Let me warn you ahead of time, this is a shorter chapter. Most of you could call this a filler but I call it sibling bonding time before we get back to action. Now you're probably wondering just how long they'll be traveling.

It's almost over, next chapter things start to pick up pace again. Go read the chapter and I'll see y'all at the end.

Chapter 20

Wendy P.O.V.

I yawn out of boredom as Natsu keeps the ATV going at a steady pace up the trail. I get an idea and lean back until I'm looking up at him with the biggest pout I can produce.

"Natsu, can I please drive for a little while?"

His mouth settles in a firm line and the ATV slows while he thinks about it. Then he nods, seeming to make up his mind and looks at me.

"Give me your hand."

I give him my right and he sets it on the bar, my fingers wrapping around the bar two inches from the grip and angles my hand to where my thumb hits the black button under the grip.

"This," he taps the bar my fingers are touching. "is the front brake. This," he points to where my thumb is touching. "is the gas. Be careful when you give it gas because it'll jump if you give it too much too quick."

I nod and he drops his hand, wrapping it around my waist to keep me in place as I gently press my thumb to the gas. The engine revs but it doesn't move.

"Gotta give it a little more than that."

I press on it harder and eventually the wheels start to move. As it moves I press on it harder until it's running along the trail at a quick pace. That is until Natsu sets his hand on mine and squeezes the brake.

"Easy there, Wendy, don't wanna go too fast. Try to keep it at forty." His hand moves over, tapping a screen and I watch as it reads the drop in speed.

When his hand falls back to my waist I press on the gas again, this time keeping an eye on the speedometer to make sure I don't go faster then what he said. We travel for another two or three hours before he reaches up and grabs the brake again.

"Alright, let me take over. If we're not careful, we'll miss the turn."

My hands fall into my lap and only then do I realize how hard I was gripping the handle bar. The soreness creeps into my hand and I crack my knuckles to ease it as Natsu turns off of the main trail onto another smaller one.

This trail is bumpier than the first one, with more than a few potholes in it so he lets go of me completely to grab the handle bars and swerve around them. We ride for about another hour then he starts to slow down.

My eyes go wide at what's ahead and I look back to see him tight lipped as he looks at it as well.

"Wendy, I need you to hold on tight and when I tell you to, you lean forward."

I nod, not really sure about what's gonna happen, but when he presses his thumb to the gas and the quad jumps forward I wrap my hands around his arms and watch as we start jumping up the hill. We get to one part where the front of the ATV is about to fall backwards and I hear him yell over the roar of the engine.

"Lean now!"

I do as he says and watch in astonishment as the ATV hits the ground again, and we roll over the top of the hill into another campsite. He rolls to a stop next to the campfire pit.

"Hop off and hold the bags."

Sliding off I walk behind him and undo the extension cords. When I grab the bags he takes off, disappearing around a large boulder, and I turn to take in the scenery.

Since we started on the trail we've gained altitude until we're now twenty feet above the fifty foot tall trees and my breath is stolen when I see the sun touch the tree filled horizon as if seeking to burn the forest down.

The roar of an engine gathers my attention and I look back to see Natsu walking back around the corner, his expression reminding me of a little kid getting his Christmas wish.

"Hey, Wendy, come check this out!"

I follow him around the boulder and my eyes go wide when I see the black and white atvs and two motocross bikes sitting in a lit up shed built into the rock face. The doors of the shed are painted grey and fit with fake rocks to make it blend into the surrounding stone.

"Congratulations, Wendy, we're three quarters of the way there."

Frowning in confusion I watch him walk into the shed and roll one of the bikes out before going back and grabbing the other. Then he walks back in again and coming back out with two helmets, swings the doors shut.

He walks to one of the bikes, throwing a helmet at me. I watch as he hangs the helmet on the handle bar then nods toward the other bike.

"Grab that one and follow me back to the fire, we'll be camping here tonight."

He pushes the bike on, back around the corner and I copy his actions. Walking over to the other bike, hanging the helmet on one of the handle bars then pushing it forward.

It rolls without a problem and soon I'm walking it around the boulder, leaving it next to Natsu's.

