Yo Guys Whats Up! sorry for the wait...and especially on a cliff hanger.

I actually fully planned to upload the next day...but you could say a string of minor catastrophes struck my life.

I just typed this, I finally got the chance. its 1:10 right now, so you better be grateful. I cant say updates will be coming back on schedule, as my life is still in shambles. like it got thrown through a woodchipper, incinerated, and them thrown into a volcano where it later erupted and scattered its remains into the winds and came to its resting place, a Cow's shit.

So yeah, its here, and I'm fucked up. so please enjoy, and lemme know what you think and what you would like to see happen in later chapters.

Luv y all, and thanks for your patience.

again, I'm so sorry.

Natsu stared at the wound, assessing the damage.

He let out a sigh of relief. The wound had closed up, and skin had grown over. A faint scar stretched the large slash and in the center was a dark green leaf tattoo the size of her thumb. The tattoo was like a small magic battery, it would continue to heal the internal damage, but it would severely weaken her stamina and musculature. She would need to go through some rehab and minor physical training if she wanted to do anything strenuous.

Natsu replaced the leaf covering and bound it with the vines that grew up his body. Erza looked at him expectantly, urgency in her eyes.

"Will she be ok?"

Natsu sighed and stood up, "She will be unconscious for a while. My method of healing is relatively harmless unless it's an emergency. She will be weakened, and will need physical rehab, but she will be ok in a month or five. She is lucky I was here, or she would be dead or permanently crippled. I'll explain in a safer location, preferably when she is conscious. "

Erza was understandably shocked, so he let her process and went to see how Gray was doing after being tied to the floor by the floor. He walked over to the suspiciously large bump of grass and saw Gray…

Unconscious.

Natsu sweatdropped, "I…might have yanked him too hard, dammit." He placed his hand on the grassy ropes and released them, letting them fall back to normal grass. He checked Gray's head for any traces of blood or any physical damage. Having found none, he walked back over to Erza, who was still wearing his cloak, and opened it again, staring at its inner contents.

This was getting annoying.

He looked up at Erza, "Hey, I need my cloak, do you mind?"

She looked at me in surprise, and then a small blush made its way onto her features. "D-d-do you? Are you sure?"

Natsu was sure what was actually happening, "Is there a problem with me reclaiming my cloak?"

She looked down, wrapping it around her. "It's warm."

Natsu looked at her blankly, "And we are in a desert canyon…if you want warm go find a patch of sun."

She looked at him in dismay, and then her jaw set itself firmly.

Natsu was flabbergasted, 'Is she seriously going to fight me for my cloak!'

"No" Erza said flatly, "I know you have more than just this one. Why should I give this up? You aren't using it, I am."

Natsu felt like forcefully throwing his face into the nearest tree. "Beside the fact that the cloak is actually mine, it's full of medical supplies that I need."

She looked horrified, "You don't have any supplies in your other one?"

Natsu was seriously beginning to wonder of he was dreaming. Was this really happening?

Natsu sighed and opened her cloak…his cloak, and pulled out a familiar pouch. He opened it, and smoke spilled out in impossible amounts, and then when he held out his hands, it condensed.

Within a few moments, the cloak that Erza had once held onto for him was in his hands.

"How about we trade? I need my medical supplies and you want my cloak. Ok?" Natsu said

Erza look about ready to pout.

Natsu was in a state of awe, 'and she is the enforcer of the guild? Are there any normal people in that entire building?!'

She looked untrusting, "Is it warm?"

Nope, it's a fucking freezer; it's a portable habitat for polar bears and penguins

"Yes, it's just as warm" Natsu reassured with a roll of his eyes.

She then moved so fast that Natsu barely caught it. She quickly shed her cloak, throwing it in his face, and then grabbing the one he was offering her. She quickly threaded her arms through sleeves and wrapped herself in it tightly, as if trying to rapidly regenerate warmth. Natsu would have stared if it wasn't for his cloak being unceremoniously discarded in his face at high velocity.

He pulled it off his head and put it on himself, now having access to his supplies, walked over to the sleeping Gray.

He reached in and pulled out a small handful of really small grains, almost like sand. He thinned it out a little, and then gently placed his hand under Gray's nose.

He could have tried to shake him awake, or call his name, but frankly Natsu didn't want to do either. If the reaction he got was worth the use of this powder…

Then it would be totally worth it!

Natsu held his hand in place and waited for Gray to breathe in, and boy was it a whopper. It was at that exact moment Gray took a large intake of air as if snoring.

He wouldn't be for much longer.

As he breathed in the powder, it glowed a dangerous bright yellow. And when it entered into his nose, the glow intensified.

And then it happened, the reaction.

There was a miniscule explosion inside Gray's nostrils, where a strange purple vapor escaped.

Grays eyes shot wide open, immediately bringing his hands to his face as a reflex. As he fought the vapor, it stuck to his hands, and as he touched his nose.

It stuck to his nose.

