Chapter 51

"Lucy!" Natsu ran to the blonde as she finally caught up with the little mage and the blue cat. "Are you okay?" he grabbed her wrists as soon as he was close enough, turning her hands over and scrutinizing them worriedly.

She smiled, "I'm fine. I took care of that octopus." She pulled her wrists from his grip and gently ruffled his pink hair. "See? I'm stronger than you think. I got rid of him easy as strawberry cake!"

She passed by him, relief and triumph spreading through her chest. "Okay! Let's get going to the next ingredient! It's way to the east!" she pointed down the road.

Happy looked to Natsu. The little boy's head was cast, hands balled up into fists.

"Natsu?" he said softly. "Are you alright?"

"No," he said quietly. "I feel like I did back in that cage."

He turned and followed after Lucy.

"How?" Happy watched him go.

"Useless."


"Uhm… Natsu?" Lucy said. "What are you doing?"

Natsu darted around her, two balls of flame in the palms of his hands. "Don't worry Lucy. This time I'm gonna protect you before anything can even think about attacking!"

She chuckled, "Okay. Whatever you say." She pretended to be relaxed and confident, walking with quick, wide strides through the thick forest, but the truth was that she was terribly anxious. The past week travelling from the southern beach to the eastern forest had been calm and uneventful, but now that they were only half a day from their destination, Lucy had chills. She glanced around at the thick trees around them. The forest was dark and damp. Something touched Lucy's shoulder and she bit back a scream when she saw the probing legs of a giant spider. Another giant spider.

"N-Natsu…" she whispered.

He turned, saw the creature making its way up her shoulder, headed for her face.

"DIE!" he lobbed a fireball in her direction and it slammed into the insect, sending it flying backwards.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. There was something about spiders…

"Thank you Natsu," she smiled at him. "You're my hero."

His cheeks flared pink and he turned forward again, "Well… it was only a dumb spider."

They continued on. After a while, Happy ran to Lucy, a look of fear across his face, paws reaching up to her. Lucy dipped and picked up the cat, holding his quivering body against her chest.

"I don't like the way this place feels, Lucy," he whimpered, tucking his face into her bosom.

"Me either," she murmured, eyes darting through the dark trees. She had the creeping sense that there was something out there, watching.

Waiting.

Natsu glanced back and saw Happy in Lucy's arms. Jealousy flared up quicker than he could take in a breath. He fell back to them and glared up at the cat.

"No fair!" he said. "How come Happy gets to get carried? I got little legs now! Carry me too, Lucy!"

"Natsu!" Lucy hissed. "Shh!"

He frowned, "Why?"

She looked around, "I feel… uneasy."

Happy's muffled voice came from Lucy's collar, "Something evil is watching us…"

Natsu looked up into Lucy's face. She was pale and sweat lined her brow.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu glanced through the trees. "I don't feel anything."

Lucy gulped and reached for her keys, "Maybe I should call Loke just in case…"

"No!" Natsu covered her leather pouch with his hands, "You don't need him! I can protect you by myself!"

"Natsu…" she tugged on his fingers. "This isn't about you. This is bigger than your pride!"

"Nothing is bigger than my pride!" he snapped. "Just let me be the one to protect you! I can do it!"

"Natsu, keep your voice down—"

"Why won't you let me protect you, Lucy?" he continued, voice rising with his frustration. "Do you not want me to? Would you rather that Garric guy were here to watch over you instead of stupid, childish me?"

"Natsu—"

"It's all I want to do!" Natsu squeezed his eyes shut and his hands into fists and shouted. "ALL I WANT TO DO IS PROTECT YOU! PLEASE LET ME!"

Suddenly, a loud crashing rang out behind them. Lucy slowly turned, eyes widening. Natsu did the same as Happy buried himself deeper in Lucy's arms.

Lucy gulped. The trees were moving.

"Natsu," she said just loud enough to be heard over the tremendous ruckus coming from whatever was uprooting the trees behind them. "Natsu we need to run now."

"Y-yeah…" he agreed.

As they were turning, Lucy caught sight of the cause of the destruction.