Natsu P.O.V.

I'm actually really proud that Wendy didn't freak out when I showed her the bikes. I know she's gonna be scared the first time she gets on but she'll be good. I look up when she rolls the bike around the corner and as soon as she leaves it I jump up to catch it before it can fall.

She squeaks in surprise and I scowl as I right the bike, pulling the kickstand down.

"Wendy, you have to be careful when you leave these standing. If you don't pull the stand down it'll fall and could get damaged."

She appears in my peripheral and I turn my head to see her frowning. "I'm sorry, Natsu, I didn't know."

I sigh and settle back down on my bedroll, running a hand through my hair. "It's fine, this is your first time traveling on vehicles like this. In truth it's my fault because I didn't warn you ahead of time."

"So why don't you explain it to me?" I look up at her in surprise and she points at the bike. "It may be too dark to actually see the bikes but you can still explain how to ride it."

A small smile appears and I scoot over, patting my bedroll so she'll sit down beside me. While she drops down on the bed roll I ignite the fire and when it's roaring I turn to her.

My eyebrows narrow in thought and I decide to start on the easiest part of the bike. "So you know how the gas on the ATV is the little black button under the handle bar?" When she nods I grin, realizing this it'll be easy. "Well on a motocross bike the gas is the handle bar." I raise my hand, curling it as it I was grabbing the grip. "You turn the grip."

I look at her and when I know I have her attention I move on. "The next part is how to start it. Usually motocross bikes have to be kick started but we're in luck. Sting and Rogue upgraded the bikes to using electric starters which means we just have to put the bikes in neutral then push the button and they should start up without a problem."

"What happens if I crash?" Her eyebrows are furrowed and she looks scared at the thought of riding the bike.

"We won't going very fast maybe like twenty for majority of the distance so you'll be able to slow down and set your foot down if you feel like you're gonna fall." Her shoulders fall at my words and she tilts her head, seeming to think of something.

Then she looks up at me. "What if I wanna go faster?"

I smirk. "The first ten miles, no, it's a downhill mess of fallen tree branches and potholes. That's why we have to go slow anyway to avoid crashing and messing up the bikes." She pouts. "However," The pout disappears and she watches me intently. "The last ten miles is a straightaway, there you could pick up some speed."

She nods and yawns. That's when I decide to call it a night.

"Come on, Wendy, if we're gonna reach the next campsite by lunch tomorrow we're gonna need to be up early."

Getting up, she moves to her sleeping bag and it's not long before her soft snores reach me through the crackling of the dwindling fire.

I stretch out on my sleeping bag, not quite ready to sleep when a flicker of a glow catches my eye. Looking up I see a falling star and all I can think of is Lucy. What she's doing. How the girls are.

The star fades out of sight and I roll onto my side, finally allowing myself to sink into dreamland.

Wendy P.O.V.

The sound of roaring wakes me up and I crack open an eye to see Natsu sitting on one of the bikes, revving the engine. I sit up, keeping one hand under me and watch as he cuts the bike off then steps off.

"Good to see you're up, clean up your stuff so we can get going."

Doing as he says it's only another ten minutes before we walk over to the bikes. He points at the one I rolled around the corner yesterday.

"Climb on and I'll show you what I was talking about last night."

I walk up to the bike, grab the handle bar to balance myself, and throw a leg over so that my butt is hovering just above the seat. Turning around I kick the stand up then settle into the seat as he leans over and points to a switch that sits on the inside if the right grip.

"Now this is the button that starts it, go ahead and push it." I do, but nothing happens and he leans back to point at the box behind the left foot peg. "It won't start until you shift to neutral, remember that."

I nod and watch as he pulls a lever from the side of the box then takes my foot and sets it on the lever. I roll my heel over it, feeling it move forward, and he nods as he stands up.

"Now to set it to neutral push the lever forward once. If it's neutral push the lever forward again for forward. To cut it off when in neutral or forward, push the lever all the way back."

He backs away and I take a deep breath as I tilt my heel, pushing on the lever, and I feel it slide forward once, falling into a groove. Then I push the switch and the engine roars to life.

