"Any luck Natsu?" Lucy asked as she watched him sniff the air.
He shook his head, an annoyed look crossing his features. "Nothing. His scent is usually pretty strong but I haven't even had a hint of it yet. It's like he just disappeared."
"Don't let him know you said he has a strong smell, when we find him." Gray laughed, "He'll kill you."
"I don't mean a bad smell!" Natsu shouted at his rival, "it's just a thick smell, like when rain comes in, just a heavy scent."
"You don't need to try and explain it Natsu," Lucy laughed lightly at the pair, shaking her head.
"Yeah, you're just repeating yourself stupid."
"What was that?!"
Lucy sighed, "Enough. Save your fights for when this is over." She glared up at them, "We have to find Laxus soon, understand?"
"Aye." The pair nodded in agreement, the look of anger spurring them into action. It wasn't that they were afraid of their friend, but at the same time they were. They respected her strength, and tried to treat her with as much caution as they gave Erza.
But just the same as with Erza, they would get distracted by their arguments and earn either the red head or the blonde's ire time to time.
"Thank you." She huffed, hugging her arms as she thought over the plan. "I really appreciate this you know." She said, giving the boys a soft smile.
"Don't thank us," Gray gave her a side hug as the trio started along their path once more, Natsu sniffing at the air, and letting Gray speak for him, just this once. "We would have tried to save him anyway, don't worry."
"Oh? And here I thought you were doing this all for me. I'm so disappointed." She glanced up at him, smiling.
"Oooh, sarcasm, that's a rare thing. I'm starting to rethink this rescue after all. We really need to keep Laxus away from you before you start acting more like him." Gray laughed, giving her a second hug before pulling away. He was sure that Juvia would get a feeling that he was doting on Lucy and he really didn't want more trouble right now.
"Hey! I'm not any different," She grinned, giving her friend a light punch to the shoulder, the pair laughed at the action.
Natsu had managed to block out the conversation as he sniffed the air, attempting to catch some kind of scent that would help him find the eldest dragon slayer. But aside from the headphones that Lucy refused to remove, there was no trace of him. He walked slowly, his friends following close behind.
Nothing. Nothing. Wait! Nope, just the headphones again. Natsu tsked, moving ahead of their group and quickly climbing up a steep slope. He stood at the top of the hill, inhaling deeply, closing his eyes as he focused on the scents. Trees. Flowers. A river. Gray. Lucy. The headphones again. Fire. He glanced in the direction of the smell, but saw it was small and likely from a nearby village.
"Look at how he climbed up there with no effort. It's like he's a lizard rather than a dragon."
He turned his attention back to what he smelled, completely ignoring the comment Gray made. It's not that Natsu would let the comment slide, but that he'd just get him back for it later. He sniffed again, the same scents drifting through, plus those of Wendy's team. They must of wandered northward a bit, maybe Wendy had smelled something. The smell of rain floated amongst the new scents, a storm was likely rolling in, but it was far off yet. People from the village, a bear, some fish.
Wait... Rain... His head shot up and he looked in the direction of the smell. Northwest. That explains why Wendy was near, she smelled it too.
"I think I got it." He shouted as he jumped down to his group. "It might just be a storm rolling in, but Wendy is in the same direction so it's worth a shot."
"Wendy is?" Lucy asked, "Then she should send-"
"There you are!"
The trio all turned their attention to a pair of cats flying toward them.
"I didn't think you'd get this far," Carla said as she landed in the grass before her friends. Happy circled Natsu twice before landing on him. "Wendy sent me over to let you know that we found a lead. I met Happy about halfway, he said you sent him to check up on us."
"That's great, we'll go join them." Lucy smiled at the news, "Can you let Gajeel's team know? The more we have the better chance we have against this woman."
"Of course." Carla smiled, summoning her wings and taking off towards the east. Happy followed right after, leaving the trio to themselves once more.
"Do you think it's really him?" Gray asked.
"It's the best lead we have." Lucy replied, bringing a hand to the headphones she wore around her neck. "What do you think Natsu?"
He noted her action, returning her question with a sad look before answering, "Right now it's the only lead. Let's go find Wendy and see where this takes us."
Lucy and Gray nodded and followed after the fire dragon slayer. While Lucy didn't make any sign that she had noticed the look from Natsu, Gray was sure she had. He glanced at each of his friends, sighing lightly as they traveled. It passed unnoticed by the pair, for that he was glad.
Looking up at the sky as they walked, Gray was sure that this was going to be a very long day.
(To be continued...)
Whoa, two in a row. Like I said in the previous posting I'll be posting more often since I have quite a bit done for the first time in a while! I hope you enjoy!
Only Crystal is my character, All other named characters are property of Hiro Mashima from his series, Fairy Tail.
This is meant to be a fan fiction, written by a fan (Shey), for entertainment purposes only.
