DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail; not its characters, the settings or anything—Hiro Mashima-sensei does. The only thing I do own is the plot of this story. Either ways, please respect our works.

WRITER'S BLOCK: Okay. So some of the readers asked me when I would update. I'm so sorry. I didn't really want to be so slow but time for having fun and stuff is just so limited. I have another batch of exams coming up and this was just a chapter I made during my only free time. So sorry for being so slow, mind. So sorry.

SOMETHING NEW: I wanted to do some action scenes so I guess you guys'll be the first to read my (crappy) action writing in the next few chapters. Enjoy!

-CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: THE MISSION-
"At that moment, she wished she'd never taken the mission in the first place."

"Damn it! You're not getting away this time!"

Lucy's voice echoed as she rushed in her footsteps after a cloaked menace, apparently her target for the mission.

The man is incredibly fast, Lucy thought. And if he'd keep up this chase, Lucy just might run out of breath and give up; then wait a day or two to get a trace of him in the area.

Why in the world had she chosen this mission again? Lucy ran the thoughts in her mind as she put twigs and leaves out of her face. Running in her high-heeled boots in a very rocky surface of the woods was taking a toll on her foot. She should have worn her flats after all.

What was I thinking of again? Oh, yeah; the reason why she chose this mission. She came back to the happenings three days ago…

Lucy tiptoed her way through the wooden floor of the guild. It was still very early and she was sure to herself it was empty except for probably a few early birds. As expected, nobody was drinking or standing by doing nothing. She breathed out. She wasn't sure why but somehow she felt that if people were around they would be asking things about her, Natsu and Lisanna; then, that would just be disastrous.

She glanced at the request board; it was practically empty. And whenever it was empty, the requests left on it were ones which usually had a lousy reward.

What rotten luck, she thought. Just when she needed to pay her rent, too.

To the right of the request board was the bar where Mirajane stood, her back on Lucy, mopping up the dirty floor.

"Mira-san~!" Lucy greeted as she sat on the high chair in front of the counter.

Mira flinched due to slight shock, turned around and after seeing Lucy, she immediately dropped the mop and pulled the blonde into a tight hug.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Lucy-chan!" Mira broke the hug but her hand remained gently on the girl's shoulder. "How are you? How was the vacation?"

"One at a time, Mira-san!" she giggled. "I'm doing good with all that's happening. And I enjoyed the vacation, too."

Mira smiled at her gently. The kind of smile that said 'Thank-you-for-being-so-strong-and-so-considerate.' Why wouldn't she, anyway? Lisanna was pregnant with Natsu's child which made them break up in a not-so-violent manner.

"But I'm not here for that, Mira-san," she said. "Are there any new high-paying jobs that you're gonna post?"

"Well…" Mira started, glancing at the request board, then back at Lucy. "Usually, I won't post new requests until all the jobs have been taken but for you I'll make an exception."

Mira winked and took a bunch of rolled paper then laid it on the countertop.

"Go on and take your pick," Mira said then went back to her mopping. "But don't tell anyone I did this for you."

And so that was what happened. She went for the seemingly-easiest one with the highest reward. What's more was that she had to go alone since Natsu was attending to Lisanna, Erza was on another S-class mission (Erza had invited her but Lucy didn't like the sound of 'demon' and 'subdue' in one sentence) and Gray was also off on a mission.

The thought of being so alone made Lucy feel so incapable; and it irritated her just to think that even she looked down on herself.

But it all had to stop now. She would do this mission alone even if it kills her.

"Stop running away from me! The reward I'd get is for three months of rent!" Lucy called loudly.

The man in the cloak turned around and threw something in front of Lucy.

It was round and smooth painted black with odd writings around it.

"Smoke bomb!" she shrieked.

With a loud pop, Lucy covered her face and made a sudden halt. Damn! She should've just pinned him to the ground when she had the chance!

When the smoke started to clear up, Lucy started moving and running in pursuit of the man again. This time, however, she took off her boots and ran as fast as she could and finally coming up to a wooden gate that was half open. Without any second thoughts, she kicked it open, causing the hinge to loosen and the gate to collapse due to its weight.

"Where could he have gone?" she thought, looking around.

It was a weird sort of place to see in the middle of the woods. It seemed to be an old-fashioned Japanese bath house; only, it wasn't a bath house but more of a house. And because it was a house, then someone lived there. And that would mean she was trespassing.

She gulped.

Surely, if she just walked back slowly, they wouldn't notice she was even there.

Taking one careful step behind her, Lucy started to make her way out.

So far, so good, she thought.

Lucy took another step back; then realized that something cold was touching the back of her neck.

It wasn't big. It felt like just a point; it felt sharp, too.

A sword? The sweat streamed down Lucy's forehead. Oh, no.

"State your name and your purpose," said a man's voice from behind her, "Or never speak again."

At that moment, she wished she'd never taken the mission in the first place.

Who in the world could this guy be?

So, yeah…. I'll leave you hanging there… And no, it's probably not who you think it is… hahaha!

See you in the next chapter!