Looking up I see him grin and he throws one of the helmets at me. While I pull it on, tightening the strap under my chin, he climbs onto the other bike and a few seconds later, his roars to life as well.

He turns back to me, his index and thumb curling into an 'o' shape and I give him a thumbs up in turns. He nods, rolling the grip and the engine revs before I see him kick the gear lever into forward then push the lever back into it's hiding place.

The bike rolls forward a couple of feet then he squeezes the break, looking back at me. I copy his movements and soon we're rolling to the top of the trail.

He stops at the precipice, looking back at me and I square my shoulders. My bike rolls past his and I take off down the trail, my heart in my ears and adrenaline making me feel as light as air.

Even above the roar of my heart in my ears I hear Natsu as his bike shoots by and I pay particular attention when he takes an upcoming turn in the trail. The tires ride the piece of wood at the edge while his right foot is held out in front of him. As soon as he's out of the turn he straightens the bike and I pick up speed until I'm right on his back tire.

Can't say I didn't warn you. But there are other things to be said and done, so I'm just gonna pick a point and dive in head first.

Reviews:

Shana, When it comes to Wendy, I have to agree with you. Give her enough time around the woman and she'll develop into that scary devil personality most women in Fairy Tail have and the men fear. For now though, she'll be following this pattern for a little while longer. Innocent and meek in front of most people but when it's time to get the job done she'll blow you away. *snickers* pun not intended.

SleepinBeautyK, smart ass or not, she's still developing into her final role and having a fun time of doing it. The council is gonna have their hands full when Wendy and Romeo take over. No, that is not a spoiler that is just stating a fact.

Pixie Pixel, wow, you're really jumping with your review this time. Um, oh, here we go. Practice makes perfect so the only thing Wendy can do is test the waters when it comes to leading. Lucy doesn't even know Natsu is in the middle of the wilderness at this point in time. In future chapters she may find out, but for right now *shakes head* Okay, hold up. Seriously? A dude dressed like a girl? Let's leave the drag queen business to Rupaul and focus on the fact that an extremely important meeting is rapidly approaching and that I have no clue just who exactly the spy is gonna be. *scratches back of head* I'm still trying to work out how the plot will run after this meeting. I have a general idea but nothing solid until I'm able to sit down and think about it. I actually do the same thing, counting the days by when I have to update instead of looking at a calendar. Also I read your review on shifter and I wish you well ahead of time with getting the teeth removed.

Now, onto other things.

Fun fact!

When I was 16 I spent a year working as a flagger at the dirt track in the next county over. A flagger is someone who watches the bikes as they ride and if one crashes they step onto the track to wave either a medic flag or a caution flag depending on if the rider is able to get back up or not.

That's how I know the general information about the bikes. As for the ATV's *snickers* any chance we could my brother and I would borrow two and go riding around the property. Let's just say I had a lot of fun and I'd still be working there if the boss wasn't an ass who told me not to return for six months for ONE mistake. *clears throat* Revenge has yet to be served.

XxX

I don't remember if I've told y'all yet, but in two weeks I will have another story start dropping. The Dragon King and Queen is ending so to keep up with the pattern I've been holding I already have another story set to drop.

It's called 'Life Behind Bars' but you most likely will see me using the short version which is LBB. If the name has you interested then maybe you'd like to see the summary as well.

Two serial killers. He meets her. She meets him. The impossible happens and the two fall in love. One day she disappears and the next time they meet is in prison. Can the two jail birds keep the flame alive or is life behind bars too much?

I don't have much left to say other then I hope you'll check out my new story when I start dropping it. An easy way for you to know when I start dropping it is to fave and follow me. My new readers, I hope you're enjoying the story and make sure to leave a review.

To my old readers, *grins* What is a roller coaster ride, but twists and turns? Y'all know the deal, leave me a review, letting me know what ya think. Got any ideas on something you wanna see? All ya gotta do is let me know. I'm not a mind reader, y'know, I'm just a grizz with a passion for writing.

Grizzly out for the night.

P.S. Anyone wanna see some NaLu fluff before we just into the next attack?