Gray was pinching his nose, trying to ease the pain, and when he caught sight of Natsu, rage flared in his eyes. He tried to let go and punch Natsu, but it was then he discovered that his hands couldn't actually leave his face, or his nose to be precise.

And because he pinched where the vapor was originally coming out, his nostrils were held together. It was because of that what happened next was so funny.

If you had noticed before, when you pinch your nose, your voice is altered, the louder you shout, the more noticeable it is.

So imagine if one Gray Fullbuster, shouted out a battle cry at someone, declaring how they were going to kick his ass and make his pay. How do you think that went?

If you guess priceless, you nailed it on the head.

"OI! What the hell was that ya pink basstarrd! C'mere and I'll kick your ass into next week!" Gray shouted in a high pitched warped voice, he sounded like a clown horn.

And Natsu for one, was having a hard time containing himself. It was normally a rule of his to hide his emotions from people, but seeing this, who could keep them at bay?

Natsu was shaking from his contained laughter. And if it wasn't enough, Gray thought he would as some fuel to the fire.

"Fight me you little shit! Ill squash you like a tomato!" he yelled out, and then tried to form magic, but since his hands where on his face, they immediately chilled him and started shouting layers of ice onto his face.

And since he could only breathe out of his mouth, his comical panicked expression and look of surprise broke Natsu's emotional barricades.

Natsu rolled with laughter, letting his amusement float through the air as he laughed. It was like listening to smoke billow through wind chimes, gusty but with art. Loud, but serene. His laugher was like a flaming pyre of guitars, shouting out their notes in harmony as they slowly fell apart when his laughter gradually fell silent.

Natsu wiped some small tears from his eyes and flicked them away. Everyone had stopped to listen to him laugh, it was something they had never heard before.

"Hehe, thanks Gray, that was good, haha, awe man I hope I remember that until the day I die." Natsu said with a faint smile.

Gray snapped from his dream-like state and yelled out, "Just your luck! You're gonna die today when I get my hands on you!"

Natsu let out a few chuckles, but Happy decided to add his two cents.

"Aha! You're gonna need to let go of your face first!" the flying cat laughed and landed on Natsu's shoulder. He then busied himself with Natsu's scarf while Gray comically struggled with his own grip on his face.

Natsu smiled at the cat, he was definitely a strange creature, to be able to hold onto his scarf. It might as well been live electricity cable, and yet Happy was handling the flow like it was water under a bridge.

Definitely interesting.

He stood still so Happy could get situated, he didn't actually mind Happy's presence as he usually didn't make noise and if anything, was a parachute/get away for anyone else there. He was an asset, and a rare one.

Natsu turned back to Erza, who was staring at him intently. He let his face slide back to its blank expression. "We need to leave this place, the longer we stay, the more chances those serpent thingies will get us."

Gray stopped for a moment as he listened to the conversation. When he heard Natsu's plan to leave, he practically whined.

"But I'm so hungry!"

Natsu turned, and stared, wide eyed at something.

Gray caught this and looked angry, "WHAT! I get hungry!"

Natsu was still silent, which only increased his rage until Natsu spoke in almost awe.

"Amazing, you still managed to strip your clothes, even with your hands fixed to your face. How did you do it?"

Gray looked down at himself and realized he was right! He was standing there in his boxers, his shirt, pants, and overcoat neatly folded and hung on a nearby tree.

Gray was speechless, he felt like yelling, but his voice would breach his throat.

Natsu folded his arms and shook his head in a dire fashion, "It would appear your stripping habits know no bounds! I'm sorry my sir, but there is no cure." Natsu said as he closed his eyes in mock remorse.

"Shut it Pinky! When I AAA-"

POW

Gray was now unconscious again, he firmly against the earth in the grass's loving embrace.

"Calling me 'Pinky', who does he think he is? I don't call him stripper or nudist…maybe I should start…nah, I don't want to appear in public with a guy in public and call him stripped…that could earn some…weird looks." Natsu muttered to himself as Erza watched the events unfold before looking back down at Lucy

And then a choir of bestial roars tore through the canyon, and shadows started to rise.

The Natsu and Erza looked up to see the serpents, looming over head.

They had completely surrounded them, no wonder they took so long to attack again.

Natsu stared up at the serpents, there dark gray scales and blacks spots. Saliva dripped from their open maws as they stared down at them, tongues slathering their rugged teeth. Natsu was partially entranced by the serpents, the look of complete hunger, of ravenous delight, it almost made him jealous. He wished he could find what he was looking for like they kept finding him.

It was then he saw it.

Faces.

They were on the monster, people frozen with looks of shock and terror, seemingly carved onto the monsters scales. Natsu took a moment to look at all the serpents, looking for faces.

And found that all of them had them.

Different faces, each locked within a random scale. Natsu was intrigued, this was indeed strange.

Erza saw Natsu's slideshow of expressions, and was definitely surprised to not find a smidgen of fear…at all, not even surprised or stunned. Natsu was entirely calm about this entire event, almost completely…used to this, like an everyday occurrence.

