A/N: Hey y'all! I wanted to update this earlier this week, but I kinda hit a wall... not literally that would hurt like... auch... I have walked into some other stuff though, just not a wall... so uhm... anyway! Hope you enjoy this chapter! *le kiss*
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
Chapter 14: Help is nice, woof-woof
Lucy was staring intently at the bonfire in their camp, enjoying the heat from the fire. She felt cold like all of her muscles was frozen, making her shiver involuntarily. It was rather easy to ignore her physical condition though, and that was mainly because she had so many things going through her mind.
And what she thinking about?
Yeah that's right the pink haired dragon slayer!
Why? Well obviously because of the things that happened at her apartment, however that wasn't the only thing... no... she was also thinking about his sudden outburst towards Gray. It had been weird... of course Gray and Natsu usually had their bro matches, or whatever they called it, but this time it had been different. There had been a small hint of real hatred and it kinda scared her.
No one knew how to act after the dragon slayer's outburst, so they ignored it for the time being.
It was getting late and Lucy felt utterly exhausted. But for some reason she couldn't go to sleep... no... she had to see him to make sure he was alright.
She was wondering whether or not she should go search for him, when she saw something shining in the distance. It was very faint at first, but it seemed to increase in strength as if it was getting closer to their camp.
"Uhm..." Lucy voiced while pointing her finger at the dot "... what is that?"
"Hmm?" Erza narrowed her eyes in the spot's direction "I guess we'll see that for ourselves in a few moments"
All of them stared at the spot as it grew in size, prepared to take actions if it was hostile towards them. Once it was close enough they all gasped in shock, because the radiating thing, was clearly a rather huge dog or wolf, and it was carrying Natsu's body.
"Natsu!" Lucy yelled while sprinting towards the creature, as fast as her legs would allow her. Her team quickly followed in her footsteps and soon they were all standing face to face with the creature.
"Is he okay?" Lucy asked in concern and gasped when she saw the rather huge amount of blood that was covering him "What happened?"
The wolf turned his head towards the blonde and made a whimpering sound. As it did it slowly walked past her, heading towards the bonfire. Once it was there the wolf very gently lowered itself on his legs, before leaning to the side so that the dragon slayer could slide down from his back, without being injured any further.
When that was done the wolf took a few steps away from the kid and laid himself down on the ground. The glow that had been surrounding the wolf started to vanish, but it was still radiating a soothing warmth, that seemed to calm everyone's nerves. Which probably was a good thing, because especially Lucy and Happy was panicking.
In fact if the situation hadn't been so dire they would have either hugged each other, with tears streaming down their faces, or they would have run around in circles while clutching their heads in frustration.
Instead of panicking or doing something radical, the entire team gathered around the pink haired kid, all of them looking rather worried.
"What happened to him?" Lucy asked in a fragile voice as she knelt down next to him.
"Let's see" Erza did a quick examination of his body, before turning her head towards the blonde "It looks like he's been in a fight with some creature. Look at this" the scarlet haired woman gently used her sword to cut off the fabric on his thigh, before raising his leg "this is definitely teeth marks"
"That's horrible!" Lucy gasped as she turned her head and spotted the other wound on his arm "There's another one on his arm"
"Why?" Happy was shivering trying not to cry "Who would do this?"
"Some animal I suspect" Gray sighed "It looks worse than it is though"
"Really?" Happy sniffed.
"Yeah, the amount of blood makes it look way worse than it is"
"Ohh.." the cat said unsure of how to react.
Unbeknownst to the others Erza had taken a quick trip to her bag, where she fetched a couple of bandages.
"Lucy, here" the scarlet haired woman threw some of it to her "Can you wrap his arm and his face, then I'll take care of the wound on his thigh"
"Uhm, eh sure" she didn't know why that task made her blush, but it did! It was stupid especially because this was a serious situation!
"Uhm Erza? Shouldn't we clean him before we bandage his wounds?"
"If the circumstances were different then that would be preferable, yes. However we need to make sure he doesn't bleed to death, so for now we need to conceal the wounds"
"Right" Lucy nodded "That makes sense"
When the task of bandaging Natsu was done, Lucy noticed that there were some rather huge bruises and multiple fractures on his hands, primarily his knuckles. The sight made her sigh and wonder briefly what he had been doing, but she didn't linger on it. Instead she bandaged them as well, without second thought, determined that she would figure things out later... well perhaps... maybe... it was rather hard focusing, because she was holding his hands! Hmm they felt so warm and a lot softer than she remembered...
A lot of indecent thoughts spawned in her head and she honestly wouldn't be surprised if there was suddenly was steam coming out of her ears...
It seemed like a small eternity had gone by, before she finished bandaging his hands and once she did she yawned loudly, while turning her head towards the bonfire. She was rather surprised when she spotted her team sitting casually around the bonfire.
