Surprise! I'm up here, too, this time! =^.^= Okay, I know that we all want to get to the fluffiness (eventually citrusy-ness as I have indeed gotten multiple people asking for a lemon) with stubbornly sweet Natsu and cute tsundere Gajeel, but I've been dying to tell about what's been happening with Happy and Pantherlilly. Before any readers desert me or fangirl scream, THIS WILL NOT BE A PAIRING! This is just a little side adventure. If it goes well, I may even add in a little more of the duo out kicking butt and taking name…well…trying. Enjoy! =^.^=
"Happy, watch out!"
The blue exceed heard Pantherlilly's warning too late as he slammed headfirst into a light post.
CLANG!
With a sigh, Pantherlilly flew over to him. His wings disappeared in a tiny puff of smoke as he alighted on the ground gracefully beside a pained Happy.
"Happy, are you alright?" Pantherlilly asked, calmly giving him a once over where he lay.
"Ayesir," came the slurred response. Stars flitted in and out of Happy's vision, twinkling drearily before his eyes.
"Come then." Pantherlilly extended his hand to the sprawled out feline. "We're here"
At that, Happy immediately perked up. His head shot up, his ears up high and eyes wide as ever. Before him sprawled a large city with cobblestone roads and bustling people in large, vibrant garments. Even a few magic vehicles puttered alongside horse and boar-drawn carriages, their hooves clacking sharply on the road. Tall buildings watched over the excited passerby flitting this way and that beneath their great brick and stone walls, and some people even poked out of windows above to shout a merry greeting down below or to gaze aimlessly up at the white clouds that rolled by lazily in the azure sky. Happy could even smell the wonderful aroma of freshly smoked salmon coming from somewhere down the main road, perhaps a block or so down.
He shot up into the air, excitedly spreading his stark white wings. "Natsu isn't this place gre—" Sadly, he made the mistake of turning around and saw absolutely no one save the brown exceed giving him an empathetic gaze.
Oh yeah, Happy thought glumly. Natsu is still back at the old lady's house with Gajeel. He sunk back down to the earth with watering eyes.
Pantherlilly, seeing Happy's sorrowful demeanor, understood now why he had crashed into the light post: Natsu. The poor exceed must have had his head in the clouds wondering what was happening to the young fire dragon slayer they had left behind. It was really no surprise to the battle-weathered exceed, though. Happy had trailed tears behind him wherever he flew yesterday until he had sobbed himself to sleep without dinner that night away from the campfire, claiming it reminded him too much of Natsu. Since he'd risen that morning, he'd said little, his mind focused everywhere but where the duo was at the moment.
The scarred feline could only imagine the pain Happy must have been going through. From what he understood, Natsu had practically raised him, a fact he didn't doubt judging by the two's similar mannerisms. And having to leave the boy in such a state—truthfully, had the healer not demanded they leave, he himself would have stood watch over the boy night and day until he was well.
"Remember, Happy, the sooner we finish this job, the sooner we can go back and see that Natsu is healthy again." He directed a small smile at the blue feline. Until then, the best thing he could do was reassure Happy and keep his mind off the dragon slayer.
Thankfully, a tiny smile appeared on Happy's face as his wings vanished. "Aye, sir."
~HPPHHPPHHPPHHPPH~
"Eh, boss?" the large man whispered into his ale, sitting outside a quaint café. Across from him sat another gentlemen, small, but otherwise indistinguishable. "Did ya hear that? Those talkin' cats over there—they must be the ones from that Fairy Tail guild—and it sounds like they're about to hit a nice little payday." He shot his boss a mischievous glance and a dark smile that sent shivers down the spines of a few unfortunate onlookers.
"I hear ya, Duke," the boss said, plucking a roll from the basket in the center of the table. As he nibbled at the edges, his eyes followed the furry duo curiously. "We are just here for a rendezvous, you know."
"Yeah, but that mean we can't go home with a little bonus," the man named Duke pointed out. His smile widened into an impish grin. "Besides, this turf ain't claimed by anyone."