Natsu started walking towards one of the serpents, completely devoid of fear and stood a foot from its body, all the serpents looking confused as to this strange human's behavior.

Natsu cocked his head to the side, studying the creature, and then turning to the other almost 20 serpents.

"I don't need the rest of you for this, when I figure this out I'll save you next. Please endure for a little while longer." Natsu said quietly, nearly unheard by everyone present.

Natsu then placed both his hands on the grassy floor, deciding to push himself a little. He looked at Erza, ferocity in his eyes.

"What you are about to hear will not leave your mouth under any circumstances; or you forfeit your life." Natsu said darkly, his eyes telling her he was completely adamant. She felt a chill going down her spine as she stared at his pure obsidian black orbs. Though another part of her was afraid for another reason.

'What is he going to show that means killing friends, raising an already ridiculous bounty, and straining relations with this country?' she thought in a panic.

Natsu took in a deep breath, and then his eye glowed a fierce green.

"Forest Dragon: Wellspring of Roots!" Natsu called into the air, and then a ripple of green energy blasted out from him like a shockwave. The serpents swayed to keep their balance, but Erza and the rest were unaffected. A moment of stillness resonated throughout out the greenery, but then a deep rumbling groaned beneath the grass.

With that being its only warning, the earth struck.

Large wooden tendrils like the serpents themselves ruptured from the ground, tearing up everything in their path. They snaked around the serpents, encasing them in their bodies of wood. Natsu then looked down, his hair shadowing his eyes.

"Forest Dragon: Executing Embrace" Natsu said sadly, almost in pain.

The wooden snakes responded. Out of their bodies, thousands of large spikes shot out of their bodies, like thorns. The Serpents cried out in agony as their bodies were literally turned into pin cushions. Horrible shrieks later, all but one fell dead and silent. Wooden spikes hadn't emerged from one of the snakes, and it was the one right behind Natsu. Natsu turned to look at the last surviving one.

"Let's figure some things out huh?"

Natsu started climbing all over the serpent's body, examining its body and structure, even knocking off a few scales to take. After that, Natsu stood atop his wooden serpents head, looking down with pity.

"It won't be long." He said before the wooden serpent contorted, and then a loud crack slapped the air, and the serpent fell limp. The body fell slack and coiled down onto the ground, when it seemed to fall apart.

Natsu sat on the wooden constructs head, laying out the evidence he collected on his head, and then looking out over the city. He knew that this was a black magic of some sort, the material of these creatures and their ability to return from death made convincing arguments. But the people that did it…what happened to them? They have likely been absorbed into the serpents, devoured by their own creatures. What he didn't know was how to restore them.

Killing the creatures obviously didn't work.

Destroying the circle they carved into their own city would simply release them form this place, and remove the ability to resurrect, however upon death, it would kill the people they absorbed as well…hmm.

Natsu kept looking over the city and back to the scales. There had to be a way to neutralize the magic from its core, disabling it and allowing the people to be released, but how?

The epicenter…wait…no way.

Natsu stood up, taking a single scale in his hand and crushing it, powdering it, he then let the powder fall.

It felt like sand, but fell like dust.

Its cement…wow, those guys are idiots.

Natsu felt a grin rise up, 'Those guys were idiots, but their magic in an interesting twist.'

The serpent reared its head, and then flung it forward, launching Natsu forward, back into the cities center. He saw it was already starting again.

This city was the serpents nest, its collective body. It's where its matter and mass were sent back to, why the fell apart on death. The city was turned into a living creature, and the townspeople were inside the city when they created it, so it's natural that they would reside in it. He just had to unbind the magic from the city, and the magic that animated the city will have no physical form, and cease to exist. The city will be in ruins, but that's the price for their mistakes.

The cities carvings began to glow a deep red, and the buildings began to warp, like a heartbeat. Its music forcing the city to dance.

The lines began to leak, overflowing the lines like a creek in the monsoon, and began to pour into the center, where it began to glimmer like a cluster of gemstones. Natsu stared at it, and felt a smirk grow, there it is, the epicenter.

Natsu then lit his hand on fire, letting its fiery light billow smoke into the sky.

"Erza, get Gray and Lucy out of here! It's going to get REALLY hot here REALLY soon. RUN!" Natsu roared, and full blown grin on his face as he knew what he was going to do, and it had been so long since the last time.

"Fire Dragon: Emergence" Natsu said with glee, this was gonna be great! It's been too LONG.

Natsu felt his fire magic start to roar, and he let its flames rise, he encouraged it. His whole being, aura and crazy smile exploded with magic fire, roaring like a beast to the world, as if shouting.

IM BACK

DID YOU MISS ME?

And its complete. let me know what you think and want in the reviews, if you don't have the balls to message me then by fanfiction creed you may not bitch to me.

I just made that up, but dammit it should be a rule!

G'night guys...or I guess i should good morning...or good evening depending on when your reading this...or...fuck it, I'm going. Bye.