Rated M
M is for MATURE, people.
If I can pretend to be, then you can too!
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! *sob* However sometimes I wonder if Mashima-sama used to follow me and my friends around to help him dream up a few of his characters!
At least let a girl dream!
Episode 14
Wildfire
Fire rained down from the sky as the gang from Magnolia made their stand against the evils of the black market. Had Reedus borne witness to this, he would have relished in the opportunity to capture such wrath those of FairyTail brought down. Amidst the ashes and fire a group of enraged wizards and spirits gazed into the chaos without mercy. Natsu was crouched from his first burst of fire, Lucy and Levy stood tall behind him, while two other dragons with slitted eyes searched for vindication. The three Celestial spirits took the rear, eying any who dared contemplate escape.
Wendy manipulated her wind magic to boost Lucy's voice so she could be heard everywhere, it would not be long before this place was swarming with the undead.
"How dare you taint this land with the filth of an open market for slavery." The blonde desperado had left Equuleus in the woods but donned the slave trader's hat. Should someone recognize it, she wanted them to be filled with fear as to what may have happened to his health. "FairyTail will not stand for it! We will purge this land of any evil we find," She lifted a finger to point at the many bewildered and grimy faces within the clearing, "and our eye has fallen on you."
Good thing that I've practiced writing so much or I'd never be able to come up with such great lines! Just look at how scared they are!
With that said, the team split into their designated roles. Natsu and Gajeel were to reek havoc, pure unadulterated pandemonium. The spirits would round up the slavers, and Wendy was to escort Lucy and Levy to any holding cells to free those unfortunate enough to have been forced into slavery. The sounds of screams and panic were all around them and Lucy closed off her heart, they would get no sympathy from her. With two dragons loose, there were certainly plenty of screams to go around.
Celestial and Solid script mage burst through the door of a building catching fire and paused for a horrified moment at the scene in front of them. Dozens of women and children huddled in a back corner, only a few were blessed with scraps for clothes.
"They kept them naked?" Levy gasped, aghast at the sight.
Lucy narrowed her eyes. "This is what the world is coming to? What the hell does anyone need slaves for anyway?"
Wendy walked in and squatted in front of a little boy in torn trousers. With the kind of smile that could only come from a face as sweet as hers, she said, "Let's get out of here. You're free now."
The small boy couldn't be older than six, the concept of free might have eluded him if his mother hadn't grabbed the blunette's hand with desperate eyes, "Really mistress? Free?"
Wendy's comforting smile brought many of the people round and they started to stand on shaky legs. Lucy struggled to keep from averting her eyes, they needed to see a strong wizard ready to defend them, not a squeamish girl giving them another reason to feel ashamed.
"Solid script magic! Cloth, fabric, blanket!" Levy provided the answer for her.
Many naked bodies sought to cover themselves with what the mage provided hungrily. This is whom Lucy would feel sympathy for. She had come close to being one of them, stripped naked, who knows what horrors has been done to these people.
Everyone jumped and several children screamed when the roof started to collapse, ashes coming down.
"Hurry! Get outside!" Levy quickly began ushering them out while Lucy ran to a mother trying to pick up three children at once. She gratefully relieved one of her twin babes to her and picked up a three year old. The mage found herself a bit nervous holding such a small baby, she'd never been so close to one before. Was she supporting her head right? Was she warm? Cold? She wasn't crying... that's a good thing... right?
Once everyone was outside, Lucy and Levy dove out the unstable doorway. Wendy was waiting for them, holding the small boy she'd first offered help to. Lucy gaped at the scene outside. Natsu and Gajeel were doing their job well. The sky was red with the ambient light of the son of Igneel and hastily build shelters were being torn to scraps by the wrath of an iron dragon. Their roars overpowered the screams of the terrified slavers turned victims. Lucy scanned the area for her spirits, and found them easily enough when she all but fainted at the sight of Virgo. The spirit had men and woman both trembling in frozen fear at the sight of her. Somehow, her little masochist had transformed into—for lack of a better word—a sadistic succubus who reveled in the fear she used to keep the prisoners in place. She had a pair of bat wings bigger than her body and she cracked a whip that rivaled her own Fleuve d'etoiles. The spirit's maniacal laugh sent shivers down her spine.