A green wyvern, just as big if not bigger than the octopus from last week, was making its way in their direction through the trees. Lucy saw its large, dragon-like head as its gaping mouth stretched wide and let out a ground shaking roar. Its dark green wings flared out and smashed into two tall trees, cracking them in half as if they were nothing but blades of grass.

"RUN!" Lucy shoved Natsu forward and they stumbled across the uneven forest floor.

"Lucy!" Natsu grabbed at her. "Get ahead of me!"

"No!" she pushed him. "Enough, Natsu!" Lucy looked down at Happy. "Happy! I need you to get Natsu out of here!"

"NO!" Natsu jerked away from her and then turned towards the rampaging wyvern. "I'll stop him myself!" he concentrated his magical energy and then inhaled deeply. His stomach engorged and he shouted, "FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"

The stream of fire that burst from his mouth wasn't enough to even reach the monster behind them.

"FUCK!"

"Happy! Now!" Lucy commanded.

"A-Aye Sir!" Happy's wings emerged and he swooped down to Natsu.

The cat hooked his claws into Natsu's jacket and lifted off.

"NO!" Natsu fought wildly. "I WON'T LEAVE LUCY! STOP!"

"NATSU, GO NOW!" Lucy demanded, unraveling her whip from her hip. "I CAN TAKE CARE OF THIS!"

Happy flew up higher and higher with Natsu, and Lucy breathed out a sigh of relief. They were going to escape. She turned back to the wyvern, which was closer than it was a few moments ago. She reached for her keys. Loke would be the wisest choice. Joined by someone that can battle at a distance… Sagittarius. She popped open the pouch and her fingers slid in.

The wyvern let out a screech and its left wing flashed out abruptly.

Lucy gasped and knelt close to the forest floor as the wind from its swing bombarded her, threatening to send her flying. If she wasn't so low to the ground, she was positive she would've been blown away.

Her heart turned to ice. She jerked her head up, "NATSU! HAPPY!"

But she realized too late. The force of the wind knocked the two Fairy Tail mages from the sky. Happy's claws ripped from Natsu's jacket and they were sent in opposite directions with cries of surprise. Natsu slammed into the forest floor fifty meters from Lucy as the blue exceed soared straight into a tree. His little body crumpled against the wood and then dropped to the ground in a battered bundle.

"HAPPY!" Lucy shrieked, taking large strides in his direction, but the wyvern had a similar plan. It's beady black eyes fell on the motionless cat and it instantly turned his direction, lumbering steps shaking the ground beneath them.

"Ooh…" Natsu rubbed his head and sat up from his spot in the bushes.

Lucy had to think fast. If she didn't do something, the wyvern was going to reach Happy before her and…

Lucy cracked her whip against the wyvern's hindquarters. She pulled back and then slashed at the monster's thick, scaly hide again and again until it grew furious and turned in her direction, all thought of the unconscious blue cat disappearing from its mind.

As soon as Lucy had its attention, she turned and ran through the trees, shouting, "NATSU! GRAB HAPPY AND GET OUT OF HERE! I'LL DISTRACT HIM!"

"NO!" Natsu sprinted in her direction.

"STOP!" she commanded. "NATSU STOP!"

But he ignored her. He ran straight up to the woman, igniting his hands, sending pitiful fireballs in the direction of the monster giving chase.

"Damn it Natsu!" Lucy growled when he caught up to her.

The wyvern let out a screech and then flashed its wings out again. Lucy didn't have the chance to duck down to avoid the massive gust of air. The wind picked up both of them and they flew through the air. Lucy sent her whip in Natsu's direction, catching him around the waist and pulling him to her. She wrapped her arms around him and then unraveled her whip. They were flying straight for a giant tree.

Lucy grunted and cracked her whip up. The celestial weapon latched on to a branch of a different tree and the two mages were saved from the same fate Happy had suffered.

"Shorten, shorten," Lucy whispered and the whip grappled them through the wind and up to the branch it was caught on.

The wyvern's gust of air passed and Lucy pushed Natsu up onto the thick branch, quickly scampering up after him. She knelt on the wood momentarily, catching her breath through wheezing gasps. The wind had sapped her lungs of all of her oxygen.

Natsu stood and faced the still oncoming wyvern. "Stay behind me, Lucy!"

