A low groan caused all eyes to turn towards Lucy. "Lucy Doamna, how are you feeling?" Ana whispered eagerly.

Lucy shifted, another groan, then, "I think I'm laying on a stone." She tried sitting up but found her body was stiff and achy. "Help me up?"

Ker moved to do his Doamna's bidding but Ana and Ros had other ideas. "Oh no you don't," Ros protested, "you may be healed but you should still rest." Ana nodded her head, fully in agreement with Ros. "Just lay back and relax. When Reb gets back and the sun is up we can see how you're feeling and talk about moving on."

Lucy shook her head, "usually I would agree with you both and totally milk this, but I wasn't kidding about that stone. In fact, I think it just grew points." When neither girl responded and Ker just stood there Lucy snapped. "Oh for shits sake, I just want to sit up not take off to climb a mountain."

At that moment Reb rejoined the group. "I'm glad you're feeling better because I think we should move."

That caught Ker's attention, "what happened?" his voice was urgent as he quickly moved to help Lucy up. "Tell us exactly what happened."

Reb glanced around like he expected something to jump out at them. "Well, to make a long story short, I found the key and was heading back when I heard a sound. Looking back I could just make out three figures coming over the mountain. They were talking or arguing, I didn't hang around to hear what they were saying, but I think one of them was a woman." Reb continued his careful watch on their surroundings.

"What made you think one was a woman?" Lucy asked.

"Huh?" Reb refocused on his Doamna, "oh, um, one voice was shriller than the others, and there was screeching."

"Hm," Ker thought, "maybe they were just farmers or miners, but I think it's a smart idea to move." His eyes moved to where the sky was beginning to lighten just the slightest bit. "It will be light out soon, now is as a good a time as any to get moving."

As everyone prepared to start out Reb countered Ker's previous statement, "I don't think they were farmers or miners Ker. I think they were mages."

Ros stopped fussing over Lucy at that. "What makes you think they were mages Reb?"

"Well," Reb thought, "they were flying, or floating, or something like that."

"Floating?" Lucy asked curiously, "floating how?"

Reb looked confused, "I don't know. He was just floating. He looked like a big blob." He thought for a minute, "oh, but his head, maybe, was kind of shiny. Is that helpful?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "That sounds like the Thunder God Tribe."

"The who now?" Ana questioned.

"The Thunder God Tribe is one of the strongest groups in Fairy Tail. It's a trio of mages that have been together for as long as anybody has known them. Their leader is a rune mage named Freed. Then there is Bixlow, he's a seith mage. Lastly is Evergreen, she's, well she's a fairy." Lucy paused, wondering if she should mention Laxus.

"So why are they the Thunder God Tribe?" piped Ana.

Lucy hesitated, and then decided what the hell might as well. "Technically there is another member of the Tribe, he's a Dragon Slayer. His nickname is the Thunder God, hence the Thunder God Tribe. Anyway," Lucy added, hoping to gloss over this next part, "he's not really active with the Guild or Tribe right now. If we are going to head out we should probably get going."

"Yes, quite right," Uncle Phe replied distractedly. It was obvious he was mulling over this new information, and Lucy could foresee answering plenty of questions later. "But where exactly is it we are going?"

That simple question stopped everyone, and once again all eyes turned to Lucy. "Um, right, well I'm supposed to be heading towards a job. So much has happened that I kind of forgot." Lucy looked apologetically at her new friends. "I don't really know where the job is but the back of the request has kind of become a sort of map." Lucy pulled out said piece of paper and showed everyone the almost empty backside. "See the first clue was Crocus. Then it told me to head west, and while heading west I found all of you."

Uncle Phe nodded his understanding, "and now it seems to be telling us to head north."

"Great, now we know where to go," says Reb, "but does anyone know which way north is?"

"Of course," Lucy exclaims setting a hand to her keys for a moment, "it's that way," she continues pointing.

With their destination set the ever growing group set out.

:)

The Thunder God Tribe (TGT) reached the base of the mountain and paused only long enough to determine which way Lucy had gone. Once they knew her direction they followed swiftly.

:)

Gajeel couldn't help but to linger over the intoxicating scent of Lucy's spilled blood. The disturbed dirt caught his attention and he searched the area for other scents. He picked up the TGT's combined scent and brushed it off. Then he caught a whiff of something familiar yet older, combined with Lucy's scent. 'What are you getting into Bunny girl?' With one last deep breath Gajeel headed out after his prey.

A new chappy, yay! This one is a little longer and we get back on track a little bit.

Shout out to kurahieiritr JIO who read all 13 chapters in one night and reviewed each one. Thank you. have taken note of your questions and/or concerns and will make sure all is explained in due time.

Funny little note about this chapter; I wrote most of it while typing. In fact I ended up crossing out most (something like 2 out of 3 1/2 pages) of what I had previously written, so I hope you enjoy this chapter. I am 'free typing' the beginning of the next chapter as we 'speak' (multitasking) because it will be faster. I might even have a new chapter to put up later today.

I own nothing you can recognize as Fairy Tail, I just play with all the pieces and make them do my bidding.