Hey! Has anyone out there watched House? I've been binge-watching the show for the last few weeks...
Anyways, the battle hath begun! I also found this neat little writing program that makes me set goals and reach them before I can exit. It's really nice and exactly what I need in my life. The typewriting sound effects don't hurt either.
When on earth did we hit 400 follows? Or 280 favs? Or 387 reviews?!
Big, big thanks to everyone that reviewed - Kayorin Gale, Guest, Nalu forever 2002, Nashi Heartfilia-Dragneel, kcoll8512, DorkyMonster707(x24!), TheTrinityAngel, Guest, ashcator2002, 21jhauptman, FlameDragonHime, Alaya Karangalan, The 0bservanc3, guest, Helenezahl, LucyFullbuster14!
Enjoy! ~BrennaCoris~
Backing the apartment complex was a strip of sparse wood. The undergrowth was minimal and hiking trails crisscrossed the ground. Signs and warnings glared from wispy trunks. Most of the trees were skinny, and the moonlight faced little resistance on the way down. A thick layer of snow glittered, taking its own toll without meaning to. Occasionally, a hare or squirrel would dart into the open for a few daring seconds.
Lucy jumped slightly when a white rabbit crashed through the bushes on her right and made a suicide run between her legs. Her paws hit a hidden sinkhole and she sunk down past her shoulders. The back of her neck cramped as she struggled to keep her face above the snow.
"Third time, Luce," Natsu muttered. He took her scruff in his teeth and dragged her out of her snowy prison.
"You're no better. You're just bigger." She shook out her fur. After her second near-drowning in the snow, it had become damp, and she acutely felt every gust of wind that came her way.
"You both suck at this," Gray said. He was the only one of their group that hadn't had any missteps.
"Care to share your secrets, O Wise One?" Lucy muttered.
"Control how you shift your weight for each step." Gray shrugged. "Blundering around gets you buried."
"Gray has tried to teach Juvia before," Juvia supplied. "Juvia still can't do it."
"Speak for yourself. You've only drowned once," Lucy grumbled.
An unexpectedly thick trunk barred their path, and Natsu wasted no time in jumping onto it. His paws slid in different directions and he went stiff. Gray cackled and jumped up to join him, landing with far more grace and control. Natsu snapped his teeth at him, only to yelp as his paws shot out from under him and he collapsed onto the tree.
"Juvia recalls stealth being a key aspect of the mission," Juvia said calmly.
"I recall something similar." Lucy glared at the males. "You might as well howl with the amount of noise you're making."
"You're one to talk, Lucy." Gray shrugged. "That squeal almost made me deaf."
"It surprised me, alright?" she snapped. He would never get her to admit it, but he was right. The first time she fell into the snow, she had yelped loud enough to wake the dead.
"It wasn't a squeal, Gray," Juvia scolded. "It was a yelp."
"Same thing."
"Shut up," Natsu hissed suddenly. A dull crack echoed in the woods. Lucy barely had time to blink before Gray lunged forward and yanked on Natsu's tail, pulling his back and off the trunk. A stiff metal chain, woven to look like a rope and painted white, swung through the space Natsu had occupied a mere moment ago.
"The hell was that for?" Natsu snarled. Gray bared his teeth and barked something barely intelligible in response. Lucy ignored them both in favor or carefully scanning their surroundings.
A light grey blur leaped over a stick-thin tree and raced into denser undergrowth.
"C'mon," she hissed, taking off at a dead run. Her team's footsteps were barely heard. There were no sinkholes on her route, something she was very grateful for. If she lost sight of the bushes where the wolf had disappeared, she wasn't sure she would be able to find them again.
"Where are you going?" Gray panted. She ignored him, jumping onto a snow-covered boulder to vault over a thick clump of spiky plants. Her landing was messy, but she pushed off in time to avoid getting crushed by the wolf behind her. Leaping over the same tree, she quickly tasted the air and focused on the scent that slammed into her nose. It was most definitely foreign, and female.
The undergrowth clawed at her sides. Lucy forced her way through a thicket and skidded to a halt at the edge of a massive field. Natsu crashed into her hindquarters; she barely held on to her balance. Ahead, the white she-wolf cleared a wild but short hedge that cut off Lucy's view of what lay on the other side. She stared hard at the field, hoping it would freak out and run away. No such thing happened.