"Hmm…" The boss pondered this, munching lazily on his bread. Naturally the cats had piqued his interest with their conversation, too, but he wasn't about to let an underling think he could just run off and do as he pleased.
Finally, the boss looked up at Duke with deathly serious eyes. "How soon can you round the boys up?"
~HPPHHPPHHPPHHPPH~
"I almost don't feel right taking such a hefty sum for something so simple," Pantherlilly muttered guiltily, the coins jangling in the bag he held slung over his back as he flew.
"Aye," Happy agreed. But then he shrugged and added matter-of-factly, "But if he was hat willing to pay this much just so he didn't have to walk around his lake then I guess it's okay. After all, what took us thirty minutes would have been six miles there and back for him."
With a smirk, Pantherlilly chuckled, "Are you sure you aren't just saying that because the man gave us a large tuna fish for the road?"
Happy protectively tucked the enormous fish, practically as big as him, closer to his chest. "Well, he did insist we take it."
Still smirking, the scarred exceed shook his head and adjusted his own burden. At least Happy was no longer thinking of Natsu.
But, though Pantherlilly thought otherwise, the blue exceed naturally thought of his passionate nakama even then. His cheerier mood was due to the fact that, this time, he only thought of how excited Natsu would be when he saw what a big reward they had gotten! It was the biggest either of them had seen in a while. Well worth the time! Oh, and the money, too. All that was left was for them to find a place to set up camp and then they would rush back to Natsu's side come morning and show off their big, scaly bounty.
Grrr!
Ears drooping, Happy realized his stomach might not let him wait so long to eat his juicy prize. "Eh, can we set up camp soon?"
Pantherlilly peered over his shoulder at the setting sun, a star already twinkling high in the encroaching dusk. It was getting late.
He turned to Happy and nodded. Turning back to the road, he pointed to a small clearing just off to the side near a still pond, the occasional ripple fluttering through the water. "We'll stop here for the night."
Both exceeds swooped down out of the sky and landed lightly on the bank of the pond. The red light of sunset glanced off the waters, making it appear alight with a dazzling fire that flickered with each ripple.
Watching from the bank, Happy sighed, reminded again of Natsu. What if he was still ill? What if something went wrong and Porlyusica couldn't save him? What if—?
"Happy?"
"Oh!" The blue feline snapped out of his reverie, twisting around to look at Pantherlilly. "What is it?"
With a small, sympathetic frown, the warrior cat placed a paw on his companion's shoulder. "Happy, I know that you're concerned for your partner, but you have to find the strength to keep moving forward. What would Natsu-san think if you couldn't?"
Happy cast a dejected look to the muddy ground. "Natsu's the one that has all the strength. I just follow his lead…"
"That can't be true." Pantherlilly turned the blue exceed around to look at him eye to eye, the bag of jewels jangling against his back still. "You've fought alongside him numerous times."
"Aye," he replied. His tail hung low in the dirt, his lips twisted in a regretful frown. "But Natsu is always the one to save the day."
"Happy…" the scarred exceed began.
Wham!
Without warning, a large man slammed into the duo, knocking them both into the lake with a large splash.
As the two rushed out of the water, breathless and sputtering droplet that had invaded their mouths, Pantherlilly cursed, "How could I have been so careless."
In a white puff of smoke, he transformed into his larger humanoid form, drawing his sword. He rushed forward towards the thief who was nearly to the end of the clearing, but he never stood a chance; the exceed knocked into the man with his shoulder, forcing him face first into the ground.
"That's it!" Happy cheered. He leapt up, arcing into the sky as he used Aera, and began soaring towards Pantherlilly and the thief.
The humanoid feline tilted his head upwards at Happy's voice and threw a small smirk in his direction. But his satisfaction was short lived as a rustling in the bushes caused his hackles to rise.
"Happy, run!" he called. Not waiting for a reply, he twisted around and readied his blade. Suddenly, a group of at least a dozen thieves, nearly all of them muscular or swift, burst forth from the foliage. They held weapons in their hands—daggers, magic shotguns, crude looking clubs with the suspicious appearances of carved, rotted stumps.