When did they go sit by the bonfire? Lucy wondered briefly because she had evidently been so distracted with her own thoughts, that she didn't notice...
Another yawn spawned as she lazily stretched her arms above her head.
"You seem tired Lucy" Erza asked in a concerned voice.
"Yeah it's been a long day hasn't it" she smiled half heartedly towards the scarlet haired woman, who got into a standing position and strolled over to her luggage. Here Erza found two blankets she handed to Lucy, who thanked her and quickly used one of them to lay above the sleeping dragon slayer.
The other one she wrapped around herself. Mmm, the heat coming from the blanket felt really good, making her shiver in delight. As a matter of fact she hadn't noticed how cold her body had become, when she had been bandaging Natsu. That was until she felt the warmth around her shoulders.
Ugh... she inched away from her position to get closer to the fire and soon she found herself sitting next to Gray, who was staring lazily at the fire.
"So..." Gray started "... at least we found the dog, huh? You know if you ask me, that thing looks more like a wolf than a dog"
"Yeah..." Lucy sighed feeling utterly tired because of the sudden heat, that was radiating from the fire, making her skin prickle in delight.
Erza nodded "Indeed... I guess we'll have to take turns sleeping to make sure it doesn't run away"
"Mmm, hm" Lucy nodded in disinterest as she kept glaring at the fire, feeling how heavy her eyelids suddenly seemed to become. She felt so exhausted that she wanted nothing more than to lay next to the fire and relax.
Just for a few hours...
"Are you okay Lucy? You look rather pale" Erza asked in a concerned voice.
"Mmm, hm..." she was already starting to drift off. The drowsiness in her body was so dominant, that she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
Her body slowly started tilting to the side, and a moment later her head was resting comfortably against the cold ice mage who made a surprised "Eh?!" both otherwise didn't react.
Lucy was already sleeping heavily, making her ignorant to the fact that Erza, Happy and Gray was having a short conversation about how some people seemed to be in denial of their own feelings.
The sound of someone whimpering in pain caught the wolf's attention, making it open it's huge blue eyes to stare in the sounds direction. It was the pink haired kid from earlier... hmm... but it didn't look like any of the other humans had noticed his little outburst. Well to be fair the sound had been so low, the wolf might have been the only one who heard it.
The wolf yawned but kept his eyes locked on the sleeping frame of the pink haired kid. It was quite clear to him that the poor human was suffering from a nightmare. A bad one too, because his aura was fluctuating in weird and violent patterns. Not that the humans could see this... well they could sense or see aura's if the person was being particularly emotional, but they couldn't see the deeper layers like wolves could. No, they simply weren't in contact with the spiritual universe like wolves were.
Hmm... the wolf narrowed his eyes briefly, wondering what to do about the situation. He could use his radiating presence again to calm his aura? Like he had when he found him in order to soothe his pain.
Hmm, the colours surrounding the kid was radiating and for the most part all of it was due to his nightmare. But there was something else too... it was small but it was constantly there... a warm light of hope... ohh!
The wolf blinked as he turned his head to look at the blonde girl, who was sleeping on the ground next to the fire. Because of her... how cute.
Well at least there was a quick solution to the nightmares and a better one than his powers, the wolf thought before trotting over to the blonde girl who was snoring peacefully. Her aura was radiating warm colours, making it clear that she wasn't suffering from a nightmare. There was something else though... her heart... her body... she wasn't well... there was something clinging to her... a sickness of some sort...
The wolf dipped his head to smell the girl's scent. Yeah, she was sick in more ways than one... just like the pink haired kid had pain in his heart, so did she... poor children... hmm... for some reason the sickness was fluctuating all over her body...
"What are you doing?"
The wolf jumped in surprise before turned his head towards the scarlet haired woman.
"Well?"
Since the wolf couldn't explain his actions to the woman, he knew he would have to show it with actions. So with that in mind it very gently grabbed the blanket that this Lucy girl had wrapped around her body with his teeth, before dragging her slowly in the pink haired kid's direction.
Fortunately the woman didn't seem to protest against his actions, so he kept dragging the girl until he could place her next to the sleeping kid.
Once that was done the wolf took a step backwards and almost immediately saw how the kid's aura seemed to calm down.
Interesting... the wolf snickered because the kid was stirring around, obviously reacting unconsciously to the person who was suddenly laying next to him. The kid took a few sniffs, and for some reason it actually looked like the kid was inhaling the gentle aura that was radiating from the girl.
Aww so adorable, the wolf thought while watching the two humans sleeping next to each other.
But it wasn't enough... the kid was still having a nightmare...
Humans... why are they all so childish and oblivious!
The wolf rolled his eyes impatiently. They were all like small cubs... no babies who needed guidance to the most basic things... the wolf gently grabbed the pink haired kid's arm with his teeth, making sure not to do any harm to the wounds on it, as he manoeuvring it above the girl's waist.