"So THAT is what Virgo can do now...?" Lucy exclaimed loud enough for Levy to hear over the roar of fire.
"Geez..." Levy bit her lip, "I think I'd rather tangle with the Lion..."
Wendy sweatdropped, "If that's what she does, what in the hell does Aries do?"
Natsu landed right next to his sister and lightly tugged her hair, "Don't say hell!"
She squeaked at the tug then fwapped her brother in the back of his head, "I coulda said a lot worse!"
"Owwwwwie!" Natsu rubbed his head, "so sensitive!" He looked to the other two, his eyes widening at the sight of Lucy and the baby, "...baby?"
Lucy grinned, "Isn't she cuuuute?"
The mother approached her and gently pulled the child from the blonde's arms, annoyed in a way mothers tend to get when strangers guess their child's sex wrong. "It's a boy."
o.o;;
Natsu threw his head back in a cackle at Loopy's face when the woman snatched her kid from her. Priceless!
Loopy glared at him and brooded, "Don't you have something to go light on fire?!"
Natsu wiped a tear from his eye, "Nope! Place is good and burning!"
Levy ran to the group they'd freed, "Are there any others? Where do they hold them?"
"The men, they keep the men in a hut with a thatched roof over there." A teenage girl pointed, wrapped up in a piece of Levy's fabric.
Levy and Loopy gasped together, "A thatched roof?" They turned to Natsu as one and he blinked curiously, not recognizing their terror at learning that the men slaves could be burned alive in the box full of tinder they were being kept in.
"Whaaat?"
-THREE HOURS EARLIER-
Loopy had called a house meeting after her day of rest. The sun had just started to set by the time she and Natsu had woken, and she seemed dead set on filling the group in on something pretty important.
The house smelled like roast duck, and the starving fire dragon couldn't have been happier. He was starving! Gathering everyone up for a breakfast/dinner was easy enough, most everyone had slept the day away. It felt weird to eat something Levy had cooked on a stove instead of something he'd scorched up just right. He wasn't picky though. Feeding the goat girl was going to be a problem—she didn't eat meat, but she refused to make a fuss, saying grass and leaves were fine with her. Maybe she really was a... goat.
The meal went as peaceful as it could, what with the lion constantly trying to talk with Loopy. Couldn't he just let the girl eat in peace? Once everyone was mostly done, Loopy's expression turned serious.
"Those guys that took me... they kept talking about selling me." Loopy told them everything, about how they thought about finding a necrophiliac to sell her to if she was dead, about how they thought about chopping off her hand to hide the guild mark—everything. The rage that filled Natsu was mirrored by everyone in the room. The world hadn't expired for even three years, but that didn't seem to matter to evil men rising to prey on the weak. How could he let any of his family out of his sight if shit like this was happening? And so close?
Loopy paused, looking at everyone's various states of anger, "When we are reunited with FairyTail, we need to find this place and get rid of it for good."
Most nodded, but the dragon brothers didn't. They glanced at each other and Natsu gave Gajeel a small nod. Gajeel leaned forward, "We don't need no stinkin guild for this. They messed with us. I say we sniff'em out and give 'em somethin to think about for a looooong time."
"Aye." It was the only thing Natsu could squeeze out of his grinding teeth.
Aries started to bite her fingernails, "We don't know how many there are, or how big their camp is... I'm sorry, but do you think we could pull it off?"
"I think Princess deserves retribution for what they were planning. If it pleases her, at least. I could dish out some punishment." Virgo spoke as though she may as well be ordering tea, instead of condemning an unknown amount of people to... punishment.
"You know I'm always down for a fight, Lucy." Lion freak smiled charmingly at her.
What the hell? She smiled back! "This is about liberating whatever slaves they might have already, not about revenge guys." Loopy gripped her fists tightly.
Natsu rubbed her back, "You have your reasons, we have ours."
That brought her smile back to him, where it belonged.
Gajeel stood up, "Daylights goin fast. I say we go now, I ain't gonna wait around for them to try and take any more of us. This ends tonight."
Levy and Wendy looked up at him with determination, "Aye."
