Hi how you doin'
Yay another chapter, and I feel proud to say next week's chapter is also almost done. We're getting there.
(Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail)
Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 28: Iron versus Fire
Caroline
The first impact was the biggest. Their fists collided and caused a massive shift in the air. I was blown back and fell on top of Sasha.
I heard Ibisan call my name, and next he was dragging me onto my feet. "Are you alright?"
I took his hand in mine and squeezed softly. "Yeah. What happened?"
Suddenly, a loud growl arose. "IRON ROD!"
From the swirling sand an iron tube appeared, slamming in the direction of where the pink haired guy just stood. We heard a thud as he was pushed back. Above the mist the sand had caused, we could see the pink haired guy jump up. He landed onto the 'Iron Rod', which was part of Gajeel's arm. Or more like it was his arm. It had turned into iron completely.
The pink haired guy started sprinting towards the shoulder, kicking Gajeel flat in the face. Our teacher was shoved back a few steps, and his iron arm disappeared. The pink haired guy jumped back a few feet, grinning.
"I'm all fired up now" he mumbled, which sounded like a cheesy catch phrase.
Gajeel rubbed the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, wiping a few drops of blood away. His eyes were caught up in concentration. He didn't look away from the pink haired even once.
"Punks" he growled. We all stared at our teacher, who seemed to have fun instead of being scared. "Stay back. This will be over soon."
A chuckle arose from the pink haired guy. "Oh yeah it will. We'll settle this once and for all."
Of course, at that moment, the bigmouth of our group (not Samdy, the other one) felt the need to speak up. Tilly worked her way to the front of the group. "Why are you doing this?"
The pink haired guy frowned, and for a second confusion crossed his face. "Because he's a pain in the ass!"
Tilly blinked in confusion at the rude language. I locked eyes with Sasha, who shrugged. From what I remembered the pink haired guy was the same guy as the one who talked with Gajeel through the lacrima, and threatened him. Why was he here?
The pink haired guy slammed his fists together, and suddenly fire appeared all over his arms. I gasped and instinctively took a step back, bumping into Ibisan. "What the hell is that?"
Ary was the one to answer my rhetorical question. "Magic, of course. That 'Salamander', as Gajeel likes to call him, is the fire dragon slayer."
"How do you know?" Kai asked, taking a step forward, as if shielding Ary from something. She turned her back on him while rolling her eyes, turning to the group.
"The first time we ever met Gajeel, he said there were other dragon slayers than just him, right? My guess this is the fire one." She glanced over her shoulder, where Gajeel was pinning the Salamander to the ground. He wasn't winning just yet, it seemed more like a tie.
A frown appeared on Ary's face, which worried me. She was the smartest of our class, which always annoyed me because I worked just as hard. But when there was something not right in her eyes it was a sign something was going horribly wrong.
"What is it?" I asked, pushing myself further against Ibisan's chest. Ary looked across the beach, then above her.
"The blue cat" she said calmly, placing a hand above her eyes to look into the sun. "Where is he?"
I closed my eyes, gathering my magic to my irises. Soon I could see every vain and every dust part. I noticed a small presence behind a rock not far away from where we were standing. I opened my mouth to call him out, but got pulled out of concentration by Gajeel blasting the pink haired guy into the wall of stone. Giant blocks flew all around. Kai, Layton and Ibisan jumped forward, slamming the rocks in a different direction, away from us.
"Damn it, be careful" Samdy shouted. Gajeel glared over his shoulder for a second, as if he was suddenly reminded we were still around. He locked eyes with Lily.
"Throw a shield. Now!"
Lily jumped up and looked pretty helpless. Then she closed her eyes, spread her arms, and I felt a soft breeze. We were surrounded by a huge water bubble. It looked fragile, but it was strong enough to protect us from the magic blasts and flying rocks. Lily herself seemed the most surprised of her power. When all heads turned to her in awe, she shrugged nervously. "I don't know for how long it will last…"
I turned towards the rock again, where the presence of the blue cat was just hiding. The rock got caught in the bubble with us, so he had no chance of escaping. "Come on out now!"
I heard a high pitched gasp. Then slowly, two blue ears appeared. The cat was very small, and had a big head compared to his body. On his back he wore a green backpack.
He was shaking, as if he was nervous. He walked on two paws instead of four, which was kind of creepy because he looked more human than cat-like.
He scratched behind one ear. "Hello."
We stood there in silence for a while, letting the fact that there was a blue cat standing on two feet talking to us in a super adorable high pitched voice.
I kneeled down, trying to look friendly. "Hi. I'm Caroline. What's your name?"
The blue cat blushed, his cheeks turning dark blue. "Happy. Are you in Gajeel's army?"
I frowned, locking eyes with a few of my classmates. "No…we're his students. Gajeel is our teacher, and we're on a school trip."
The blue cat looked around the group, while not far away from us the pink haired guy seemed to get the upper hand in the battle. "Teacher? Are you sure?"
