Ok, so yea… apparently it wasn't just Lucy I needed to watch out for. I'm on lots of people's hit lists now I guess. SORRY! But seriously, we are Fairy Tail followers/ lovers. Mashima is the KING of cliffhangers and trolling. I blame him for this (err… the last chapter). He's a bad influence on me.


Chapter 10.5

'Fuck! It just won't go down!' I screamed inside my head. I was curled up behind Lucy, my body pressing against her back because I simply couldn't NOT be. The lure of her body was too strong, making it impossible to stay away.

I wanted her so badly… which was clearly evident by the raging hard-on that I still sported beneath my shorts.

My mind floated back to the moment of her climax. She'd been so incredible to watch with her head thrown back, her breasts rising erotically and her skin glowing with a thin sheen of sweat. But that wasn't what had entranced me the most… what had really gotten to me was the words she'd spoken. Tumbling out of her mouth at the moment of her orgasm, amongst many other half garbled exclamations, she'd said three words that had jolted me to the core, "I'm… yours… forever."

My gut had twisted at her words, a strange feeling of warmth flooding my already heated blood. I couldn't believe how much I'd enjoyed hearing her say that. She's mine… forever. And I would never… EVER, let her go.

In a sense though, it was strange. I hadn't really needed words like that to know that she'd be a part of my life for a very long time. Whenever I thought of the future, even before these new feelings had developed, Lucy was there. I couldn't imagine a future where she wasn't a part of it. Just the very thought of her not being around made my gut twist sourly. She was a given in my life… a constant support and companion.

I adjusted my body behind her, trying to find a more comfortable position that might help to relieve the rock hard erection which STILL thrusted demandingly towards Lucy's hips. It didn't help though… nothing seemed to work. Even when I could hear her drifting off to sleep it wouldn't go down.

With painful care I lifted my arms from her body and rolled to my back. Even covered by the heavy blanket I could see the evidence of my arousal standing proudly. Lucy groaned beside me, clearly upset at being left alone but I needed to get away from her tempting body… just for a few minutes.

I concentrated on my breathing, taking steady breaths and staring up at the cavernous ceiling which was dark and barely illuminated by the small stream of moonlight coming inside. It was starting to work, my erection taming down somewhat but then I heard Lucy groan once again and this time she shivered as well.

Instantly I was behind her again, wrapping my arms around her luscious body and pressing my chest tightly against her back. She sighed contentedly and wiggled closer to me.

Perfection… the feel of her in my arms was absolute perfection. But sure enough, not a minute later my eager erection sprang back to life and I groaned in defeat.

I better just get used to it.


Chapter 11

I wiggled backwards and snuggled into the encompassing warmth that was wrapped around my body. A steady rhythm of light breathing whispered near my ear and an overwhelming sense of comfort and security glowed warmly in my belly. I was in heaven… quite simply put.

"Lucy?" Natsu's husky voice whispered behind me.

My body instantly reacted, heat traveling through my veins. "Good morning," I said and then groaned when his face nuzzled into the back of my neck.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked and placed a kiss to my shoulder.

"Yea. Did you?"

He nodded his head and then one of his hands moved to cup my left breast. Neither of us had bothered putting on more than a pair of shorts before we'd gone to sleep so now his fingers caressed naked flesh. He teased my nipple, plucking the tiny bud and then his mouth started kissing and sucking on my neck. I arched into his hand, my backside pressing tightly against his hips.

"Natsu…" I breathed, turning my face so that I could capture his lips with my own. My body rolled in his arms till I was lying on my back beside him, him still on his side. Our mouths were passionately connected, both of us groaning wantonly. Everything I'd felt the previous night returned with renewed energy and I reached my hand up to pull him down over me.

Unfortunately, as soon as his hips settled against my groin I suddenly remembered why we'd never finished last night, and I groaned loudly in frustration as I pulled my mouth away from his.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I threw my arm dramatically over my eyes and frowned. "We can't do anything."

He growled deep in his throat and I felt his forehead fall to press against mine. "Shit," he said simply and we laid there for several minutes, neither wanting to move away till finally Natsu sat up and started yanking clothes out of his bag.

"What are you doing?" I asked, sitting up and covering my chest with my arms… trying in vane to keep some semblance of modesty.

I watched him yank his pants on quickly and then shrug into his vest. "The faster we finish this quest thing, the faster we can go home," he said and then grabbed my bag.