This is going to be fun, the scarred exceed thought to himself.
Above him, Happy had darted higher into the sky and begun circling the scene. It didn't look pretty, but Pantherlilly could handle it easily. It wouldn't be the first time he tussled with a few low class criminals since his time in Fairy Tail, nor his worst encounter. It would take five min—
"Lilly! Watch out!" Happy called from above, but too late.
Another bandit came out of the bushes and circled around, this time a scrawny one holding a peculiar looking gun, and fired straight at Pantherlilly the minute he found an opening. Immediately, the feline went down, his magic disappearing as he collapsed. With their biggest threat out of the way, the unsavory group began cheering, patting their "savior" on the back, and crouching to scoop up the scattered jewels.
"Pantherlilly…" He watched in horror as his friend lay there unmoving. He willed the exceed to get up, but nothing happened. He's just shocked. In a minute, he'll get up and kick their butts, just like Natsu would do. Besides… Guilt began to gnaw at his stomach. I could never handle something Pantherlilly couldn't.
"Hey boss!" one of the especially quick thieves called to the one with the odd gun. "What'd we do with this one 'ere?" He pointed to the still exceed, and Happy's breath caught in his throat. "He's dangerous, this one."
"He won't be getting up anytime soon," came the gruff response from the apparent leader. He gave a wicked grin to his equally wicked bunch and added, "I shot him with a top of the line Magical Restraint Pistol." With this, he held up the odd pale green gun, its barrel twisted like a crazy straw. "Sapped his magic for the next few hours and stored it in the butt of the gun in case we wanna use it. And this thing works; illegal in the whole of Fiore."
Another thief, this one the tallest and heaviest set of the bunch, stomped over to where the exceed lay. Happy's heart thumped as he saw the enormous man nursing a lump on his cheek, something that could only have been Panterlilly's doing. "This little rat messed up my face! You expect me to just leave 'im?"
"Not like the ladies were crawling at your feet before, man!"
"I think it's an improvement."
"Hard to mess up that mug more than it already is, eh?"
No, no, no, Happy thought, completing another circle. Get up, Lilly! This guy's gonna blow any second. Get up!
"PIPE DOWN!"
The moment the bandit, Duke, bellowed his anger, the rest of the thieves quieted down. His face was red, his eyes furious, his fists clenched at his side. Anger radiated off the brute like a venomous aura.
"This pipsqueak is gonna pay," he seethed. He stooped, plucking a limp Pantherlilly up by the nape of the neck. Turning back to his company, he boomed, "And if any of you dumbasses has any smartass comments, you're next!"
No one said a word.
Heart dropping, Happy looked on helplessly as the thief tightened his grip on Pantherlilly. If I don't do something, he might… The feline couldn't bring himself to finish the thought. There was no way he could lose two comrades in a matter of days. First Natsu and now…
His train of thought stopped dead as hot tears blinded him. "Natsu," he wept desperately. "Natsu, I can't do this on my own. Natsu, where are you? NATSU!"
Tears dropped down, and he wept uncontrollably. All thought exited his mind save for memories of his closest friend.
Natsu…Natsu…what would you do.
He could practically hear the dragon slayer's reply. "That's your nakama! Why aren't you down there fighting for him? Get fired up, beat the crap outta those guys!"
Smack! Smack!
The sound of blows hitting their mark solidly echoed upwards into Happy's ears. With each resounding punch and kick, the flying exceed cringed.
I can't do it, he inwardly cried. I just can't. There are too many!
He moved to wipe his eyes then stopped when he realized he was still holding the tuna.
Wait! Maybe he could do something.
Casting his gaze down, he scanned the group of thieves, all gathered around Duke who had thrown Pantherlilly to the ground. Not a soul moved to stop a single one of the brute's vicious kicks for fear of enduring the same fate if they dared to intervene.
"Be thankful you can't feel this, cat," Happy heard the burly thief growl, resting a single foot atop the battered exceed's head. "It's about to get messy boys!"
"Lilly!" Happy searched more frantically for what he needed. It can't have just disappeared. There! At last, he spotted it, the green pistol held in the leader's hand down by his side.