"Of course we're sure" Samdy mumbled, beginning to lose his patience. Gajeel stomped the pink haired guy in the stomach, the pink haired guy made flames come out of his mouth. Almost like a real fire dragon. "What's up with your friend beating up out teacher?"
Happy smiled. "They're just fighting. The master says they can't fight at the guild because they're both part of the same one now, and when they fight they cause a lot of damage to the city….but now that we run into him here they can do whatever they want!"
He answered as if he was telling us a beautiful fairy tale, which made it very, very creepy. His eyes turned towards the sea, where the waves hit the shore calmly. I thought I saw a drool dripping from his mouth.
"Hey" I said, waving my hand before his eyes. The blue cat shook his head.
"Eh?" was all he said. Behind us, the two dragon slayers threw each other through the air, shouting their attacks out loud and pretty much destroying the beach. The twins stepped forward to help Lily strengthen the bubble, while Jake was analysing the battle.
"They're not gonna kill each other, right?" I asked, knowing this was what everyone was wondering. Happy's eyes widened for a moment, for as far as that was possible because they were large to begin with. "No. Of course not. Natsu doesn't hate Gajeel that much….although he did hurt Lucy a lot….and destroyed the guild once….and he's very mean….so maybe?"
"What do you mean, 'maybe'?!" Samdy growled, stepping towards the blue cat. I saw Sasha take hold of his arm, as if she was scared Samdy might attack the poor cat. But Happy seemed not even the least impressed by Sam's behaviour.
"Natsu wouldn't kill Gajeel" someone other than Happy answered. All heads turned to Jake, who stood near the bubble, almost touching it with his nose. He wanted to see the battle up close. "It's just dragon slayers being stubborn. They both love a fight." Jake glanced over his shoulder to the group, while pointing at the pink haired guy. "Look. He's smiling. And look at Gajeel. He's having fun. Nothing to worry about."
Although Gajeel's 'smile' was more a grimace, Jake was right. He had scratches all over his body, his nose was probably broken, and blood was coming from his mouth, but he didn't seem to feel any pain. His eyes were spitting fire, an adrenaline rush seemed to keep him from falling down right now.
The pink haired guy, Natsu, was smiling all the way through. Just like Gajeel, he had sharp teeth like a snake's, and all were shone as he launched punch after punch. When thrown back by his opponent, he growled in surprise and quickly thought of a response. There was a cut above his eye and blood dripped down his cheek, but he didn't stop to wipe it away.
"It's like watching two dragons" Jake mumbled, and he was right for sure. For some reason, a smile appeared on my face. This was our teacher we were talking about. Gajeel, a dragon slayer.
Needless to say, I felt proud.
"Oh!" the blue cat suddenly cried. His tail swirled upwards and his fur rippled. His eyes spoke nothing but fear.
"What is it?" I asked, feeling just as scared as the cat. Happy grabbed both his ears with his tiny paws and stared into the ground.
"She….she's coming!"
Erza
"Was that Natsu?" Lucy asked as another wave of sand was blown into the air. I smirked.
"Who else? Let's hurry."
Gray caught up to my speed, and was still shirtless. At least he got his pants still on. "That idiot. Why couldn't he just wait?"
We ran over the market, evading carts and people alike.
"Natsu and waiting. I thought you knew him better, Gray." I fastened my pace. "I'm going on ahead."
I launched myself above the houses, hearing Lucy shout after me. But I had to.
Lux was quite a crowded and popular island. Wizards go there to relax and have a drink. If Natsu were to cause damage here, it would cost the guild a lot. And master Makarov wouldn't be happy with us.
"Damnit, Natsu" I mumbled, taking another leap. "You just don't know when to quit."
I neared the beach, where I was immediately covered in sand. The two dragon slayers managed to keep their fight on the small beach and not the town. Natsu wanted to move it somewhere else, while Gajeel was more reluctant. Every time Natu tried to throw him towards the boulevard, he found his way back to the sand.
Not far away from where the battle was taking place, a magic sphere was placed, with a bunch of teens in there. I saw a small tail moving around between them.
"Happy…" I took a deep breath, repositioning my hand around my sword. I lunged forward, aiming between the two dragon slayers. Right as they were about to clash again, I requipped into my newest armour; Schmetterling Armour. It has two giant shields at both shoulders, almost like wings. It is also covered in a nice pink with green pattern, which is quite fashionable. I liked this armour.
There was a loud thud as the two idiots slammed into the shields, head first. They fell down on the sand, not yet unconscious, but a bit dizzy. Good.
I requipped into my usual comfy armour. With one hand I grabbed Natsu by his hair, pulling him upwards. His eyes rolled around, but when he caught sight of me, he was suddenly very awake.
"E-Erza! Hi. How's it going?"
I glared at him, which silenced him in a second. Gajeel sat up, scratching the back of his head.
I threw Natsu back on the ground and aimed my sword at the iron dragon slayer. He looked up at the pointy end and seemed annoyed.
"That's not necessary, you know" he grumbled. I stared at him.
"Mind telling me what the hell is going on here?"