I giggled when he threw the pack on the ground next to me and then started pulling out some clothes for me to wear. I changed, not quite as quickly as he had but soon I was dressed and ready to go. Natsu had rolled our beds up while I'd gotten dressed so we headed out as soon as I was done, crawling through the entrance of the cave and walking back out into the open field.

"Do you remember how to get back to the path?" I asked Natsu as I pulled the pack on to my back.

"Yea, I think so," he answered, shielding his eyes as he looked around the snow covered field which reflected the rising sun, nearly blinding us. Vaguely we were able to see our old tracks from yesterday and we started following them back towards the woods. We reached the edge of the field and I slipped on a flat rock which was covered by a thin layer of snow. Thankfully Natsu turned and caught my arm before I fell to the ground and I smiled up at him as I steadied myself.

"Thanks," I said, reluctant to let go of his hand.

"Su… Hey, what's that?" Natsu said, pointing to a something behind me.

I turned around and looked at the field behind us. "What's what?"

"Look at the cliff. Doesn't it look like a turtle shell?" he said and I squinted my eyes.

The cliff rose up behind us and in the darkness last night it had been too difficult to see the trees at the top that made a perfect arch which looked like the profile of a turtle shell. There was also a small section that jutted out of the left side which looked like a head poking out of the shell. "You're right!" I said excitedly and pulled my bag off of my back.

"Good idea. I'm hungry too," Natsu said and reached for his own bag.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "I'm not getting food. I'm trying to find the book. We're supposed to find the dripping turtle remember?"

His eyes opened wide and then he exclaimed, "Oh yea! You think that's it?"

I nodded my head and pulled out the book. "I hope so." I flipped through the pages till I came to the part the old lady had revealed to us.

Follow the broken path to the

dripping turtle. The crack in the shell

will point you in the right direction.

"Dripping… I wonder what that means," I said and started to scan the sides of the cliff. We both turned back around and started walking towards it, our feet crunching through the few inches of snow on the ground.

"That kind of looks like dripping, doesn't it?" Natsu said, pointing towards the area that looked like a turtles head. I could barely make out what looked like icicles hanging from the edge of the cliff beneath the canopy of trees and I nodded my head enthusiastically.

"Yes! This has to be it!" I said and began running towards the far side of the mountain. I could hear Natsu running behind me and we both stopped near the rocky wall.

"We need to find some kind of crack now?" Natsu asked as we both stared up.

I turned to him and folded my arms over my chest. "I guess so. But how are we going to get up there?"

"Maybe it's not as steep on the other side," he answered and started walking along the edge. I followed him and as we circled the rocky cliff side, we found that it actually did have a more gradual climb upwards and we made our way there. Well… maybe a gradual climb wasn't the right word; more like a possible way to go up as apposed to the complete dead end on the other side. Looking at it, we'd still have to shimmy up several rather steep rocky slopes and scramble over tons of boulders but it was do-able. The snow made it even more difficult but luckily most of it had fallen through the cracks and the sun had dried whatever wetness was left behind.

"Did you hear that?" Natsu asked, stopping abruptly in front of me. I had to put my hands up to keep myself from slamming into him and I rested them on his shoulder blades as I stood silently to listen.

After several seconds where all I heard were the normal sounds of nature around us I asked him in a whisper, "What did you hear?"

"I'm not sure. It kind of sounded like a dog or a wolf or something. But it was different," he answered and then cocked his head to the side. "Oh well. Whatever it was, it was far away. Let's keep going."

I nodded my head and wearily said ok. We began the long journey up the side of the rocky incline, Natsu staying mostly ahead of me and reaching back occasionally to help me up particularly steep slopes but at the very top we ran into a section that was completely straight up and down with no foot or hand holds, just smooth rock. The climb was a good nine of ten feet so even jumping was out of the question.

"How are we going to get up that?" I asked, shielding my eyes as I looked up at the smooth rock.

"What if I lifted you up? Do you think you could reach?" he asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I guess we can try."

He cupped his hands in front of his body and then bent low. I placed one of my feet in his hands and then reached up as he lifted me off of the ground. I was so close, my fingers just inches from the edge and with one last shove Natsu propelled me up till I was able to grab a hold of the hard surface.

"I got it!" I exclaimed and then felt Natsu grab both of my feet and push me up farther. I struggled to pull myself up and over the ledge and then finally got both feet up to the top.