"Is the enemy still ahead?" Juvia whispered.
"Looks like it. Chances of us being ambushed if we cross?"
"Astronomical," Lucy murmured, "but it's not like we have a choice. We have to follow that she-wolf."
"Sprint, then. Go for speed," Natsu said.
"The faster we cross, the faster we'll get to their camp."
"Sprint it is. Stay together. Natsu in front, Gray take back, and Juvia and I will take the sides. It anything flies at us, scatter but don't slow down. Try to go through the hedge, and stop there. We don't know what's on the other side," Lucy commanded. The others nodded their agreement and shifted into arrangement. Natsu paused, then crouched slightly and shot out of the wood. Lucy lengthened her strides to keep up. She flew across the field, her mind only on how firm each step was. The wind whistled in her ears and burrowed into her fur to settle under her skin. She was mildly shocked that she wasn't a frozen popsicle yet.
The messy hedge came as a surprise. Lucy's focus had been steady throughout her sprint, and when the wall of green loomed in front of her face, it took a tremendous amount of control to keep from leaping over it. Instead, she aimed for a small gap in the hedge and forced her way into the hedge. Twigs and prickly leaves snagged her fur.
The hedge wasn't as thick as it had appeared. She pushed through to the other side and stared in disbelief at another field. It was at least as big as the one behind her back, but a nagging suspicion told her it was wider. Somewhere to her left, Juvia swore, and Lucy blinked in disbelief. She had been with the pack for over a month. Juvia simply did not swear.
"How many of these are there?" Gray hissed.
"More than one," Lucy muttered. "Natsu, are you picking anything up?"
He sniffed the air. "Nope."
"That means nothing. It could be covered up by wolfsbane or something," Gray said.
"You can't miss wolfsbane once you know what it smells like, but . . ." Lucy paused, staring hard at the field. After a moment of tense silence, the same flash of ginger caught her eye.
"But?"
"Ophiuchus was the healer of the Zodiac pack before she left. She was an inventor too, far better than my father. If I'm right, that's Loke proving a point I made years ago."
"I see 'im," Natsu growled. "Two more with him."
"Where exactly?" Juvia asked.
"Half-way across the field, coming our way."
"I can't see anything," Gray snapped.
"You're not alone," Lucy murmured, craning her neck to try and change the angle enough to glimpse Loke's fur again. The snow shifted ever so slightly as she zeroed in on the movement.
"What if Lucy is wrong?" Juvia asked.
"Then we outnumber them four to three."
"Assuming that you can see all of them."
"True."
"Quiet!" Lucy waited for the white blur to get closer before playing around with her tongue until she managed to make a click. It was a very human trait, and something she and the Zodiacs had developed into a system of communications. After six clicks, the blur stilled. She got three clicks and a faint growl in response.
"It's Loke," she sighed. Natsu shouldered his way through the hedge and squeezed in next to her.
"What was that?"
"System of clicks. When I was part of the Zodiac pack, they taught me in case we ever crossed paths again."
Suddenly, it was as though the snow had opened up and spat out a scowling Aquarius. Lucy knew that the she-wolf had crawled out from under the camouflage tarp, but no one else did. Natsu jerked, his teeth snapping. On her left, the hedge rustled violently. Gray mumbled an apology and Juvia growled something in reply.
"The last face I wanted to see," Aquarius huffed.
"Nice to see you too," Lucy muttered in reply. Loke and Virgo copied Aquarius' entrance and burst into existence a few feet from the hedge.
"How many tarps did you guys save?" she asked.
"Seven, princess. They are very delicate." Virgo shook out her fur. "We are assigned to your team."
"Why?"
Loke bared his teeth. "Because Lucy's the forbidden fruit here. Now, my dear, under any circumstances, you are not to go falling into the tunnels."
"Tunnels?" Juvia crawled out of the hedge and pulled something out of her paw with her teeth.
"Tartaros set up camp in an old mine. This place," His tail swept in an arc, "made the town rich. It's all shifter land now. We don't know how long the tunnels are, or where they lead. Virgo got what she could from Ophiuchus's scanner, and we've ruled out five out of the nine entrances."