At full speed, he dived down, wielding his tuna fish like an oversized baseball bat.
Duke raised up his foot, preparing to squash Pantherlilly's head into a bloody, gruesome mess.
"Get off him!" Happy yelled.
The bandit took the bait, glancing up just long enough for the fish to collide with his face with the force of Happy's speed and swing. A tooth went twirling into the air, and Duke staggered backwards, stunned.
Not wasting a moment, the blue exceed continued on with his momentum and curved around until—
Thwack!
A few more teeth were sent skyward as the fish slammed into the face of the thieves' boss. Swooning, he loosened his grip on the magic-filled pistol just long enough for Happy to drop his fish, reach down, and snatch it away from him before arcing skyward again.
"How does this thing work?" Happy wondered, sweat dripping from his brow from anxiousness and adrenaline. He shook the mechanism up and down, hitting the butt of the pistol in an attempt to release his comrade's stolen energy, but all he managed was to do was cause the entire butt to fall off and back down into the heart of the thieves.
Had the thieves been more aware, they'd have easily seen and caught the falling magic container. But because their boss and their strongest member had suddenly been concussed from what had seemed to be a flying fish with an attitude, they still were disoriented and allowed the container to fall to the earth.
There, it landed on a rock beside the prone exceed lying limply on his side. It broke in two over the stone, and bright, powerful magic rushed out of it, flowing into the closest vessel: Pantherlilly.
Out of the many criminals gathered around, only the leader realized what was about to happen. "I'm out of here!" he shouted, kicking up a cloud of dust behind him as he darted into the forest.
The others looked around at one other, confused. Low murmurs flew through them for a split second as they debated on whether or not they should follow before they were cut off by a large puff of smoke.
Happy, watching the entire chain of events unfold, held his breath. Please be okay.
Suddenly, a large, furry fist slammed into one of the muscular thieves' jaws and sent him flying backwards. In a flurry of frenzied shouting and stumbling legs, the group dispersed just as quickly as their boss had.
"Lilly!" the blue exceed yelled joyfully. As the smoke cleared, he saw his friend, though still battered, standing tall in his strong humanoid form watching the lowlifes flee into the surrounding foliage.
But, hearing Happy's voice, the scarred exceed looked skyward at his partner, spying the dismantled pistol still tightly in his grasp. When the last of the thieves had sprinted off into the forest and far away, with a smile, Pantherlilly called out, "I thought you said you couldn't find the strength to move forward on your own?"
Grinning sheepishly, Happy descended from the sky to land in front of the humanoid feline. "I guess you were right after all."
The warrior exceed released his magic, grateful to have it back, and reverted to his smaller form. "I'd say I owe you my life, Happy-dono," he said with a respectful bow.
"Happy…dono?" The words sounded so foreign to the blue feline. At first, it filled him with joy to hear it, but then guilt flooded in to squash it down as he remember what his own hesitation had nearly led to. "Lilly, I'm sorry I—"
He was silenced by a paw held up by his grinning partner. "I know you hesitated, and I understand why. But that does not change the fact that I am still standing here thanks to your actions."
"R-really?" Happy beamed.
"Aye, sir," Pantherlilly said with a chuckle. What a mess, he thought, flicking a trampled jewel with his tail. "Now, how about we gather these jewels, cook that miracle tuna of yours…" With this he gestured to the fish, resting in the grass where the blue exceed had dropped it. "…and get a good night's rest before we head back to show Gajeel and Natsu?"
"Aye, sir!"
Well, dear readers, what do you think? If you like it well enough, I might even add in a small arc just for them! =^.^= If not…well it was fun to write. Read, review, enjoy! =^.^= Stay tuned to see Gajeel faced with a big decision. Until next time!
P.S. A shout out to Lily Miichelle123. Sorry I didn't get to you in the last chapter, but I was almost out of time. I've seen reviews that had all caps, but you have to be the first one I've seen that actually acknowledged and apologized for it. Gihi! Thank you and everyone else for your awesome reviews! Please keep it up!