Immediately I turned around and laid my body flat on the ground so that my head, neck and chest dangled over the side and then reached an arm out. "Here, can you reach?" I asked.

Natsu lifted his arm and missed my hand by at least a foot then tried to jump. After several attempts, I was finally able to grab a hold of his arm and then I struggled to pull him up till he could grab a hold of the ledge and lift himself over.

"Ugh! I need a break," I said and laid back over the cold snow covered ground, several feet from the edge. Natsu joined me, sitting down beside me and started rummaging through his bag for food.

"How the heck is a crack going to tell us which way to go from here?" Natsu asked after taking a large bite out of a bright red apple.

"I don't know. Hopefully there will be some sort of sign or something," I said and sat up. "Can I have a bite?"

Natsu eyed the fruit for a moment before he held it out for me and I leaned forward to take a bite while he still held it.

"Thanks," I said and half smiled.

He watched me as I chewed, his eyes focused on my lips and I nervously wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Slowly I gulped down the food and then stiffened when Natsu leaned over and kissed me. His eyes were closed, his lips soft and gentle as they moved over mine and then he shifted his body closer to mine so that he was sitting directly beside me, his body turned towards me. He deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue between my lips and I groaned at the feeling, heat immediately coursing through my veins.

When he pulled back, I looked up at him, my eyes lustfully hazy. He was so sinfully gorgeous, several pink strands of hair falling over his forehead and his signature grin spreading across his face. I wanted to grab him and pull his mouth back down to mine, thrust my tongue into his wickedly hot mouth and slide my body over his. But, as I reached out for him, his face suddenly went serious and he quickly turned his head to the side.

"Natsu?" I questioned, slightly worried at his expression.

"Shhh," he said and covered his mouth with his finger. I listened carefully, trying to pick up whatever noise he'd heard and then, just as I was about to turn the other way, a loud hiss sounded not ten feet away. I turned my head quickly, looking for whatever it was that had caused the noise and vaguely made out a shadow sliding over the ground.

"Natsu!" I exclaimed, jumping up. He was already looking in the same direction I was and then, out of the bushes came a hooded figure, the fabric a strange metallic color that seemed to be constantly changing, shifting from an almost silver color to liquid black.

Natsu pressed an arm to my stomach and stepped forward, semi-blocking me from the figure. "Who are you?" he asked, his body tense.

A shallow breathy sound swirled around us and then, in a toe curling hiss the cloaked figure stepped forward and said, "Who I am is no concern of yours. I answer only to the King."

I grabbed the back of Natsu's shirt, clutching the fabric in my hands as the figure approached. There was something eerily frightening about it; the cloak completely shielding any view of its face and body.

"I've been searching for you. You're friend didn't make my job easy like I'd hoped... at least, not until the King got a hold of him," the figure said and started to cackle and cough, laughing at its own remark.

"What friend?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"You'll see soon enough," it answered and then raised its cloaked arms up towards the sky.

Natsu jumped forward and plowed his shoulder into the gut of the figure, knocking it back into a nearby tree which cracked and groaned from the hit. An angry gurgle left its mouth and then it straightened up slowly, raising its head to look at Natsu.

Two silver orbs shined towards us beneath the hood of the cloak and I gasped at the sight, immediately remembering Dustins story of the Howl. Its arms shot up and a dark cloud started to swirl between its outstretched boney hands.

Natsu attacked the creature, his own hands becoming torches of fire as he swung at the things face and connected, sending the thing flying through underbrush and low hanging branches. With a loud crack, the figure slammed against a tree trunk, his head smashing loudly backwards. The dark body slumped forward and then slid to the ground in a lifeless heap, the cloak billowing out around it.

"Is it…," I began to say as I took a tentative step forward and then the snow surrounding the creature began to change color, inky blackness leaking out and staining the whiteness. "What is that?!" I hollered, watching the blackness spread farther and farther outward till the cloak slowly started to move, the figure straightening up till it was fully standing once again.

"You can't kill me," the thing said and steadily walked towards us, jerking its head to the side with a loud crack as if putting it back into place.

I reached for my keys at my hip but stopped before I called out for anyone, my attention diverted by a ray of sun that hit the cloak on the Howl. The area instantly turned bright silver, reflecting the light away from it and the creature turned away slightly and moved towards Natsu.

"I don't want to kill you," Natsu said. "I just need to beat you."