"Natsu," she gasped and climbed to her feet. "Stop it. Get back. I need to call Loke," she reached for her pouch.

"No!" Natsu cried, catching on fire. "YOU DON'T NEED HIM! YOU HAVE ME! I CAN PROTECT YOU!"

"Not like this you can't!" Lucy grabbed the pouch and popped it open with shaking hands. "Just let me—"

Indifferent to their arguing, the wyvern rudely interrupted. Its tail flicked up and crashed down on the branch upon which they stood, shattering it immediately.

Lucy shrieked and Natsu let out a surprised shout as they were thrown back into the air. Weeping debris from the tree plunged with them down towards the ground once more. The pouch slipped from Lucy's hand and she cried out, "NO!" she reached for it, air rushing all around her as she fell. Her fingers brushed the leather and her eyes brightened hopefully. She was so close. She just needed a little more…

A spinning branch crashed into her outstretched hand, shattering nearly every bone beneath her skin. Lucy screamed in agony and pulled her arm close to her chest. Another branch slammed into her thigh, and then another struck her back.

Natsu struggled in midair, turning his eyes in the direction of the anguished scream he heard. Lucy was being battered by the debris from the wyvern's attack. He had to get to her! He had to protect her!

But he was powerless. His fire didn't have enough power behind it to push him closer in her direction. He was useless once again. And Lucy was the one suffering because of it. Tears filled his eyes, trailing behind him through the air.

"LUCY!" he roared. "LUCY!"

But it was no use.

He had failed.

Again.


Author's Note: You know what my problem is? I get distracted too easily. I tried to write this chapter yesterday, but instead I started thinking, "Hey, when I finish this story, should I start a new one?" and then I started brainstorming a future story and then I was like, "Hey, I should write it RIGHT NOW!" and so writing this chapter was put on the back burner as I started cooking up ideas for a future Fairy Tail fanfic. Not that I got especially far on THAT... But anyway... I think I will do it. Maybe. So if you guys are dreading the end of this story, you are in luck. Because I may start a new one after this. It's gonna be completely different though. So... yeah.

Anyway, here's the new chapter. Uhm... kinda left it on a cliff hanger, I know. But what ya gonna do? Picole decided that yes, we are going to create a blog. So I'll probably brainstorm ideas about that with her tonight. Yay! Although this whole blogging thing is soooo new to me. So I don't even know where to start. We don't even know what to call it. We did agree that we need some awesome art of a cow licking a pickle to represent us though. GET IT!? MOO AND PICOLE?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Maybe we will throw in a MOTH fluttering around there and then put a Redbeard on the cow and have them in Austria. Hm... and Breuf... Sorry. I got nothing. Maybe that's the brand in the cow? Eh. Dunno. He's got such a weird name...

Alright! So, moving on. I love you guys so much! Your support means so much to me! I'd also like to give a shout out to reader swallowmysoul for the awesome review they gave me a little while back. I may have been a little drunk when I read it, but that review brought happy tears to my eyes! So thank you so much for that! And everyone else too! Even if you just say something simple like, "Good story" or "please continue" I get so excited! I'm so grateful that you take the time out of your lives to show me love and that's what keeps me going! I wish I could personally give each and every one of you a big ol' bear hug! And that's really saying something because I'm one of THOSE people that hates to be touched. And if you also don't like to be touched, we could like... high five or do a synchronized dance or something. Or we could just like do excited jumping jacks facing each other shouting "YAY FRIENDSHIP!" and then probably both just pass out on the floor, panting, because exercise is hard and I eat too much cheetos. I love you guys so much that I'd let you hold Nashi. And I'm one of THOSE people that gets really possessive of my things. Now, remember, Nashi is a CAT. So she probably wouldn't agree to you holding her, especially since she still gives me the evil eye whenever I pick her up.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I love and appreciate you all soooooo much. And I want to support you as much as you support me. So here's a massive group air hug for all of you. *gropes the air awkwardly* *strokes your hair gently and whispers "what kind of shampoo do you use" into your ear* Remember that you can message me for any reason whatsoever! I'm always around and I'll always reply! You are all so great! I'm sending my positive vibes your direction! Hope you catch them! *sends positive vibes*

Love-Moo