The effect in his aura came instantaneously, making it rather obvious for the wolf that the nightmare was over.
"You're a very perceptive animal aren't you?" the armoured woman smiled warmly towards him.
He was indeed, yes, the wolf nodded and was surprised when the woman started bending her index finger, motioning that he should get over to her.
"I want to award you for your actions" she said while fetching a small bag "do you like meat?"
Ohh yeah! A bark escaped the wolf's lips as it started trotting over to the armoured woman, with a small drop of drool dangling out of his mouth. He loved meat! Hoozah!
Natsu was having a nightmare but he had no idea what it was about. It was all so blurry with weird images, blending together into a mushy pile. It was horrible though, because it was like it took his everyday life and twisted it into something dreadful. Like he could be sitting at the bar having a drink and then suddenly it was a blur of black and white.
Sometimes the images was more clear, like at one time he was wandering down the streets of Magnolia when it suddenly started raining. But he quickly realised it wasn't water but blood pouring down from the heavens, soaking everything with a crimson layer. The rain of blood was coming at such a fast pace, that he was soon wandering in blood to his ankles.
Just when he thought he spotted blonde hair diving underneath the bloody surface, the dream or nightmare changed into something else.
It was so random and that in itself made it super freaky, because he never knew what to expect.
He knew somehow subconsciously that he was moving in his sleep though. It was like he kept fading in and out of his dreamlike state, making him slightly aware of his own body, but not enough to wake him.
Natsu could hear himself whimpering at the images in his head, wishing for all that was holy that it would soon stop. Almost as if someone had heard his plea, he suddenly caught the faint scent of something that smelled really good. But what could it be? Unbeknownst to himself he took a few sniffs and it almost felt like the amazing scent entered his system, making him feel a lot calmer.
It wasn't enough though... his mind was still treacherous and stupid because... well because his mind was an idiot sometimes it didn't listen to reason... stupid brain... tsch!
He felt his arm suddenly being airborne, both in his dream but also physical and honestly it felt very strange... especially because his muscles was stretching and prickling, like someone was tearing his muscles apart... not that it hurt as such, it just felt unpleasant...
It stopped rather quickly though when his arm suddenly rested on top of something warm.
Honestly it was almost like when he was a child and sought comfort in Igneel's warmth whenever he had a nightmare. But then again it was different somehow... deep down he knew why, in fact he had already acknowledged it, but since he was far away in his own mind, it just confused him.
Or did it? Did it actually matter what it was, as long as it comforted him?
NO!
There was a smirk playing on his lips as he snuggled closer to the warm thing, hugging it tightly... or well as tightly as he could with his injured arm... like it was a huge, cosy and warm teddy bear.
Ohh jolly beans, it felt so freakishly nice and comforting!
Soon he was floating into a much calmer dream world, oblivious once more to what was going on...
Natsu woke abruptly by someone making a fake cough from somewhere above his head.
Go away... ngh, just a few more minutes...
"Mmm..." he grumbled to himself, trying to block out whoever was stupid enough to wake him.
It was weird though, because it felt like there was something breathing next to him. He could feel it whenever the person inhaled or exhaled.
But who... what?
"Grrmmf..." he opened his eyes a tiny bit and found himself staring at... blonde hair... wait what? His eyes flew open making him stare at Lucy's sleeping form, who was laying right next to him. She looked so peaceful as she laid there with his arm around her waist...
His arm around her waist... HIS arm... around HER waist...
His cheeks started to burn as he understood the situation he was in.
"So you're awake, huh?" Gray said from somewhere above him "Took you long enough"
"Eh?" blinking he turned his head carefully to stare at the ice mage "What are doing here? Go home!"
"Go home?" he raised his eyebrow quizzically "You know this isn't your place right?"
"Of course it is!" Natsu yelled and was about to clench his fist to threaten the idiot, when a flash of pain shot through his arm "Ngh!"
"Yeah, you shouldn't move too much with that wound of yours"
"What..." Lucy said in a fragile sounding tone "... what's going on?"
"Uhm..." Natsu had no idea what to say to that, because he wasn't sure what was happening or where he was.
Gray sighed heavily "We're going to deliver that wolf and we want to do it as soon as possible, so we can make it back to the guild before it gets dark"
"Ohh yeah!" the dragon slayer smiled "I forgot about that"
"Uhm... why... is... uhm..." Lucy stuttered in a low voice.
"Huh?" blinking Natsu turned his head to glare at the blushing girl.
"Why... is... uhm... I..." she started wiggling her nose "I... ahh..."
"Is something wrong?" Natsu asked in concern as he watched her make a weird grimace.
"I... ahh... ahhh..." she took a deep breath.