"Where are the entrances?"
"Two more fields in the direction we came from."
Aquarius drew a map in the snow. Four fields surrounded nine holes, five of which she crossed out. Lucy stared at the map with dread.
"We didn't plan for this," she breathed. "We planned for everything but this."
"Yeah. It makes no sense, too, which is why it's so dangerous. Tartaros has more wolf than human in them. Their wolf side should be stronger, and their instincts should force them out of the caves. The control they have over themselves is . . . uncanny," Loke said grimly.
"Juvia thinks that most of our plan still works. Splitting up puts both the packs and the enemy at even odds. They will have to thin their forces to hunt us down and we will be dealing with smaller numbers. They know the tunnels better, and undoubtedly set up traps to defend their actual camp, but if we are attacked by the traps or are caved in, we have greater chances of surviving." Juvia flicked her ears. "Of course, Tartaros has the home advantage, but we have the force."
"Wow." Lucy blinked. "You should be the pack tactician."
Juvia shook her head softly and grinned. "There is no pack tactician."
"I'll get the alpha to make a pack tactician, and you'll be the first."
"Juvia . . . Juvia would like that."
"We'll go in as a group, and stay close. If something happens - cave in, for example - do your best to stay alive. Don't let yourselves be separated," Aquarius snapped.
"We must start moving, princess. The goal is to take out the nine leading shifters, and the inter-pack law on battle doesn't apply here," Loke said.
"Alright. Let's go."
Lucy fell into step behind Aquarius and sped up into a flat sprint to race across the second field. The Zodiacs leaped over the next hedge, and Lucy didn't hesitate to do the same. Natsu caught up and ran next to her. She breathed in his scent and promised herself that it wouldn't be the last time she smelled the warmth and spice that was him. They would cross the town together before the sun came up and cuddle on their bed. Then, when the adrenalin wore off, they would kiss and enjoy each other's company for a bit longer before going out to hunt. She would help finalize the arrangements for the peace ball and when she came home he would be there, alive and warm.
That was all she wanted; it didn't seem like too much to ask for.
The last hedge was taller than the others, and Lucy nearly rammed into Aquarius when the she-wolf slowed to find an opening. Ignoring the open glare sent her way, she shouldered her way through the bush and almost fell into one of the holes. Natsu clamped his teeth on her scruff right before her paws slid into empty air and hauled her back.
"Loke told you to not fall down any tunnels," he growled. "I second that."
"It's not like I'm trying," she replied.
He licked her ear. "Sure."
"Which hole?" Gray asked.
"The one Lucy likes so much is as good as any." Loke shrugged, and Lucy tossed him a hostile glance.
"How does Loke plan to get down?" Juvia asked.
"Jump. It isn't too deep," Virgo said. As if to prove her point, she gently stepped off the edge and quickly vanished into the dark, but Lucy heard her claws scraping on stone soon after. "It is a good landing, princess."
Loke motioned towards the hole with his head. Gray and Juvia jumped together, and after Loke gave her the signal, Lucy followed with Natsu. Aquarius nearly landed on her head, which resulted in another spit-fight, but once Loke rejoined them he immediately moved into the darkness. Lucy followed him cautiously, waiting for her vision to adjust. She used Natsu's body as a guide.
"I want your super vision," she grumbled. He only snorted in amusement and told her to lower her head a bit.
"The ceiling slopes," he explained.
"See? This is why."
A low rumble passed through the rock. Lucy stilled, fighting a desperate desire to get the hell out of there. She felt Natsu's nose press against her shoulder, offering reassurance.
"It's getting lighter," Aquarius remarked. Suddenly, their entire group stopped. Lucy collided with Gray's hindquarters and nipped his tail in retaliation. Gray snarled a fire-related insult under his breath, which Natsu returned without a moment's pause.
"Lucy, come to the front," Aquarius ordered.
"Why?" Natsu asked.
"Shut up. I'm not the one trained in six different languages."
"I'll be right there, Aquarius. Scoot." Lucy slid between Gray and Juvia and sidestepped Virgo. It had gotten lighter, just enough for her to easily see the string of words scribbled on the wall.
