anymore, the younger dragon slayer thought.
Their old clothes had been torn up, so they now wore clothes that many people considered normal in this country, including Lisanna. Travelling in a dress like hers would have only attracted unwanted attention, so she now wore some articles that Elaine had given her. The only thing that Natsu refused to take off was his scarf, despite its bizarre appearance. Other than that and their hair, they looked like regular travelers, especially with their Fairy Tail emblems covered up.
They walked into a stall filled with about twenty horses or so, all of them placidly chewing on their dinner, or just napping. Wendy and Lisanna took to walking up to the ones that were awake and talking to them in hushed voices. Natsu, Eragon, and Brom went to talk to the owner, who was grooming a powerful-looking white horse.
"Good afternoon to you," the man said with a friendly enough smile. "What can I do for you today?"
"We need three horses," Brom began. It had been decided between him and Eragon that three would be enough for their travels, as the girls were light enough that they could ride double without a good horse having too much trouble. "We're going to be doing some hard riding, so they need to be tough, but not necessarily the fastest, just good endurance."
"Hmm…" the man said thoughtfully. Then he put away the brush and began walking around the stall and indicating three horses that he deemed suitable for such conditions. He selected a tall gray horse and two brown bays. "Will these do?" he asked.
Brom looked them over, the looked at the white horse that they were still standing beside. "I'll take one of the browns and the gray," he said. "But how much would it cost me for this one over here?"
"Snowfire?" the owned said in disbelief. "I'd rather not sell him- he's the finest I've ever bred, and I was hoping to sire a whole line from him."
Brom nodded his understanding, but reached for his newly obtained purse anyways. "How much would it all cost me, the three that I've selected, including riding equipment?"
"All of that?" the owner said, his brow furrowing. After a moment, he grinned and said, "Two hundred and fifty crowns." He seemed confident that no one would pay that much. However, his face fell just a bit when Brom simply raised an eyebrow and counted out the money before holding it out for the owner to take.
After debating internally for another moment, the owner sighed heavily and took the money. "Very well," he said. "My heart goes against it, but they are yours. For the sake of Snowfire, I hope that tragedy does not befall you."
"I'll treat him as though he were sired by the steeds of the gods themselves," Brom promised. "No harm will befall him on our account."
"Thank you," the man nodded. "It does lessen the pain of his parting somewhat to hear that, sir." Then they set about saddling the horses and gathering the remaining equipment that would be used to care for the beasts.
As Eragon held onto the brown horse, Brom said, "You're his owner now. You should give him a name, you know." Looking over at Natsu, who was with the gray horse, he added, "You too."
Eragon thought about it for a moment, then looked at the horse in the eyes and said, "In honor of my grandfather, I name you Cadoc."
Natsu eyed the horse uneasily. He knew that riding a horse itself wouldn't make him sick, but a lot of vehicles were pulled by horses, and thus they were the source of his misery, too. "All right, big guy," Natsu said. "Since you remind me of something that I have to rely on even though I don't like it, you're getting the name Gray."
With the horses, their progress in catching up to the Ra'zac became more profound. Brom was confident that they were heading to a town where the king's presence would be strong so that they could resupply without too much trouble. Before they could reach this place, though, they would pass through a town called Yauzac.
During the day, they would ride at a forced march, with forty minutes in the saddle, ten minutes break, then ten minutes walking so that the horses didn't have to carry the people the whole time. Brom, Eragon, and Natsu stayed on the same horses, but the girls changed every shift so that the horses weren't constantly burdened by the weight of two people. Fortunately, Natsu's motion sickness did not kick in since he didn't view animals as vehicles. In the evenings, they would practice with their wooden swords, much to everyone but Brom's discomfort.
"Yauzac will be a good place to listen for any rumors concerning where the Ra'zac may have gone," Brom explained. "It's almost like a small city, with two major roads leading through it. If the Ra'zac are heading home, they will likely have taken one of these roads. I'm also hoping that Natsu and Wendy can pick up on their scent if we're fast enough."
"We can try, but it gets harder to pick out a certain smell if there are a lot of people around," Wendy explained. "We might not be able to find them that way until we actually get closer to them."
"They do have a pretty rotten smell, though," Natsu said. "If we're within a mile of 'em, I couldn't miss 'em."
"What if the wind blows in their favor?" Brom queried. "Would that affect you?"
"Oh yeah…" Natsu said, his frown deepening as he buried his nose in his scarf.
"Er, Brom?" Eragon said as he pointed ahead. "What's that?" Up ahead on the open grass fields, the ground seemed to be flattening itself in pattern that approached the group, accompanied by dark storm clouds.