-SKIPPING BACK TO THREE HOURS LATER-
Wendy was the first to race towards the hut the young girl had pointed to, followed closely by both Loopy and Levy. The dragon watched them run off, rolling his eyes. Didn't they tell him to light the place up?
Yesh...
Then a familiar scent greeted his nose. A certain unwashed smell he'd been faced with yesterday. Natsu turned back to where the girls had run off to just in time to see the same man he shook down yesterday snatch Loopy into a choke hold. The surprised grunt she let out echoed in his ears like a death toll. Fire consumed his entire form as well as leaked from his mouth as he strode towards the back of this man.
"You little bitch!" The man yelled right in her ear, "this is your doing! You think you can just barge in here and destroy our way'a life?"
Loopy struggled to talk, "Travis... was it? So glad you... could make it!"
Wendy and Levy had continued running to save the slaves, neither of them had heard Loopy getting scooped up. Natsu made a mental note to figure out a way to better hone Wendy's abilities, she should have smelled him.
"Shut up, whore! I'm gonna squeeze the shit from outta yer eyeballs, you ain't worth sellin!"
That was it. If the fire dragon wasn't already filled with murderous intent, he was now. From behind the man, Natsu grabbed his filthy wrist from under Loopy's pale chin and pulled it back to twist right on the verge of painful. Just a little further and it would crack.
Even amidst the grimy man's screams, Natsu spoke, "Don't you remember what I said I would do if you hurt her?" He twisted tighter, making the slaver's eyes tear up, "what was it I'd said? Maybe about finding something worst than roasting your filth to smithereens?"
Loopy turned around and covered her mouth, "Natsu! Natsu stop!"
He was burning the man's skin, forever branding his wrist with his palm. Natsu looked up and saw fear in her eyes—but she wasn't looking at her attacker—Loopy was looking at him.
"You can't! This world has already rid us of so much of our humanity!" The emotion of her words were bringing moisture to her eyes, making the fires he'd spread reflect in her bottomless brown, "we can't let it take this from us too! Natsu, we are not killers!"
He wanted to, oh but he wanted to. Not just once, but twice now has this man grabbed her while her back was turned. The dragon in him burned for retribution; this scum had touched his treasure. Alas... Loopy's words spoke truth... irritating, indisputable, damnedable truth.
He was a better man than that. He would be for her.
Even with these thoughts bouncing in Natsu's mind, releasing him was difficult. He tsked and dropped him, kicking him in his gut. "Bottom feeders like you aren't worth FairyTail's time." His voice lowered and his eyes started to glow a ruthless inferno, "come near her again, and you will be wishing for the death I'll never grant."
Natsu stood his ground ruthlessly as he watched the man crawl away, sniveling like he should do for the rest of his miserable life. The thoughts boiling over in his head were evil, the things he wanted to do to that man, a small part him screamed inside his head words that his brother had spoken last night. 'It was her choice, not his.' Loopy had chosen righteousness. Her choice was his mercy.
I can deal with that...
His brooding was interrupted when the sweet smell of strawberries and vanilla tackled him into a hug. Had his stance been less sturdy, it may have knocked him off his feet. She pulled his attentions back from the depths like a moth to the flame, except this time, he wasn't the flame.
"I knew you wouldn't do it Natsu! I knew it! I had faith, I always will!"
Natsu looked down at the top of her head pressed against his chest and stroked her shining, golden hair. It was tinted a sinful red against all the flames, "Of course not, Loopy! You made a real good point."
She looked up at him, refusing to loosen her grip around him for even a moment, "About maintaining our humanity?"
Never pass up a chance to make her smile, Natsu would always say: "What? Nah, the part where you told that guy you were glad he could make it!" He flashed her his brightest grin, "that was pretty great!"
Mission accomplished, Loopy granted him a smile he swore he'd never forget—not this time. The both of them looked at the other under their element, Natsu was utterly mesmerizing to the blonde, with flames of his own design framing the mage's vision. Unbeknownst to the dragon, who was captivated by the involuntary spell Loopy held against him when she looked into his eyes. Staring at one another like this held them frozen while an invisible wildfire grew between the small space between their eyes, their cheeks, and especially their lips. Instincts led the fire wizard to wonder what those lips tasted like, were they soft? They smelled more like vanilla than strawberries. If he were to lean just a little bit closer, perhaps the mystery could be solved.