"It says . . . um . . ." She squinted. " The bastard should go back to school."
"What does it say?" Aquarius snapped.
"Third Gate of Hell," she read. "I'm guessing each tunnel leads to the den of one of the nine gates."
"So Tartaros only has nine members overall?" Juvia asked. Her voice stayed clam, but Lucy picked up the faint tremor the she-wolf tried her best to hide.
"I doubt it. Most likely, the tunnels branch off later. My father believes in quantity, not necessarily quality. He wouldn't have hired them unless they could impress with numbers," Lucy said.
Without warning, the tunnel collapsed onto them. There was no warning dust or cracks. The ceiling simply split in half and spit out tons of rock into the tunnel. Lucy lunged forward, tucking her tail between her legs. Her paws skidded on unexpectedly slick rock and she shot sideways. Her shoulder took the brunt of the fall. A groan lodged in her throat as she blinked away dust and hauled herself to her feet.
Next to her, Aquarius struggled to rise on three legs. Lucy silently crouched next to her and slid her should underneath the she-wolf, pushing her to her feet. Aquarius grunted in thanks and stretched her injured leg, wincing. The line of the bone was wrong.
She glanced behind her. A solid wall of stone stared back.
"Don't even think about yowling for that pup of yours," Aquarius snapped, but her voice was far softer than usual.
"Did anyone . . ." The words stuck. "Did anyone get crushed?"
"I don't know, brat," Aquarius murmured.
"Can you walk?"
"Of course I can. How old do you think I am?"
"Very young, Aquarius," she said dutifully. Aquarius's eye glinted in the semi-dark.
"Good. We need to keep moving."
"What? Why?"
"Because, foolish brat, the others won't come through the rock. The ginger fool left all his explosives with the Spirit King. They will have to go around, and if the bastards find us with our backs to the wall, we've just lost all our chances. You remember what Capricorn told you about the pros and cons, right?"
"Yes." In simpler terms, if they were cornered, it would be a match of raw strength. Against one of the gates, she would undoubtedly lose.
"Then give me your shoulder and let's go," Aquarius huffed.
She let Aquarius lean on her as they slowly made their way down the tunnel. The light steadily brightened until it glared at them from small bulbs pushed into crevices in the walls. Suddenly, Aquarius pushed off her shoulder and took a few steps on her own without limping.
"Let's move a little faster. I'm picking up the enemy," she growled.
"Your leg-"
"Is fine. Move that ass of yours."
Lucy snapped her mouth shut and trotted forward. Aquarius matched her pace easily, and Lucy avoided looking at her broken leg. The sounds were enough to make her gag.
They rounded the corner and ran straight into the claws of the enemy. At least ten wolves bristled at the sight of them, all with dark fur. In the center of their little group stood a pale yellow wolf, male and visibly powerful. His paws were black, with little flecks running up his legs, and his ears were tipped brown.
"The lady came down the third tunnel, eh?" He grinned, and a few of the wolves around him barked in laughter. "Honestly, I'm just happy that the rocks didn't kill ya. Alpha would've had my pelt."
"Who are you?" she spat. Dull pain spread through her upper back and neck, trickling into her arms with a burn. Natsu was fine. He had to be. He was just being stupid, but he was fine. She bared her teeth when the wolf cackled, his barks eerily high.
"Jackal, second commander of Tartaros at your service."
Reviewer's Corner:
- LucyFullbuster14 - thank you!
- The 0bservanc3 - a sudden kill, huh?...
- Alaya Karangalan - you must have powers of foresight. How else would you know (sorta) my plans? ;)
- FlameDragonHime - yes, they do.
- TheTrinityAngle - thank youuuuuu!
- DorkyMonster707 - holy sh*t! I was like, "There is no way!" and then you went and reviewed for every chapter! I'm really happy that you enjoy my work, and hopefully it keeps you interested 'till the bitter end! All your questions should be answered within the story as it unfolds, but about the Exceeds - I didn't include them. There wasn't any good way for them to fit.
- kcoll8512 - several people have mentioned Warriors. Is that a book series?
- Kayorin Gale - I didn't stop it, per se... I just became ensnared by House. It happens, hopefully not again until I'm done with this!
I'll see all ya lovelies with the next chapter!