"That… is a very bad storm, headed right at us," Brom said with a small frown of worry. He looked around, trying to find some form of shelter, but in the grass plains, there was none to be found. Then his eyes widened, and he looked up to see Saphira in the sky.
"Eragon…" he said warningly.
The boy looked up and paled. "Oh no," he gasped. Then he shouted with both mouth and mind, "Saphira! Land!" The blue dragon was already on it, turning around to zoom away from the oncoming storm. Even so, it was clear- "She's not going to make it!" Eragon shouted as he urged his horse into a faster sprint, into the storm.
Wendy, who was riding with him, narrowed her eyes as she felt the power of the oncoming storm. From the amount of energy in the air, she could tell that it was going to hit like one of Grendina's wing attacks. If she didn't do something, Saphira could easily end up being dashed into the ground or carried off to who-knew-where.
She leaped off of the saddle, much to Eragon's surprise and faced the oncoming wind with a determined expression. Before she had joined Fairy Tail, she never would have attempted what she was about to try. But her confidence and power had both grown thanks to her adventures with the other guild wizards. Calling on the power of the heavens, she began to suck in all the air that she could, trying to divert it away from the all-but-helpless dragon above her.
Just before the angry winds could strike the others, the storm began to find its way into Wendy's stomach as she drained the power of the sky into her tiny body. She could hear Natsu warning her to be careful, but she kept going, trying to give Saphira the longest possible opportunity to land safely. She kept going and going, and soon she began to feel a change within her. The power she was absorbing was taking on a new form within her body, and her hair literally began to stand up on end, glowing a pale silver-pink
Natsu's eyes widened as he noticed Wendy's scent change while her hair lifted up, glowing with power. "Natsu, what's happening to Wendy?!" Lisanna called to be heard above the howling wind.
"That's…" he breathed in shock. Amidst the swirling wind, he could almost see the outlines of a powerful dragon hovering over Wendy, spreading its wings wide even as the girl outstretched her arms to either side. "That's Wendy's Dragon Force!" he shouted.
"What is a Dragon Force?!" Brom asked.
"It's the final form of a dragon slayer!" Lisanna shouted back. "If a dragon slayer consumes enough magic power, they can become even more powerful that the dragons that trained them! It's the power that they gain in this form that earned them the title in the first place!"
"So Wendy… has surpassed her mother?" Saphira asked wearily. She had just avoided being thrashed by the storm.
"Yup, and now we're about to see the real power of the Sky Maiden!" Natsu crowed.
As if on cue, Wendy stopped absorbing air and shouted loud enough to be heard above the wrath of nature, "Sky Dragon ROAR!" Her voice seemed to be amplified by the magic, the others thought, because none of them had ever thought that Wendy could make herself sound that loud.
But that was nothing compared to what came next. The tornado that shot out of her mouth was so powerful and wide that it scattered the winds themselves, and beyond that, the clouds that had been threatening to soak them were cast aside like so much as flimsy piles of feathers. The night sky was opened to reveal shining stars, and the wind that continued on was no more than a light breeze.
Wendy panted heavily as she felt her hair fall back down behind her back and on her shoulders. She turned back to face her friends with a tired grin on her face. She was greeted by a variety of expressions. Natsu looked immensely proud of her, Lisanna looked delighted that her younger peer had just taken an important step in her magical training. Eragon looked positively astounded, with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide. Brom also looked shocked, though he showed it differently, his cane ground into the dirt and his knuckles whiter than dried bones.
But Saphira's reaction was what caught Wendy's attention the most. The blue dragon was breathing heavily from the exertion of her flight, but other than that, she did not move, and her eyes were totally focused on the young girl. The blue orbs were split only by a hair of a pupil, and they did not blink. At first, Wendy thought that she was angry with her, but then she realized that it wasn't anger that she saw in Saphira's eyes. It was fear- no, not even fear, she knew. Saphira, confident and vain Saphira, was terrified.
Lisanna watched Natsu shattering excitedly with Wendy with a small smile on her face. Being out on an adventure like this with the Natsu of her childhood was like a dream come true. Only in her wildest dreams had she thought that she would get to go on an unknown quest with her best friend by her side. And he had grown up to be an even greater wizard than she could have expected, both in skill and as a young man.
She giggled at the thought of him and Gray getting along like Wendy had told her, and even the way that he had the guts to knock out Erza. And the way that he treated Wendy like a loving older brother was definitely nice to see. I wonder… how he sees me? She wondered.
"Got something on your mind, girl?" Brom said gruffly as he sat beside her. "Something with pink hair, perhaps?"
Lisanna blushed slightly and replied, "Is it that easy to tell?"