One of his hands slipped down to her back as the other stopped stroking her silky hair in favor of cupping the back of her head instead. Both pairs of eyes widened when the spell was abruptly broken,"Yo! Flamehead!"
They separated quicker than two underage delinquents caught sharing a bottle of rum.
It was the Lion Boy that had yelled at him. He looked pretty mad, and pointed in the direction Levy and Wendy had run off to, "They could sure use the help of someone immune to fire over there!"
"Right!" Natsu stuttered and ran off in that direction. Loopy just lowered her hat under a reddened face and walked off in the other direction. She must have been hot around all this fire.
o.o;;
Moving an entire guild was not easy, Mirajane and Erza had sequestered themselves to quietly argue about the best way to accomplish such a task. They tried to hide their disagreements from the rest of the guild but everyone knew their methods clashed frequently.
Juvia had been bunking with Cana for so long now that it was difficult recalling ever having her own space. So much had happened since their flight from Magnolia. The rain woman was packing, as everyone had been ordered to do—not that there was much to pack. She tucked the small magazine clipping from several years ago, depicting a picture of Gray and his Sorcerer Weekly profile, into her pocket. She could loose any of the other material possessions she still had, but the picture was staying with her.
Juvia looked over curiously to see Cana sitting on her pile of blankets everyone used for beds these days, just staring into one of her cards with nothing at all packed. Her various pants and skimpy tops just littering the area around her.
"Cana-chan...? If something is wrong, Juvia is here to listen."
She waited for an awkward moment. Cana was so sucked into her own thoughts that she hadn't heard.
"Umm... Cana-chan?"
The card mage looked up finally, "Hmm?"
Juvia sighed, and walked over to sit beside her, "Why is it that Cana has not started packing?" She tried to catch a glimpse of the card she was holding.
Cana noticed her roommate's curiosity and showed her the card. It was her Laxus card. "Jellal said they they were okay, ya know."
"Ahh." Juvia suddenly understood. Laxus and Cana had begun seeing each other between missions. Cana had even joined them on a few from time to time. "Cana-chan is worried about Laxus-kun."
"Nah." Cana leaned on a hand and carelessly tossed the card to the side, "no reason to be worried about those guys. It was nice to hear that they're doing alright though."
"So then, what is the matter?"
A heavy sigh came from the brunette, "It's what Jellal said about his memory. He really doesn't remember a thing? They don't know where to find us at all."
Juvia grew a smile, "So Cana-chan misses Laxus-kun!"
She made a face of nonchalance, "Ehh, maybe a little."
The mage yelped when Juvia caught her into a tight hug, "Juvia understands, truly! If Gray-sama had been out there... Oh Cana-chan! Juvia is here to help!"
Cana chuckled under her friend's embrace, "I guess it might be a good thing that we seem to be returning to Magnolia. Anybody from FairyTail is bound to work their way back there eventually."
The rain woman leveled her eyes to show Cana her determination. "Juvia will fight harder than all of FairyTail to return Cana to Magnolia. That is the best chance for Cana-chan to be reunited with her love, so Juvia will break all barriers to see it happen!"
This brought a blush to Cana's face, "Uh... my love...? Let's not go nuts there, Juvia."
"Now is not the time to dwell in doubt of one's feelings. Cana-chan never knows what tomorrow brings."
"Riiiight... I could get eaten tomorrow." Cana sweatdropped.
Juvia nudged her, "Cana-chan knows that's not what Juvia meant."
"Yea, yea."
"Come," Juvia stood and picked up a few of her roommate's clothes, "Juvia will help Cana-chan pack up."
o.o;;
Loopy had offered the survivors to join them in Magnolia, but when mention of the town came up, the people looked at their crazy saviors as complete lunatics. They apparently had a vivid memory of the devastation that had been wrought in a town that size. So, Levy had instead offered them all the resources that were stocked up by the slave traders. Neither Gajeel or Natsu were very happy with that. Their little group did all the work, yet they got nothing out of it.