"You ahh ahhh?" he raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
The sneeze that came from the blonde surprised both of them and none of them was prepared at how much force there was behind it. Well it couldn't compare to when Natsu had sneezed, because that was in another league, but it still made her body skid a few centimetres. Or it would have if Natsu wasn't holding her waist...
But that wasn't the most troubling part... no far from...
Gray was howling in laughter and pointing at the image in front of him.
"Eww! Lucy seriously that's disgusting!" Natsu flinched as he felt the combination of saliva and snot on his face.
"I'm so sorry" the blonde exclaimed as she managed to quickly scoot away and get into a sitting position.
"Meehh..." groaning Natsu shot his head in the ice mage's direction "... and will you stop laughing it ain't funny"
"Yeah..." Gray was clutching his stomach and still chuckling "... it is"
"Tsch!" the dragon slayer sat cross-legged when he whipped his face with his hand to remove the... stuff... on his face. He only saw it from the corner of his eyes at first, but there was something off about the colour... hmm... he glared at his hand and froze momentarily in horror.
It was covered with a slimy substance but also blood... what... he snapped his head in Lucy's direction and glared at her worriedly. But she looked perfectly fine... what?!
Natsu raised his hand to his face again and flinched when he felt the bandages that was wrapped around his head.
"What...?" he whispered to himself not truly understanding what had happened. He recalled it a second later though, as the events from the previous evening flashed inside his head "... ohh"
Unconsciously he placed his bandaged hand above the wound on his arm, while glaring at the wound on his leg.
"... oh no..." the dragon slayer's eyes widened in horror.
"Hmm?" Gray stopped chuckling "What is it? What's wrong?"
"This is horrible!"
"What?!" the ice mage asked in concern.
"My pants!" Natsu turned his head towards Gray with quivering lips, and eyes that was on the brink of leaking tears "They aren't the same length!"
"So what?" Gray tilted his head "They had to remove it to put that bandage on"
"Yeah but... but..." Natsu sniffed dramatically "They aren't the same length!"
Gray groaned "You're such a girl sometimes..."
"Oy, there's nothing wrong in having at least some decency when it comes to fashion!"
"Mmm hm"
A flash of red was seen and a second later, Natsu was sitting with the material from the other leg of his pants, in his hands.
"This should make things even, right?" Erza smirked as she sheathed her sword into her seduction armor... wait how did that work...? Never mind...
"Yeah it does, thanks!" Natsu smirked as he looked at his new shorts.
"Speaking about fashion" Gray put his hands into the pockets of his pants "You know I don't give a damn about it, but shouldn't we throw the idiot into the lake so he doesn't look like he just murdered someone?"
"What the heck are you talking about?" Natsu growled in annoyance.
"Can't you smell it?" Gray pointed his finger towards the pink haired idiot "That you're covered in blood?"
"Ohh... well yeah..."
Natsu had noticed the metallic smell reeking from himself, but otherwise hadn't thought about it.
"I agree, we should probably wash the wolf as well" Erza nodded stoically "Lucy can you..." she turned to look at the blonde who was staring into thin air with very sleepy eyes. It looked as though she was half asleep just sitting there "... on second thought... Gray can you go with him and help get some new bandages on?"
"What?!" outraged the ice mage turned towards Erza "Why me?"
"Well I just thought it would be a good bonding experience for the two of you"
"... yeah right..." Gray muttered to himself.
"I wouldn't mind doing it myself... actually I've been dying to get out of this armor"
A memory of how they used to bathe together entered the ice mage mind, making him flinch in horror. He couldn't leave the idiot to such a cruel fate...
"No, no it's okay I'll do it" Gray exhaled while waving his hands in dismissal "Can you give me some clean bandages" Erza casually threw it to him "Thanks, hey wolf come with me"
The wolf's ears twitched for a second, but it quickly followed the mage with it's tongue dangling out of his mouth.
"I can do it myself you know" Natsu grumbled in annoyance but followed the ice mage nonetheless towards the lake.
A/N: Okay, so as you might have guessed the dog is actually a wolf, so I'll use "wolf" when I'm referring to it in the future ^^
H: "Cookie, cookie, cookie! Om, nom, nom!" (glares at her box of cookies for a second and gets an idea) "Gehehe!"
Gray: "I don't like that smirk on her face"
Natsu: "Me neither"
(cracks her knuckles and uses her amazing skills to force the two idiots into purple catsuits)
Natsu: "Whyyyy a purple catsuit?!"
H: "Because there will be one later in this story. Anyhow here take the cookies and go deliver them to all the lovely readers!"
Gray: "So we're delivering imaginary cookies? Doesn't the readers deserve more than that?"
H: "They do! But that's all I've got for now... so anyhow! Go show of your amazing bodies to the readers while feeding them cookies, kay? Anyway see you in the next chapter!"