He reared back, his chest expanding and then he released a burning stream of flames, knocking the Howl back and making it scream in pain. It fell to the ground again but this time Natsu didn't wait for it to stand up before launching his next attack, jumping on the slumped figure and punching it with burning fists.

A black fog started to rise from the figure and roll across the ground, circling a nearby tree and I cried out for Natsu.

"Watch out!" I hollered and Natsu jumped back, moving beside me as we watched the cloud envelope the large tree. The trunk started to change color, turning a sickening grey color and then shriveled up before crumbling to dust and flying away with a gust of wind.

The Howl stood up and screamed, the sound echoing throughout the area and piercing our ears. Natsu and I fell to the ground holding our ears as the vibrations rippled painfully down our bodies. When the sound finally relented, I reached for my keys and called out for Virgo.

She appeared a second later, head bowed as she awaited my orders and I watched as Natsu sprinted towards the Howl, fists raised. The monster took the attacks, screaming with pain every time it was hit but nothing seemed to be able to put it down.

Another dark cloud started to enfold its body and I quickly whispered a plan into Virgo's ear then watched as she disappeared beneath the ground. Natsu kicked the Howl into the air and when it landed several feet away, Virgo popped out of the ground and grabbed the metallic fabric from its body. The material slipped away, falling to the ground and I nearly retched at the sight.

The creature was ghostly pail, its bones clearly defined beneath the nearly translucent skin. Its back was hunched over monstrously and protruding from its shoulder blades was two bone like spikes, the skin surrounding them an infected pink color. The thin legs were more like birds legs rather than humans with the knees bending the opposite direction and as soon as the sun struck the creatures body it howled in pain and dropped to the ground.

All three of us fell to the ground as well, clutching our ears as the sound tore through our bodies. Natsu looked back at me, his face contorted in agony much like mine probably was and then he stood up and walked towards the writhing figure. He straightened his shoulders, his face determined and then sent a blasting wave of fire at the crumpled body.

The Howls flesh ignited, flames flying high and the sound died away as flakes of ash floated away, picked up by the wind which carried it over the side of the cliff.

I breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, saying thanks to Virgo before she disappeared and then walked over to Natsu who still stood staring at the burning embers.

"Are you ok?" I asked, putting my hand on his shoulder.

He nodded his head and slowly turned his head to look at me. "Do you think that's the same thing that killed Dustin's parents?" he asked.

"I'm not sure but yea, I think it was," I answered. "And I think the King might have Dustin now... because of us."

Natsu turned towards me and pulled me against him, his arms tightly wrapping around my back. I rested my head against his chest and nuzzled contentedly against him, my thoughts straying to the boy who'd become our friend.

"What's all the racket!?" a voice hollered and a slumped figure approached us through the underbrush, draped in a heather grey cloak.

Natsu and I both stiffened, our bodies instantly reacting and preparing for battle.

"Whoa there… lil' high strung aren't ya?" the figure said and then pulled the hood off of his head. We both visibly relaxed and I heard Natsu sigh in relief as the cloak revealed an older man with thinning grey hair and dark eyes. In one of his hands he held a wooden cane which was bent and twisted like a gnarled root and in the other he held an old book with its edges worn and warped.

"Sorry. We though you were…"

"A Howl? Yes well, I can understand the mistake but I don't think I'm quite that ugly yet," he said and laughed at himself. "You two are mages?"

"Uh, yea," I answered, unsure whether it was safe to say that but figuring it was pretty obvious considering the damage surrounding us.

"Well, you just killed a Howl so of course you are. What are you doing around here?" the man asked and then smacked his forehead. "Ack! Sorry. I never introduced myself. I'm Rorke," he said.

"I'm Lucy and this is Natsu. We're actually here looking for something," I said and decided I might as well ask him. "Do you happen to know of any crack on this mountain?

The man scrunched his wrinkly face as he thought about it and then said, "Well, there's one but it's my home. Why?" he asked.

"Well," I began and reached for the book from my bag and then held it out to him. "We've been given a quest and we're trying to find the crack in the shell. We assumed that this was the dripping turtle since it looked like one from farther off."

He took the book and grinned while he shook his head. "Ahh that Ava… what is she up to this time?"

To be continued…


I need to quit my job so I can write more. I so wanted to do a Gruvia oneshot after last weeks chapter but no time :(

Thanks again everyone for supporting me! Oh and to all you artists... get crankin' on some NaLu sexiness! I'm dying for some naughty NaLu!