Well... the smile on Loopy's face is pretty great.
She was walking next to him, guiding her beast with Levy riding on top of it. The blunette had exhausted her energy making all sorts of things for the people before they headed out in their various directions. Natsu thought it was pretty funny how close Gajeel stayed to the horse despite his obvious dislike of the thing. He was probably worried Levy would get kicked off or something.
"We did something wonderful tonight, Natsu." Loopy said softly, watching the path ahead of her.
Natsu looked to her with a raised eyebrow, "Yea I guess..." He let out a sigh and cupped his hands behind his head, "I still think you shoulda let me keep some of that bread." The dragon peeked an eye at her, "been a long time since any of us got some fresh bread."
"Probably not as long as them," Loopy mumbled.
Damnit, Natsu! There ya go makin her sad.
Lion Prat turned around, walking backwards to leer (at least in Natsu's opinion it was a leer) at Loopy, "Yea, we can survive without it, who knows when they might get more food. For all we know, they may not know how to hunt or fish."
"Nobody asked you, Kitty cat," Natsu growled.
The pretty boy just held his hands out as if he wasn't looking for trouble and said, "Chill out man, it's like Lucy said: we did a good thing tonight."
"Loke?" Loopy chuckled, "you should watch where you're going—you're about to bump into that tree."
The lion's eyes lightened when they met hers before he turned around, deftly avoiding the tree Loopy had warned him about.
Damn tree missed him!
Something about that guy rubbed him the wrong way. Loopy seemed to trust him, but Natsu didn't like the way he kept interrupting. Couldn't he just be a good little house cat and keep that big mouth of his shut?
They jumped when Levy slid off the horse with a moan. That must have been what Gajeel was been waiting for. The girl had started to nod off and as soon as his brother caught her, he grew quite a bit of distance from the four legged creature. Loopy asked, "How is she?"
Gajeel did was he did best, and frowned at her, "Shrimp really wore herself out helpin all those guys. She's just tired. She gets the bed tonight."
Loopy nodded with a caring smile, "Of course."
"Awww," Natsu couldn't help but whine, "but your bed was so comfy!"
He winced when the blonde glared at him, "Exactly why she gets it tonight!"
"Ya know, I used up a lotta magical energy too!"
"Geheh, yea ya did." His brother just had to bud in.
"So we can flip for it, right?"
"No," came voices from all sides of him.
o.o;;
The exceeds stood about examining a huge map of the country that had been laid on the floor while Max pointed out the best route they should take. Such a large group wasn't about to head the shortest route, a jump, and a skip through the forest, nor should they take the second shortest route that passed by the canal. Too many unpredictable things that could happen to separate them, which left them with their best option being quiet possibly the worst one.
"It's settled then," Mirajane said with a heavy heart. "We'll travel down the main road until the train station, then follow the tracks down the farming fields."
"At least we'll have the same open field advantage you all have had here." Pantherlily replied, committing as much of the map as he could to memory, "we'll have plenty of room for warning and defense. Protecting the civilians you have sheltered all this time should be our top priority."
Happy stared at the map without speaking. Pantherlily had spent much of his time the last two years training the younger exceed in combat and tactical skills.
"Is there something wrong Tom Cat?" Carla spoke out, revealing she had noticed his reservations as well.
"Mmmm..." Happy continued looking over the map.
"I think everyone should be able to go by daybreak." Erza folded her arms, "It will be a long journey. I suggest we all get as much rest as we can."
Mirajane looked to her sister den mother and nodded, "Yes." Then she turned to Max, "Thank you very much for helping us consider what route to take, Max. I can't believe this map of yours is still in such good condition!"
He flashed her a thumbs up, "For the longest time it was a mint condition collector's edition. I tried to save as much as I could from the shop. Real excited to see those walls again."
"Aye." Erza smiled, "I get the feeling many of us are rather excited to be heading back. So long as no one thinks such a task will be easy, then we should be able to manage."
Mirajane smiled, "Everything will work out just fine. FairyTail will find a way to bring Magnolia back to life, I just know it."
"I see someone has reclaimed her can do attitude." The smile on the battle maiden grew brighter.