"If it were any more obvious, you'd be wearing a wedding dress by now," Brom replied dryly, which caused Lisanna to go very red in the face. "Why don't you just tell him what lies in your heart?"
"Well… it's complicated," Lisanna stammered.
"Then simplify it," Brom said flatly as he began to work with a flint and stone to get a fire going.
"Well…" Lisanna mumbled. "It's like this… He and I were really close as kids… But then he thought I died, so I feel like I just became a good memory in his head. Now that I'm back, he doesn't know what to make of me, and I don't want to rush him…
"Also, in the world I was living in before this one, there was another version of him like we explained before. He was… close to another girl… So I don't know if it was the same in Earthland. I mean, he talks about her from time to time, so I don't-"
"Is this girl here right now?" Brom interrupted.
"No…"
"And Natsu hasn't said whether or not he was definitively interested in her?" Brom said, still working the flint.
"No," Lisanna said a little more confidently.
"Do you want Natsu to know how you feel about him?"
"I do, but I'm afraid of how he'll react." Lisanna's face fell slightly. "What if he rejects me? It would make things really awkward at the least."
"But if you say nothing, you may never know," Brom said, almost to himself. A little more loudly, he added, "I know what it's like to be in love when you're young… Thrilling and terrifying at the same time, much like it must be to ride on the back of a dragon…" He looked around to make sure that Eragon wasn't within earshot before continuing, "But if you never get in the saddle, you'll never know whether or not you can fly with your partner, will you? Take my advice, Lisanna: don't wait too long to speak. Only bitterness lies down that path."
"Yes, sir," Lisanna nodded slowly. "Thank you for listening, in any case."
"My pleasure," the old man smiled slightly. "Young people often renew my spirit to keep living in this world…" He struck the flint again, but still failed to produce a flame, only managing to make the tinder smoke weakly. He scowled heavily and cursed, "Brisngr!" He struck again, and this time, fire sprang to life.
Lisanna gasped as she sensed a slight amount of magic power emanate from Brom, and the dragon slayer's heads immediately snapped over to look at the old man. Before any of them could ask what had just happened, Eragon moved to rejoin them, and Brom quickly said, "Finally got it going. Must have been smoldering inside."
"Thanks, Brom," Eragon nodded, seeming to buy into the story. "I'll get dinner ready, in that case."
"Good, then," Brom nodded. He then set about whittling at some sticks in preparation for their nightly combat sessions. "We should reach Yauzac tomorrow. On the off chance that we do run into them, I think we'd best go in armed. Lisanna, you know how to fight unarmed, correct?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "It's been a while since I used my takeover magic in combat, but I'll manage."
"Good enough," Brom muttered. "Because until we manage to get some more money, we don't have enough money to get any new weapons."
"That's okay," Natsu grinned as he cracked his knuckles. "We'll take those creeps on, Fairy Tail style."
"What, with just magic and your fists?" Brom said dryly.
"No, with our friends next us going at one hundred percent," Natsu winked at Lisanna as he raised his right hand above his head and pointed his first finger and thumb upwards. Lisanna blushed as she mimicked the motion, and Wendy smiled happily as she also made the sign.
"What does that sign mean?" Eragon asked.
"Well, Master never revealed where it came from, but it signifies a promise," Lisanna replied as they put their hands down. "That even if we can't see each other, no matter how long we're separated, we're always looking that person's way. We look out for one another in spirit, even if we can't physically be there for each other."
"That's' a beautiful gesture," Eragon finally said with a smile. Then he turned and looked back the way that he had come, back at the mountains of Palancar Valley. He made the sign, then, saying, "Roran, Uncle, Mother… Wherever you are… I'll be looking out for you. This I swear, on the legacy of the Dragon Riders."
The others watched Eragon as he stood there in the gentle breeze, making the solemn vow. Before he turned around, though, Lisanna was certain that she saw Brom wiping at his eye.
Gray: Are you kidding me?! He named a friggin' horse after me?!
Elfman: Hey! Horses are manly! You should be proud!
Mirajane: Well, I think it's sweet how Lisanna is starting to fall for Natsu.
Elfman: She deserves a real man, and that's just what Salamander is!
Gajeel: He's no more a man than Romeo is!
Romeo: Hey!
Mackow: Hey, don't talk bad about my boy!
Gajeel: Or else what?! You ain't got half the firepower that Salamander does!
Romeo: My dad's the coolest! Except... maybe Natsu...
Mackow: Gah?!
Makarov: Face it, old-timer. You've been replaced as your little boy's idol.
Mackow: First my wife, now my boy...? Why can't I win...?