The she-demon giggled, "It feels good to be going back."
"Indeed." A vein finally popped on Erza's forehead as she turned down to glare at Happy, "just what are you staring at down there?"
Happy looked up at her, "There aren't very many fishing spots on this route of Max's ya know... how's a guy supposed to get his fish?"
The others stared blankly at the cat.
Pantherlily complained first, "THAT'S what you've been thinking about? All that planning and you were just thinking about your stomach?"
The blue exceed's ears plastered to his head and he pouted, "I miss Natsu... he would understand. It's gonna take a lot of food to feed a group like this ya know!"
"I find that I am forced to agree with him. Just how do you expect to feed such a large group in over a week's road trip?" Carla folded her arms.
Erza winked at them, "We'll be fine. You'll see." She for one, had been impressed with Happy's foresight, even if it was only because he was raised around their Natsu's gluttony. "Let's make sure everyone knows we will head out at daybreak. We'll want to cover as much ground as we can in daylight before we find a safe campsite. Tomorrow, our journey back home begins."
Her words were agreed upon by determined nods. Soon the battle to reclaim Magnolia would begin.
Woooooooooow guys! So many reviews! I LOVE the love! How can I make you wait for more when you shower me with so much love?! I hope you enjoyed the chappie!
xoxoxoxo!
I just GOTTA lick ya! o.o! Soooo many licks!
panicatthediscofreak7: We shall discover what the clash of clans brings together, my friend. ^.^
tkitty23: You'll take those scraps and gobble them down like a gourmet dinner, damnit! OH! And I love you too of course! ^^;;
Exxcaliburr: Keeping the fluff alive DoubleX! Thank you!
NoraRabbit: He's definitely relying more on his dragon instincts with no memories to fall back on. Memories are an important part of who you are, what makes you, you. The dragons are managing pretty well! I imagine dragons are naturally pretty possessive of the things the claim as theirs.
OriginalBanbii: We're even then! Cuz I totally freaked out when you said you freak out! YAAY for the freaking! Yes, I'll keep it rolling along! :D
lkityan: A hug? FOR ME!? SO SWEET! I lovies you soooo so soso much! Thank you! I am so glad this tale can brighten your evening! Best, hug, EVER!
fanficlove2014: We've already had such a long conversation through the PM's, I dunno what else to say! Uhh... I checked out The 7 Deadly Sins. Hehehe, it's intriguing. What with the princess not defending her private areas? o.o;;
AuroraWolf64: I hope you don't mind some Laxana in there too, that's where I seem to branch from the norm. Just don't see much LaxusxMira happening, though the fanfics I've read with them is cute—don't see it in my fics. Cana and Laxas now... THAT'S intriguing! Ty, my beautiful spirit of the Northern Lights!
lovefeircely: ME TOO! *GLOMP* Thank you for reading!
EddingsFan: Challenge excepted. ;) hope you enjoyed the new chappie!
PeoniesandPoppies: Yup! First coupling in Zombieworld... but not the last!
WolfyLeigh: His possessiveness seems to be a big hit! XD Poor Natsu's only more confused now, just wait for next chappie, got some cuteness bubbling in my head. Zombies are NOT the end of the world!
TWELVE reviews for ONE chappie! You spoil me! It felt like I had a new comment every time I checked my phone! What a great gift you guys have given me! Thank you so much guys! I think I'll write up a tiny preview of the next chappie, it's the only thing I can come up with on the spot to try and express my gratitude:
*Chibi Natsu and Wendy standing in front of the screen*
😩 Natsu: What's the deal with Loopy? She didn't want to go hunting with me today!
😔 Wendy: It's Lucy.
😐 Natsu: She was actin all funny, just wantin' to stay in the kitchen. How much fun can that be? Loopy's being a killjoy.
😒 Wendy: It's Lucy.
😖 Natsu: You don't think it's because Loopy wants to hang out with the housecat do you? Betcha he's the kinda perv that would think she's pretty hot in that apron...
😭 Wendy: It's LUCY!
😍 Natsu: Do you smell sumthin? It smells good! I better head back before Gajeel eats it all!
Just for you
Seriphia
aka Lick